Animal activists, opposed to all forms of intensive livestock production, consistently base their demands on welfare notwithstanding their actual indifference to poultry and animals. A principal tactic by activist organizations is to coerce retailers into demanding adherence to successively more rigorous “standards” of welfare. At the heart of the initiative in the U.K. is the Better Chicken Commitment that is claimed to provide marketing advantages to retailers based on consumer sentiment.
Effectively, the motivators to purchase chicken are quality, taste and price with preference ratings above 75 percent compared to welfare and sustainability that rank below 25 percent in consumer preference studies.
Economists have reviewed the financial impact of the standards required for the Better Chicken Commitment. Reducing stocking density in the U.S. would require considerably more growing area to maintain current production if the highest level of housing including outside access is applied to the current 165 million broilers per week.
The live bird performance achieved by integrators across the entire industry denotes acceptable welfare and housing as denoted by high livability and growth rate that approach genetic potential.
The downside of adopting global animal partnership standards include: -
- Predator loss for flocks allowed outside access.
- Higher mortality from exposure to soil-related pathogens.
- Higher production cost from inferior growth rate and a deterioration in feed conversion efficiency
Sustainability will be adversely impacted by lower stocking density and adopting free-range or pastured systems. The additional broiler placements to compensate for lower output and a higher number of birds would require more feed that in turn has implications for energy and water consumption and generation of waste through the entire cycle of production.
On a restricted brand basis the higher cost can be passed on to a small market of affluent consumers. Subscribers will be aware of the failure of producers of other than conventional broilers with welfare claims requiring outside access and liberal stocking density.