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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Haroon Siddique Legal affairs correspondent

Carrying chickens by their legs should remain unlawful, say UK campaigners

Rows of battery-farmed hens
Battery-farmed hens at a farm in England. Chickens and turkeys weighing under 10kg should not be carried upside down around farms or while being loaded or unloaded, according to current rules. Photograph: Mark Henderson/Alamy

Proposals to legalise the carrying of chickens by their legs in the UK would represent an unacceptable dilution of animal welfare standards and the first such weakening of regulations in the area since Brexit, campaigners have said.

The government’s Animal Welfare Committee (AWC) has made the recommendation despite acknowledging it to be a “welfare compromise” that can cause “pain, discomfort and breathing difficulty” leading to distress and injuries such as fractures and dislocations.

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