Broiler Welfare Reform: Progress Since the Better Chicken Commitment

The Better Chicken Commitment (BCC) has driven significant welfare improvements for broiler chickens in some markets. Tracking progress and maintaining pressure are essential.

Key Facts

The Better Chicken Commitment requires slower-growing breeds, maximum 30kg/m2 stocking density, enriched housing, and humane slaughter.
Over 200 companies globally had signed the BCC by 2025, including major food service operators and retailers.
Slower-growing breeds show dramatically lower rates of leg disorders, cardiovascular disease, and mortality than fast-growing counterparts.
Compliance and reporting standards vary significantly between signatories — third-party verification is uneven.
An estimated 70 billion chickens are slaughtered for food annually worldwide — the BCC covers only a fraction.
Key markets including US, EU, and UK have seen meaningful progress; global adoption lags significantly.

Welfare Considerations

The Better Chicken Commitment represents the most significant farmed animal welfare reform movement in the past decade. By targeting breed, stocking density, enrichment, and slaughter method simultaneously, it addresses the root causes of broiler suffering rather than peripheral issues. Slower-growing breeds — while more expensive — live genuinely better lives: they can walk, rest comfortably, and express natural behaviour rather than struggling under their own weight. The welfare improvement for individual chickens is substantial and measurable. However, corporate commitments must be backed by third-party verification and public reporting. Consumer and NGO pressure to hold companies accountable for their signed commitments remains essential.

What You Can Do

Check whether companies you buy chicken from have signed the Better Chicken Commitment and are reporting progress.
Choose chicken products meeting BCC standards or higher-welfare certified alternatives.
Contact food companies asking for BCC progress updates and holding them to signed commitments.
Reduce chicken consumption overall and replace with plant-based proteins where possible.