The problem with lower-welfare farming
Every farmed animal deserves a good life. But more than 85% are raised in intensive systems, where they may be unable to live healthy, comfortable lives and behave naturally.
The scale of this suffering makes lower-welfare farming the biggest animal welfare issue we face. Improving farming standards could give billions of animals better lives.
Jump to
Why does lower-welfare farming exist?
Demand for animal products is growing. Global meat consumption is predicted to rise by 70% by 2050, while pressure to produce large quantities of cheap food can push farming towards more intensive methods.
This can mean more animals kept in smaller spaces, with fewer opportunities to move around, behave naturally and have positive experiences.
In the UK, 71% of land is already used for agriculture. If we continue to eat animal products at our current rate, meeting growing demand could put even greater pressure on animals, land and nature.
We believe we need to farm fewer animals and farm them better. That means reducing the amount of animal products we eat while making sure farmed animals are raised to higher-welfare standards.
Shoppers, supermarkets, food businesses, governments, farmers and the wider farming and fish farming industries all have a part to play in improving farmed animals' lives.
As long as demand for animal products remains high, production will continue to focus on maximising output at the expense of the welfare of the animals we choose to eat.
What does lower-welfare farming mean for animals?
Intensive animal farming, also known as ‘factory farming’, can affect almost every part of an animal's life. While the problems vary between species and farming systems, some of the same welfare issues appear again and again.
Animals may experience:
- Overcrowding and confinement, leaving them with little space to move around or exercise, such as in caged farming systems.
- Selective breeding, including breeding animals to grow very quickly or produce more, which can cause painful health problems.
- Poor health, including conditions linked to intensive production and unsuitable living conditions.
- Barren environments, without the enrichment animals need to stay active and stimulated.
- Fewer opportunities to behave naturally, such as foraging, rooting, dustbathing, grazing or exploring.
- Stressful handling and transport, particularly when animals are moved, loaded or unloaded.
These problems can be found across so-called factory farming systems, from chickens kept in overcrowded sheds and pigs confined in farrowing crates to fish experiencing poor water quality or stressful handling.
How does lower-welfare farming affect different animals?
Lower-welfare farming affects animals in different ways. Here are some of the biggest welfare problems facing farmed animals and what we’re doing to help.
Meat chickens
Fast growth
Around 90% of the chickens we eat are fast-growing breeds, selected to grow so quickly that many struggle to walk. The time from hatching to slaughter can be just five weeks.
Fast growth is linked to serious health problems, including lameness and heart defects. It can also make it harder for chickens to do things they naturally enjoy, such as perching and dustbathing.
Our 2020 Eat, Sit, Suffer, Repeat study concluded that many of these birds don’t have a life worth living.
Solution
The RSPCA pioneered slower-growing, higher-welfare breeds through our welfare standards, and RSPCA Assured doesn’t permit fast-growing chicken breeds on member farms.
We want all chickens in the UK to be slower-growing, higher-welfare breeds and are calling on retailers and food businesses to sign up to the Better Chicken Commitment.
Enrichment
Chickens need sufficient opportunities to perch, forage and explore to stay active and stimulated, but many aren’t given the enrichment they need.
Solution
Under RSPCA Assured, chickens are given enrichment such as perches, hanging wooden blocks and straw bales. More importantly, they are able to use these items as they are more active due to being slower-growing. We want this to become standard across the industry.
Cramped space
Many meat chickens, also known as broilers, are kept in overcrowded conditions with little space to move around. This can make it harder for them to exercise and carry out natural behaviours such as foraging and dustbathing.
Overcrowding can also lead to poorer air and litter quality, increasing the risk of problems such as lameness and skin disease.
Solution
RSPCA farmed animal welfare standards give chickens more space to exercise, flap their wings and behave naturally.
We want better welfare standards to become the norm across the industry.
Light
Chickens have well-developed colour vision and need appropriate light to experience their surroundings. But the law only requires chickens to be given artificial light of 20 lux, so some may miss out on being able to fully experience the world around them.
Solution
Under RSPCA Assured, sheds must have windows to provide natural daylight during the day, followed by six continuous hours of darkness at night so chickens can rest.
Laying hens
Cages
Barren battery cages have been illegal in the UK since 2012, but it’s still legal to keep hens in other types of cages. In ‘enriched’ cages, hens are allocated little more usable space than an A4 sheet of paper.
This prevents them from moving around freely and carrying out behaviours they enjoy, such as dustbathing and foraging, causing frustration and suffering.
Solution
We want an end to all cages in UK farming. The government launched a consultation on ending the use of cages in 2026, and we submitted our response alongside many animal lovers across the UK.
People can also look for the RSPCA Assured label, as cages aren’t permitted under the scheme.
Find out about our campaign to end cages.
Feather pecking and beak trimming
Feather pecking is when hens peck and pull at other hens’ feathers, which can lead to serious injuries. There are many possible causes, including environment, breed, nutrition and health.
Beak trimming, sometimes referred to as debeaking, is currently used to reduce the damage caused by feather pecking, but we want to find alternatives.
Solution
We’re working with the farming industry to find other ways to manage feather pecking through improved rearing, breeding and research. We want to see beak trimming phased out at the earliest possible opportunity.
Dairy cows
Lameness
It’s estimated that between a quarter and a third of UK dairy cows are lame. Lameness is painful and one of the most urgent welfare issues affecting dairy cows.
Solution
Under RSPCA Assured, farmers must take steps to prevent lameness and other health problems. They must also have a veterinary health plan in place so cows receive prompt treatment if they become ill.
We want all cows to receive the same level of care.
Housing
Dairy cows are usually kept outside in fields during spring and summer and indoors during winter, but around 5% are kept inside continuously.
Cows need comfortable places to lie down, enough space to move around and enrichment such as cow brushes. We believe all cattle should also have access to good-quality pasture.
Solution
Under the RSPCA’s welfare standards on RSPCA Assured member farms, cows have access to a field for at least four hours a day during summer, for 110 days a year.
They must also have enough space and bedding to lie down and get up easily, as well as cow brushes for grooming.
Mastitis
Mastitis causes a cow’s udder to become inflamed and painful, usually because of a bacterial infection. It’s one of the most common problems affecting dairy cows, with research suggesting at least one in five suffers from it.
Solution
RSPCA Assured member farms must have preventative measures in place to reduce udder infections, as well as veterinary health plans to make sure cows receive prompt treatment if they become ill.
Caring for cows and calves
Cows need specialist care before and after giving birth, when changes in their immune system and energy levels can leave them vulnerable to health problems.
Solution
Under the RSPCA’s welfare standards, cows close to giving birth and after having their calves must be given extra space and nutrition to help keep them comfortable and reduce stress.
Beef cattle
Selective breeding
Some beef cattle have been selectively bred to produce more meat. This can cause problems during birth if calves grow too large for cows to give birth naturally, sometimes resulting in caesareans.
Solution
We believe no animal should be bred in a way that compromises their welfare. Breeds with these problems aren’t permitted under RSPCA animal welfare standards.
Cattle management
We’re concerned about inadequate health checks, animals not receiving appropriate pain relief, a lack of separate spaces for sick animals, poor handling facilities and the use of electric goads.
Solution
Under RSPCA Assured, cattle must have veterinary health plans, be properly handled and transported, and receive appropriate pain relief.
Housing
Like dairy cows, many beef cattle are housed during winter and some never have access to grass outside. We’re concerned about issues including a lack of space and ventilation, poor lighting, uncomfortable slatted flooring and a lack of enrichment.
Solution
RSPCA welfare standards require cattle to have access to outdoor grazing for four hours a day during spring and summer, as well as clean, dry straw to lie on. Fully slatted floors aren’t permitted.
Pigs
Farrowing crates
It’s currently legal to keep a mother pig in a farrowing crate for up to five weeks around the time she gives birth. Around 60% of adult female pigs spend up to 15 weeks a year in crates so small they can’t turn around.
Solution
We’ve been campaigning for an end to cages in UK farming. RSPCA Assured doesn’t permit the use of farrowing crates.
Fully slatted floors
Many pigs in the UK only have slatted floors to lie on and are kept in environments with little to do. Pigs need opportunities to explore and root around. Without them, they can become bored and stressed, which may lead to painful tail biting.
Solution
Under RSPCA Assured, fully slatted floors are not permitted and pigs must be given comfortable bedding to sleep on and root around in, as well as enough space to exercise, socialise or move away from other pigs when they need to.
Tail docking and nose ringing
Tail docking involves removing part of a pig’s tail to reduce tail biting. Tail biting often happens when pigs are stressed and can cause pain and serious injury.
Solution
We want to see tail docking phased out completely, but recognise that this needs to be managed carefully to avoid outbreaks of tail biting.
We’d also like pigs to have more space to move around and express their natural behaviours, helping to reduce stress, bullying and tail biting.
CO2 slaughter
Most pigs in the UK are stunned and killed using carbon dioxide (CO2) gas. Around 90% of pigs are killed this way, and they can experience pain and distress before losing consciousness.
Solution
We want to see the use of high-concentration CO2 for pigs phased out and replaced with a more humane alternative. We're working with the farming industry, researchers and government to help make this happen.
Add your voice to our campaign to end the use of CO2 in pig slaughter.
Farmed salmon and trout
Water quality
Water quality – including temperature, pH and oxygen levels – has a major impact on fish welfare. High carbon dioxide levels can affect welfare, while increasing water temperatures can make fish grow more quickly and may contribute to problems such as spinal deformities.
Solution
We work with the fish farming industry to improve welfare for farmed salmon and trout. Under RSPCA Assured, farms must monitor water quality and have action plans in place if something goes wrong.
Slaughter
Unlike other vertebrate farmed animals, there is no legislation specifically covering fish slaughter.
Methods such as CO2 slaughter, suffocation in air or on ice, or bleeding fish without stunning are unacceptable on welfare grounds.
Solution
RSPCA welfare standards for farmed salmon and trout provide specific protection at the time of slaughter.
We want all farmed fish to be protected and welcome the government’s commitment to consult on specific legislation to protect farmed fish at slaughter.
Handling and transport
Handling can be very stressful for fish, particularly when they’re taken out of water. Transport can also cause stress, especially during loading and unloading or if journeys are delayed.
Solution
Under RSPCA Assured, fish must only be handled when necessary and for the minimum time possible. There are also detailed transport requirements designed to help minimise stress.
How can you help farmed animals?
Everyone has a part to play in improving the lives of farmed animals. The choices we make, the standards we support and the changes we campaign for can all help create a better future for animals.
