Higher-Welfare Chicken: Turning Over a New Leaf

September 12, 2014

Chicken Scratch is an ASPCA Blog feature that highlights interesting news about farm animals and farm animal welfare.

  • Perdue Foods, the third-largest chicken producer in the country, announced that it has stopped using antibiotics in all of its chicken hatcheries. This shift reflects increasing consumer discomfort with the amount of antibiotics used to raise chickens. Food Safety News reports that “the company has used antibiotics for growth promotion since 2007 and continues to use antibiotics in some of its hatched birds,” so taking these steps to change is a big deal for Perdue. We’re glad some producers are listening and we encourage all consumers to demand better for chickens and for themselves with our supermarket request letter.