![]() ![]() The fast food company also wants to reduce stocking density on its supplier farms. It said a move towards slower-growing breeds would require collaboration and commitment across the EU as well as in Thailand and Brazil. Although antibiotic use had been falling, the company said it was investigating the reasons for a slight increase last year among its suppliers. KFC says it wants to transition more of its 34 suppliers to slower growing breeds, which are less prone to disease and injury, helping to reduce the need for antibiotics. Lindsay Duncan, campaign manager at World Animal Protection, said: “They have a lot of progress to make, but we’re very happy that they’ve come out with this level of public data and transparency which they can now be held accountable on.” Animal welfare is no longer an abstract issue and now more than ever people understand the importance of improving the lives of chickens,” said Tracey Jones, global director of food business at Compassion in World Farming. “It’s great to see how transparent the business has been in providing valuable information and highlighting areas for improvement. The data will be used by the company to track its progress in tackling various welfare measures, including mortality rates, antibiotic use and stocking density. KFC has been praised by animal welfare campaigners for its willingness to make public the data in its first ever animal welfare report. ![]() The UK’s Red Tractor farm assurance scheme requires mortality to not exceed 5%. The British Poultry Council said the average mortality rate for the industry as a whole was 2–3%. In a flock of 10,000 birds that means around 400 birds dying or being culled. While the overall number of birds that die or are culled because of disease, injury or lameness is falling, the weighted mortality rate on KFC farms is still around 4%. ![]()
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