RSPCA Assured sets out new welfare standards for chicken producers
7th July 2025
RSPCA Assured is setting up new welfare standards for chickens which will come into effect in September.
The new version of the standards will come into effect from 29th September 2025, following the standard three-month notification period.
The updated standards include, among others, changes to the housing confinement contingency plan with veterinary inputs being required. This will be used in the event free-range birds need to be housed, e.g., during disease housing orders.
RSPCA Assured is also introducing new standards, which are set to take a ‘prevention is better than cure’ approach and require antibiotics to be used responsibly and only when necessary. Prophylactic use will be prohibited.
Each farm must also carry out an annual on-farm antibiotic use review as part of the veterinary health and welfare plan.
It has been recommended that producers adopt new AI technology to improve animal welfare at slaughterhouses. RSPCA Assured said it is reviewing intelligent camera surveillance for abattoirs to increase welfare oversight and flag up issues in real time.
The assurance scheme also recommends verandas being installed on all free-range chicken units. This is set to encourage ranging, improve litter and provide semi-outdoor shelter. It will not become a mandatory requirement, however.
‘Progress and improvement’
RSPCA Assured assistant director of certification, Neil Scott, said: “We are able to continually progress and improve the lives of millions of farmed animals thanks to the ongoing commitment of our members.
“Our RSPCA Assured members have been helping us to improve the welfare of chickens since 1996, when the first RSPCA welfare standards for chickens were published.
“All RSPCA Assured members want the best for the animals in their care, and we hope these updated standards will help them to keep achieving their higher welfare goals.”
The organisation explained that its welfare standards are continually improved and progressed using the latest scientific research, robust evidence and practical farming experience.
New, potential or existing RSPCA Assured members who are in need of support or advice about meeting the updated broiler standards should contact RSPCA Assured’s farming and technical engagement team via membership services online.
Find out more and view the updated chicken standards here and on the RSPCA Assured website.
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