Broiler rescue 2025

On October 29th, animal rescuer Zoe Rosenberg was convicted of felony conspiracy and multiple misdemeanours for rescuing four sick chickens from a slaughterhouse in California. For saving four lives, she faces up to five years in prison.

In November, investigators from Farm Transparency Project visited an Australian 'broiler' farm to rescue eight 'meat chickens.' Broiler chickens are dumped in long sheds at just one day old. They spend their entire, short lives in the same shed, which becomes more and more filthy and contaminated with ammonia from a build-up of urine and faeces 🐔

Broiler chickens have been selectively bred and genetically manipulated over years to grow at a rate 300 times faster than that of birds bred in the 1960s, reaching 2.2 kilograms in just 35 days. Consequently, broiler chickens experience several health complications that cause them needless suffering and pain 💔

In modern factory farms, chickens reach slaughter weight at just 5-6 weeks old, at which point they can barely support their own weight. These chickens are just 1-2 weeks old, still young enough to have not fully lost their fluffy yellow baby feathers. Already, some were observed struggling to stand upright and walk.

Meat chickens in total confinement systems are farmed in large sheds. The sizes of the sheds can vary, however typical sheds are 150 meters long and 15 meters wide, housing up to 40,000 chickens in each. The largest sheds can house up to 60,000 broiler chickens. Feed and watering systems in broiler sheds are all automated. On some farms, chickens can go days without being checked on by farmers, living among dead and dying birds whose bodies have failed them before reaching slaughter weight 😞

These chickens would have been killed by the end of this month. Instead, they'll live out their lives surrounded by love and care. Just like every chicken deserves.

We stand with Zoe to say that animal rescue is not a crime. Saving lives should not mean a prison sentence.