Around half a billion chickens are killed in Australia each year for their flesh. Most of these birds live short miserable lives in factory farms — but the chicken industry doesn't want you to know that, and have been making some wild claims to lead you astray...

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An investigation into one of Australia's largest chicken meat producers has revealed routine and shocking animal abuse. Every year in Australia 435 million chickens endure brutally short and cruel lives inside factory farms. Animals Australia's investigation video shows baby birds suffering from heart disease, lameness, thirst, starvation and trampling inside a shed packed with over 40,000 birds.

Aussies hate animal cruelty, which is why the big chicken meat companies are trying to hide the suffering they are causing by using confusing labels like ‘cage free’ and ‘free to roam’. Don't be duped — cages are never used in broiler facilities! The reality is that nearly all chicken meat sold by major brands comes from cruel factory farms.

Please help to shine a light on the hidden cruelty of chicken farming by exploring this page, and taking action for chickens.

No room to move This is a baby bird... Babies killed for meat Crippled chicks No vet care The weak struggle to feed Trampling So unnatural Left to die where they lay No dignity Gasping for air Featherless This death is not unique Bred to die Who will help?

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This dimly lit shed housed over 40,000 birds which makes it impossible to form any social structure. Broiler chickens can legally be confined at a density that gives each bird less space than an single A4 sheet of paper. ...but you wouldn't know it from her size. Broiler chicks are bred to grow 3 times faster than nature intended. 'Chicken' meat served in Australia is not from chickens at all. It is from 5-week old baby birds who still have soft feathers and chirp like chicks. Immature skeletons are frequently unable to hold the massive bodies of adult-weight birds. Many can only take a few steps before collapsing. This baby bird's legs have buckled under her weight and she will never walk again. Lame birds are not afforded the luxury of veterinary treatment. Once their legs give out or their joints are dislocated, they can only wait to be killed or risk being trampled, and dying unnoticed. Suspended feeders are raised as chickens grow. As a result, smaller birds and lame birds die of thirst and hunger, unable to reach food or water. When the birds' young and underdeveloped legs can no longer hold the weight of a rapidly growing body, weaker birds may be trampled inside the massively overcrowded shed. Birds with frail legs and breasts covered in faeces have no other choice but to sit in their own waste. Heart failure claims many birds before they reach their 5 week 'slaughter age'. The sheer size of their enlarged bodies causes the heart to work overtime and many can't cope. Chickens are intelligent and naturally clean birds who flap their wings and preen themselves — yet inside a filthy broiler shed they must tolerate their soft feathers being caked in faeces. Half the deaths in sheds are caused by heart failure and pulmonary oedema — a condition where birds essentially 'drown' from fluid accumulation in their lungs. Feathers may fall out as the baby chicks' health deteriorates, exposing even more skin that becomes blistered from ammonia burns. This bird suffered from ammonia burns on her soft skin and hocks before she succumbed to a likely heart attack. Her premature death is one of millions factored into the economics of factory chicken farming. Around 20 million broiler chickens die in Australian factory farms before they reach the slaughter age of just 5 weeks. Death, often agonising and slow, can be caused by starvation, thirst, heart attack, or fluid in the lungs. Too large to move, too exhausted to stand. Each day, chickens like this wait for help that might never come. But you can help these birds today.

What you never knew about chickens...

Chickens can live for up to 16 years, have their own unique personalities and just like us or the family dog, they experience Rapid Eye Movement while they sleep and dream.

Overly caring people aren't called 'Mother Hens' for nothing! Real mother hens build safe, private nests, lovingly cluck to their unhatched chicks and carefully turn their eggs up to 40 times a day.

Chickens are highly social birds who enjoy dust bathing and pecking with friends. They also have over 30 distinct communication calls, including different alarm calls to warn of different types of predators.

Chickens are remarkably intelligent animals, with the ability to recognise up to 100 distinct faces of their bird friends.

Wanna do even more? Other ways to help:

Order a ‘Please think before you buy’ leaflet pack Action Network

Join the Unleashed Action Team

Help free chickens from cruelty!

Chickens are gentle and inquisitive animals who each have unique personalities. Will you help them? Even though factory farms are well hidden from the public, there are three simple ways that everyone can help shut down these cruel facilities forever. Here's how...

1. Vote with your fork

Most chicken meat comes from factory farms — including well known brands such as Steggles and Inghams. If you believe that birds don't deserve to suffer and die for the sake of a grease burger, then join the thousands of caring Aussies who are refusing to eat animals. Try meatless schnitzels, veggie luncheons, or faux 'chicken' nuggets instead — available at all good supermarkets.

2. Be a voice for chickens

If more people knew what happens behind factory farm walls, this cruelty wouldn't ever be allowed to happen. But sadly, chickens can't speak up for themselves. Please tell everyone you know about the hidden horrors of chicken farming, and ask them to join you in taking chickens off your plate!

3. Tweet for chicks

Spread the word online — it's easy! If you're on facebook, twitter or Myspace then tweet for the chicks by copying one (or more) of these as your status:

Why I'll never eat 'chicken' again...! http://bit.ly/qLdUYX
Who would really want to eat a crippled 5-week-old baby bird? http://bit.ly/qLdUYX
Drumsticks are for beating, not eating! http://bit.ly/qLdUYX
Free the birds! http://bit.ly/qLdUYX

Or, post a link to this investigation on your wall.

Your spare change could create
real change for animals...

Did you know that Animals Australia and Unleashed's campaigns are funded entirely by donations? Without the support of every-day people who care about animals, all our investigations, campaigns and cruelty exposés could never happen. The animals are relying on us, and we're relying on you...

If you hate cruelty, then please think about sparing a little pocket money for the animals too. Every dollar goes a long way. Here are 3 ways to get started:

Every time you shop in the Unleashed store, you help direct funds to our campaigns.

Give directly to our campaings by making a secure online (or offline) donation.

Help animals every day by pledging a monthly gift to support Animals Australia’s lifesaving work.

Animals Australia is a registered charity (Reg No. A00200712) that relies entirely on public donations in order to conduct lifesaving campaigns and cruelty investigations. Every dollar received is precious and spent wisely. Click here to read our donor charter.