Chickens reared for Morrisons spend the last days of their miserable, short lives in “extreme” pain packed in overcrowded farms, an undercover probe has found.

The birds – dubbed “Franken-chickens” by campaigners – are bred to grow unnaturally fast.

They are then slaughtered at around 35 days old to help feed our billion-chicken-a-year habit.

Producer Cranswick rears them for its slaughterhouse in Yaxley, near Ipswich, in Suffolk.

It provides meat for Morrisons’ “Butcher’s on Market Street” range, marketed as “welfare assured”.

Campaigners have accused the supermarket chain of hypocrisy over its claims to “take animal welfare seriously”.

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A bird with a deformed leg tries to walk

Investigators for animal rights group Open Cages found chickens unable to walk at four farms in Norfolk and Suffolk.

They filmed many birds with deformed legs and told how they saw some that “frantically flapped their wings before collapsing in pain.”

In one clip, a bird can be seen with an open wound on its chest and older wounds crusted with blood covering its back.

It was found keeled over unable to stand. The chest wound is likely a result of being trampled, Open Cages said.

Rotting carcasses were also visible on multiple sites. In one instance there was a pile of dead chickens surrounded by flies.

Open Cages said it filmed hundreds more chickens covered in filth and suffering chemical burns from lying in their own waste, during its investigations in May and June.

Space is so tight that in their last weeks the birds have no more floor space on average than an A4 sheet of paper each.

Open Cages CEO Connor Jackson said “Franken-Chickens are doomed from day one” to a life of suffering and misery.

Mr Jackson added: “Morrisons cannot sell them, profit off their deformed, weak bodies, and then claim to take animal welfare seriously.”

TV naturalist Chris Packham is campaigning alongside Open Cages for Morrisons to sign the Better Chicken Commitment to phase out Franken-Chickens.

He said Open Cages’ work had shown “without any ambiguity” that “extreme suffering is rampant in the supermarket’s chicken supply chain”.

Chris added: “These poor animals are forced to endure pain, deformities, heart attacks and filthy, overcrowded conditions. It keeps going on and on.

“Morrisons’ marketing is contrived to put us at ease, to generate ideas of quality food, of friendly local farmers and to trust their claims of high welfare standards. But the ugly truth of Market Street is undeniable. Yet, Morrisons continues to ignore, deny and delay whilst companies like M&S have taken swift and decisive action.”

TV naturalist Chris Packham is campaigning alongside Open Cages (
Image:
BBC/Atypical Media Ltd/Tim Smith)

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Modern chickens have been bred to grow 400% faster than those farmed in 1950.

Research suggests up to a third struggle to walk and many suffer horrific injury and illness.

M&S recently announced it will stop selling fast-growing chickens in all fresh produce by Autumn 2022. Waitrose and KFC are among the 240 companies across Europe to pledge to stop selling them by 2026.

Cranswick said: “We take the welfare of chickens at our farms very seriously and it is always our first priority.

“We are conducting an urgent and thorough investigation.”

A Morrisons spokeswoman said: “We care deeply about animal welfare and require all our suppliers to maintain the highest standards.

“We have asked Cranswick to conduct a full investigation and report back to us.”

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