The Protection of Animals Act and Chickens

This covers laws that cover cruelty to animals. Rules and regulations for animal welfare are enforced by Trading Standards in the U.K. Whilst many of these you would assume would never apply to you, there are in fact a few things to keep in mind as the interpretation of the law can vary.

It is an offence to be cruel to any captive or domestic animal by anything that you do or have omitted to do.  

The first part of this is of course pretty straightforward but it’s the second part where it’s easy to fall foul if you pardon the pun. A code of recommendations were produced as a guide line in response to this and apply equally to commercial flocks of 100’000 hens or your back yard hens.

Code of Recommendations for the Welfare of Laying Hens

This code says hens should have Five Freedoms:

  1. Freedom from hunger and thirst by ready access to fresh water and a diet to maintain full health and vigour.
  2. Freedom from discomfort by providing an appropriate environment, including shelter and a comfortable resting area.
  3. Freedom from pain, injury or disease by prevention and rapid diagnosis and treatment.
  4. Freedom to express natural behaviour by providing space, sufficient facilities and the company of the animals own kind.
  5. Freedom from fear and distress by ensuring conditions and treatment to avoid mental suffering.

If you think about these, it would be very easy for a number of areas to be breached. If your bird becomes ill and you haven’t sought expert or veterinary advice, you could be seen to be in breach of the 3rd freedom or if the diet you were giving your birds wasn’t balanced (boiled pasta, potatoes or too much mixed corn for example) and wasn’t maintaining full health and vigor, you could be breaching the 1st.

And what if your chicken run had turned to mud after a wet winter, it could also be argued under the 2nd freedom that your hens weren’t free of discomfort if they were standing around in mud all day…

Common sense tells me this wouldn’t get you into trouble but be careful because I have heard of visits from Trading Standards visiting owners for very trivial things (such as too much mud in a chicken run) after having received complaints from neighbours or other concerned members of the public.

If you choose to keep chickens at home though, I would assume, like me, you would want them to have the right conditions to live in and you would always be the right side of the Code of Recommendations!

24 Comments

  1. What a lovely site! I am setting up a chicken coop at my school. I was wondering if you knew of any good providers in setting up a chicken run that is quite large?
    Thank-you for your time and consideration in this matter. I hope to hear from you shortly. I will continue reading!

    Gordon

    • Umm no idea sorry. Why would they need to be inspected? If there were welfare problems, if they were reported, the usual animal welfare rules would apply?

      • hi i hold an allotment in bristol and can tell you from neighbors experiances that they are answerable to outside bodies including rspca. not only is animal husbandry restricted on some sites, but all allotments have a charter to which they have to follow regarding cultivation and maintence of plot, allotment sites should be inspected weekly by the allotment manager, if you suspect that an allotment is not being managed effectively you can report it to your local council. if you are concerned about animal welfare you can do the same or contact the rspca or in severe abuse cases the police.

  2. Great site! I was just wondering when my chickens stop laying, am I correct in saying I have the right to euthanise them (be means of cervical dislocation) and then introduce younger chickens?

    Regards

  3. One of our neighbours recently reported me to the RSPCA with a concern that my chickens did not have shelter. However, the inspector was satisfied that the chickens did have adequate shelter as well as all the other things required for keeping happy, healthy chickens. Although a little annoyed at my neighbours for not consulting me first, I can understand why they jumped to such conclusions. The chicken shed is left constantly open for them to wander in and out but even during the torrential rain we have had recently, they seem to chose to stay outside and get totally drenched and look very bedragled. Should I continue to leave the shed open for them to wander freely or should I keep them enclosed all day?

    • I would follow the advice given by the RSPCA inspector. Chickens will sometimes stand out it the rain rather than go into their house. I raise my coops 15 inches off the ground and then they go underneath the coop in bad weather. Ideally they need somewhere out of the wind and rain to stand during the day.

  4. My cat keeps bringing chicken heads and feet from a neighbours house across the road, I suspect he is slaughtering them as another neighbour hears the squeals from the chickens, what are the laws r regarding this, can anyone tell me and who do I report this to. Thanks Marie

    • I would let your neighbour know. He is allowed to slaughter at home for his own use – but there are rules regarding the disposal of carcasses and so on. If you let him know, he should be able to put them in a better bin that’s cat proof!

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