On Wednesday, the Danish government announced that it will ban the production of turbo chickens.
This follows TV 2 reporting with hidden recordings of turbo chickens living in what TV 2 says are poor and illegal conditions at one of the country’s biggest chicken producers.
As of Wednesday evening, there is broad political agreement across the political spectrum for this move.
Hidden recording
On Tuesday, TV 2 released hidden recordings from the chicken farm of Christian Tvergaard, one of the country’s biggest chicken producers.
In these recordings, Tvergaard explained that he only gives the chickens three hours of darkness a day to ensure they eat more. The rules require six hours, and experts told TV 2 that this breaks the law.
Recordings also show several instances of chickens too fat to move and with serious leg injuries due to their excessive size.
In a written statement, Tvergaard said, “Looking inward, I must acknowledge that I have made some wrong decisions. There is no excuse for that, but I can learn from it and improve where I have fallen short.”
Turbo chickens
The breed of chickens that Tvergaard and many other chicken producers in Denmark use for slaughter production is known as turbo chickens, or Ross 308.
They get their name from their rapid growth, going from 50 grams to two kilograms in roughly 33 days, when other chickens take between 46 and 63 days to do the same.
According to TV 2, this breed accounts for 80 million of the 120 million chickens slaughtered in Denmark.
Political majority
Already on Tuesday, Berlingske reported that a political majority had gathered around banning the production of turbo chickens in Denmark.
Three of the four government parties backed the idea: the Green Left (Socialistisk Folkeparti), the Moderates (Moderaterne), and the Social Liberals (Radikale Venstre).
So did both the support parties: the Red-Green Alliance (Enhedslisten) and the Alternative (Alternativet). And so did two opposition parties of the right: Liberal Alliance and the Conservatives (Det Konservative Folkeparti).
On Wednesday, the Social Democrats (Socialdemokratiet) joined the calls with their Minister for Nature and Animal Welfare, Christian Rabjerg Madsen, announcing the planned ban.
“I am upset”
To TV 2 on Wednesday, Rabjerg Madsen said, “I’m upset by these images, and it’s clear that there are general welfare issues with broiler chickens, as they simply grow too quickly for their bodies to keep up.”
The details of the planned ban are still not concrete, and there are still some technical and legal questions being investigated by the government ahead of the introduction of the ban.
Still, the proposal has received widespread support from animal welfare groups across Denmark.
To DR, Animal Protection Denmark’s director Britta Riis said, “We’re very pleased. This is something we’ve worked on for decades, and it’s a production method that needs to stop.”
“Politicians need to think very carefully”
However, not everyone is equally pleased by the idea. Jeppe Mouritsen, chair of the Danish Agriculture & Food Council’s poultry section, criticised the move.
He said, “Politicians need to think very carefully before opting for a Danish solo run. If production is banned in Denmark while we continue importing the same products from abroad, all we have done is move jobs out of the country and lose our ability to influence animal welfare.”
In a news item on its website, the council’s poultry section also said that the debate lacked proportion.
