Wise up about what you eat this Farm Animal Week

This Farm Animal Week (26 July – 1 August) The RSPCA are urging people to find out more about the lives of farm animals and how you can help improve their welfare.

If it’s news to you that the majority of the 860 million chickens reared for meat in the UK are slaughtered at around just five weeks – then you’re not alone.

A new YouGov survey – carried out by RSPCA Freedom Food to mark our annual Farm Animal Week – shows that most people don’t have a great awareness of farm animals and farm animal welfare.

The survey revealed that just 16 per cent of people know that most of the chickens farmed for Britain’s most popular meat are slaughtered at around 35 days old, with the majority of people (59 per cent) thinking they live for three months.

The survey also revealed the following.

• 69 per cent of people don’t know the average dairy cow produces 12,471 pints of milk a year (or 34 pints a day) – with the highest number of people (44 per cent) thinking dairy cows produce less than half that amount (5,341 pints a year).
• The majority of people (75 per cent) don’t know that the chests of farmed male turkeys are so huge they are unable to mate naturally.
• 61 per cent of people don’t know that more than half (55 per cent) of egg laying hens are still kept in cruel battery cages.

Learn more about farm animals

Check out our new interactive web pages - where a different farm animal will feature each day of the week.

Support the RSPCA with a donation from your pay.