What are the requirements in the RSPCA Australia Standard for meat chickens?

The RSPCA Australia Standards underpin RSPCA Certified, Australia’s leading independent certification scheme focused on improving farm animal welfare. The RSPCA works closely with farmers committed to farming animals to higher animal welfare standards.  

Animal welfare is how animals feel, and it can change based on their experiences in day-to-day life. It can range from good, through neutral to poor, and can be anywhere in between at any given moment. Factors that influence animal welfare include an animal's nutrition, physical environment, health, and their interactions with other animals, people and their environment. 

Addressing animal welfare issues in farming relies on continuous improvement. RSPCA Australia Standards are developed with a focus on meeting the farmed animal’s requirements in terms of highly motivated behaviours, allowing opportunities for positive experiences and thus good animal welfare. The process of developing and reviewing the Standards acknowledges that to achieve a future of higher welfare farming, the requirements within the Standards must be informed by science as well as be realistically achievable by industry. 

The meat chicken Standard well exceeds minimum legal requirements and focuses on providing an environment where meat chickens’ highly motivated behaviours can be met – be that indoors or outdoors. 

Some of the specific requirements of the RSPCA Australia Standard for meat chickens include:

Adequate feed and water that provides for the birds’ daily requirements.

Shed air quality and temperature managed to maintain bird comfort. 

Dry and friable litter (bedding) to allow birds to dust bathe, scratch and forage. 

Lighting of sufficient brightness to encourage activity as well as dark periods for undisturbed rest. The Standard will phase in a requirement for varying light intensity across the shed floor to give birds the choice to access darker or more brightly lit areas during the light period. 

Perches and/or platforms to allow birds to roost at night and rest during the day. 

Pecking objects to encourage exploratory behaviour. 

Outdoor areas (where provided) designed to encourage access and for birds to feel safe. 

Stocking density such that birds have space to move around encouraging activity and improving leg health. The Standard will phase in a reduction in stocking density providing further opportunities for activity, foraging, dust bathing and other behaviours without disturbance from other birds. 

Routine health monitoring including weekly assessments of leg and foot health. 

Sick or injured birds must be euthanased immediately. 

All persons involved in the management, handling and catching of birds must be appropriately trained and competent. 

Birds monitored throughout the day to check that their appearance, vocalisations and behaviour are normal. 

Birds are handled calmly and quietly with specific requirements on how birds must be picked up and carried.  

The number of times a flock of birds can be thinned, i.e. partial removal of a group of birds from the flock for transport to slaughter, is limited to reduce disturbance to the rest of the flock. 

Birds must be stunned prior to slaughter.  

The Standard will phase out routine electrical waterbath stunning – a system which requires shackling of conscious birds, risks painful pre-stun shocks and ineffective stunning. 

The 2026 RSPCA Australia Standard for meat chickens introduces requirements for producers raising higher welfare meat chicken breeds (instead of the fast-growing breeds typically raised for chicken meat). In addition to the general requirements of the Standard mentioned above, these producers must meet the ‘enhanced welfare’ requirements, including: 

• raising birds from higher welfare genetics
• providing natural light
• platforms as well as perches
• access to a veranda and/or outdoor area
• increased space allowance
• upright handling/carrying of birds
• no more than two thinning events per flock
• at slaughter, no shackling of conscious birds.