This is Country Tyrone in Northern Ireland, and the home of Moy Park, Waitrose’s chicken producer. Once at the farm the young chicks are turned out into their houses, which have been specially warmed, with feed laid out for their arrival.
They focus on eating together and establishing themselves in the new environment. After 7 days, the birds are adolescent and their first feathers are starting to grow. The shutters can now be lifted and the natural light floods in. This allows the birds to experience the changes in natural light intensity, from daylight, to dark, dusk, cloud and sunshine. From this point on there’s really no intervention, and the use of Anti-biotic growth promoters has long since been removed from Waitrose chicken production. As well as the provision of food, water, heat and light, the farmer also ensures the environment is enriched, by supplying straw bales for the birds to play with and encouraging them to express their natural behaviour.
One common misconception is that all chickens are battery farmed. But in fact the only chickens in the UK that are caged are those that lay eggs. And since all Waitrose’s eating eggs are free-range, not one of it’s suppliers use battery farming. It’s Jo Lawson’s job to make sure that he turns out enough chickens to keep the Waitrose buyer satisfied. But he’s also responsible for making sure that strict welfare guidelines are maintained. One key area where Waitrose has been at the forefront is the access to daylight and controlled light conditions. Less scrupulous breeders have used enforced lighting to accelerate feeding and therefore increase weight gain. Here at Moy Park, the industry standard of 4 hours of darkness per 24 hours is exceeded by Waitrose, which demands 50% longer for dark conditions, giving the chickens a proper night time rest.
And finally, the all important stocking density issue – in layman’s terms, how many chickens can be housed per square metre. Select Farm chickens are given more space than the industry standard, which means they have plenty of room to express their natural behaviour.
In this increasingly competitive world, Waitrose knows that it’s consumers expect affordable chicken that’s available, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year. But they also want to know that their food is produced in a wholesome, natural way.
So how does Waitrose meet these sometimes conflicting requirements? By working closely with chosen suppliers and external organisations, Waitrose have managed to create a pioneering product that’s both consistent and affordable. A product which also exceeds the industry standard for welfare whether the birds are being reared or transported and which ensures all its chickens are humanely slaughtered.
Select farm is unique to Waitrose, it was developed originally by Moy Park and Waitrose together through wanting to improve the welfare standards of chicken. We have taken the welfare standards of chicken to a new level so we give them more space, we give them light, and we give them more fresh air and the farmers enjoy it to. That’s the really good thing, every farm you go and visit the farmers comment on how nice it is to actually see what’s going on outside. So we have not only improved the welfare for the chickens but we have improved the welfare for the farmers as well.
Select Farm farmers don’t supply chickens for any other supermarket but produce exclusively for Waitrose. And almost uniquely in the industry, all the farmers are personally known to the buyers
Waitrose is always trying to improve the standards of all there animal welfare so not just in Chicken on every single species we are looking to actually raise the standards. Its something we are continually doing, we are restlessly dissatisfied with what we have got and we want to always improve what we have got.