The film Chicken Run follows a group of hens who try and escape a poultry farm – but it turns out there really could be more than 67 million missing chickens in the UK, new figures suggest.
Experts have unearthed huge gaps in poultry figures reported by the government compared to other agencies.
They warned these significant inaccuracies could have far–reaching effects on land, manure and pollution management.
Failure to recognise the true scale of chicken farming in England alone means the equivalent of 74 extra Olympic–sized swimming pools of poultry manure currently goes unreported every year, they said.
This highly concentrated waste accumulates in the surrounding environment, including in canals, rivers and lakes.
Pollutants such as nitrogen and phosphorous can have devastating impacts on both water quality and the wildlife that live there.
Vicki Hird, strategic lead on agriculture at The Wildlife Trusts said: ‘The evidence is clear: government decisions on poultry permits, and subsequent land use and pollution impacts, are based on misleading data.
‘Our new research shows that in England alone, these inaccuracies could mean an undercounting of poultry by at least a third, with huge impacts on our natural world, as well as on the health of the rivers and waterways we all enjoy for bathing and drinking water.’
There could be more than 67 million missing chickens in the UK, new figures suggest (stock image)
Chicken population density across the UK, with the four hotspot counties – Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Shropshire and Herefordshire – highlighted
The report, called ‘Counting Chickens – An analysis of UK poultry numbers‘, follows numerous Freedom of Information (FOI) requests.
It reveals major differences in poultry data in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)’s annual survey and other data providers, including the Environment Agency and the Animal and Plant Health Agency.
These agencies appear to contradict each other in their estimates of the numbers of chickens across four chicken hotspot counties – Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Shropshire and Herefordshire.
Analysis showed that DEFRA’s survey reports bird numbers are up to 150 per cent lower than the other agencies.
It suggests there could be 25 million birds currently missing in published data from these four counties alone.
And if the scale of inaccuracy was mirrored at a UK level, it could mean over 67 million birds are currently unaccounted for.
‘Left unchecked, industrial levels of poultry waste can have significant impacts on waterways such as the River Wye and Severn, where nitrates and phosphorus levels from manure have caused severe ecological decline and damaging impacts to wildlife populations including endangered Atlantic salmon,’ The Wildlife Trusts said.
‘The increasing levels of land required, both in the UK and globally, to feed poultry also has significant environmental impacts, especially due to the large quantities of pesticides and fertilisers needed for feed production.’
A dead pike in the River Wye. Experts warn that industrial levels of poultry waste can have significant impacts on waterways such as this
Plants covered in algae and sediment due to increased pollution in the River Wye. Nitrates and phosphororos levels from manure have caused severe ecological decline
The Wildlife Trusts believe that misleading figures are being used to inform Government policies on land, the environment and river pollution.
They may also affect decisions made about permits and planning permissions for additional poultry operations.
This could mean the huge impacts on water pollution, nature and land use are being ignored.
The Wildlife Trusts said urgent action must be taken to ensure data on the UK poultry flock in all four nations is accurate.
Correct figures must be used to inform decisions on growth plans and regulations, it argued.
‘With discussions underway about both water reforms and the profitability of the poultry sector, it’s essential that the government ensures accurate data is being used to inform policy changes and action,’ Ms Hird added.
‘Alongside this, permitting rules must take the wider impact of poultry units on the environment into account, while farmers should also be supported to transition to less polluting practices.
‘Only then will we have a poultry system which works for farmers, wildlife and for people long into the future.’
The discrepancy in figures could mean the huge impacts on water pollution, nature and land use are being ignored
Over the last few years, the River Wye’s health status has been downgraded amid heavy pollution from intensive farming.
The waterway, which begins in Wales and runs along the border with England to the Severn Estuary, skirts numerous intensive chicken units and livestock farms.
More than 20 million birds are believed to be housed in these industrial farms, which produce tonnes of phosphate–rich manure, later spread across fields and leaked into the water.
Last year, law firm Leigh Day brought the biggest legal claim over environmental pollution in the UK’s history when it revealed its lawsuit against Avara Foods poultry group – which it claims is responsible for around 75 per cent of the area’s poultry – and Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water – which oversees sewage in the region – over ‘their alleged role in polluting’ the river, as well as its nearby siblings, the Usk and the Lugg.
The action was made on behalf of more than 4,000 locals exasperated at the state of the Wye – the fourth longest river in the UK.
Once one of the country’s premier fishing rivers, the Wye has become an almost barren body of water with pervasive algae reducing oxygen levels, effectively suffocating life beneath the surface.
If successful, the claim will force the alleged polluters to clean up the rivers.
DEFRA has been contacted for comment.
