High Court to hear legal challenge over removal of chicken handling rules
The government will face a High Court challenge this week over changes to animal welfare rules governing the handling of chickens.
The Animal Law Foundation will appear at the Royal Courts of Justice in London on Tuesday and Wednesday (3-4 February), challenging the removal of an EU-derived protection that had prohibited chickens from being handled by their legs during transport and related operations.
The foundation says the change represents the first dilution of animal welfare standards since the UK left the European Union.
Until recently, the restriction was set out in European Transport Regulation 1/2005. The wording stated: “It shall be prohibited to… lift or drag the animals by head, ears, horns, legs, tail or fleece, or handle them in such a way as to cause them unnecessary pain or suffering.”
The Animal Law Foundation argues that handling chickens by their legs can cause pain and distress, as well as injuries such as fractures and dislocations.
It also says inverting birds can restrict breathing, as their internal organs press against their lungs, which are not protected by a diaphragm.
The practice remains common during catching and loading on UK farms. Campaigners argue it is driven by commercial pressures to improve efficiency when birds are collected for slaughter.
Despite the earlier regulation, the government permitted leg handling through its Code of Practice for the Welfare of Laying Hens and Pullets and the Code of Practice for the Welfare of Meat Chickens and Meat Breeding Chickens.
The Animal Law Foundation previously challenged those codes as unlawful. Instead of enforcing the existing restriction or amending the guidance, the government chose to amend the legislation.
The change was introduced through a Statutory Instrument that came into force in July 2025. The government has previously said the amendment was intended to align the law with established industry practice.
The legal challenge will focus on the consultation process that led to the change. The High Court has ruled that the foundation has an arguable case.
Morgane Alting von Geusau, advocacy and communications coordinator at the Animal Law Foundation, said: “Consultations must be fair.”
She added: “Whilst a public authority can have a ‘preferred’ outcome, it must not have a predetermined outcome or have a closed mind.”
She said the government had made its intentions clear before the consultation began, adding: “The outcome of this hearing will affect the lives of billions of chickens in the UK.”
Concerns around chicken handling have previously been highlighted in an investigation by Animal Justice Project, which showed catchers appearing to handle multiple birds at once.
The case will be heard over two days, with the outcome expected to clarify how EU-derived animal welfare law can be amended in post-Brexit Britain and what this could mean for poultry handling practices going forward.
