Denmark pushes for EU ban on ‘turbo chickens’ as secret footage causes outrage

The Danish government is pursuing a national ban on “turbo chickens” and is calling for the fast-growing breed to be prohibited across Europe.

The move comes amid widespread outrage over allegations of lawbreaking by one of Denmark’s big chicken producers.

According to a TV2 documentary broadcast last week, producer Christian Tvergaard broke Danish law by giving chickens only half the amount of darkness per day that is required, in order to encourage them to eat more. The documentary featured secretly filmed footage from a chicken coop in North Jutland.

The Ross 308 breed, labelled the turbo chicken, is the most widespread in Danish poultry production. It grows from about 50 grams to 2kg in just 33 days. Such rapid growth can lead to problems with the animal’s bones and organs. Other chicken breeds take between 46 and 63 days to reach the same weight.

Denmark’s minister for nature and animal welfare, Christian Rabjerg Madsen, said he discouraged Danes from buying turbo chickens, telling the broadcaster: “I want to work for a national ban. But it’s clear that this is something that needs to be investigated both legally and economically.”

He added: “Now we will work for a national ban, we will work for a ban at EU level.”

In response to the documentary, Tvergaard has admitted to making some wrong decisions.

He told TV2: “I look inward and must admit that I have made some wrong decisions. There is no excuse for that, but I can learn from it and correct where I have not done well enough.

“And I have done that, both when it comes to the lighting programme and a number of the workflows we have in the stable, where both procedures and the roster have been tightened up.”

The proposal for the ban on turbo chickens is gaining political momentum and attracting cross-party support in Denmark. But industry figures warn that to be effective, any ban must include imported chickens as well.

Klement Hinkbøl Ribergaard, the chief executive of chicken producer Danpo, said: “If Denmark alone bans the production of fast-growing chickens while shops, restaurants and consumers in the Danish market can continue to buy imported, fast-growing chicken of more or less questionable quality, we risk a situation in which animal welfare certainly does not benefit.”

With fast-growing breeds so prominent across the EU, it would mark a landmark shift. According to Eurogroup for Animals, 95% of chickens in the bloc are now raised in intensive systems and bred to produce the cheapest amount of meat possible, creating a “race to the bottom”.

“Fast-growing breeds are inherently predisposed to suffering, with their bodies growing so quickly they can barely stand on their legs,” said Reineke Hameleers, the advocacy group’s chief executive. “Denmark’s political willingness to stop this is an example that should be followed by the EU, for it presents the progressiveness this industry needs, one that is backed up by scientific evidence.”

Britta Riis, chief executive of Animal Protection Denmark, said turbo chickens were the result of a “deeply unethical and grotesque form of breeding” that led to “systematic abuse” and considerable suffering for the birds. The organisation is calling for all chickens to be bred for the same amount of time as organic breeds, which is 56 days.

Animal welfare has featured heavily in public debate in recent months in Denmark. The issue of pig farming dominated the last general election to such an extent that it was nicknamed the “pig election”.

The country is due to stop mink farming by August 2029 after the current government decided not to seek an EU exemption on the practice.