Congratulations!
You’re about to purchase and experience better chicken! The Better Chicken Project was founded by Global Animal Partnership (G.A.P.), one of the largest farm animal welfare standards and labeling organizations in North America. Purchasing products with the G.A.P. Animal Welfare Certified + Better Chicken Project Certified label means you are helping us change the chicken industry for good.
Changing the chicken
industry for good.™
Changing the chicken
industry for good.™
Congratulations!
You’re about to purchase and experience better chicken! The Better Chicken Project was founded by Global Animal Partnership (G.A.P.), one of the largest farm animal welfare standards and labeling organizations in North America. Purchasing products with the G.A.P. Animal Welfare Certified + Better Chicken Project Certified label means you are helping us change the chicken industry for good.
G.A.P. ANIMAL WELFARE CERTIFIED
- Enriched environment
- More space to move around
- All vegetarian diet
- 100+ Welfare requirements covering the life cycle of the animal
G.A.P. BETTER CHICKEN PROJECT CERTIFIED
- Better breeds
- Better meat quality
- Better animal health outcomes
- Better bird mobility
This label means quality. Because we’ve done our research.
The chicken breeds selected went through a rigorous science-based process resulting in birds with better welfare outcomes and better meat quality (so you won’t have to worry about woody breasts or white striping). These breeds were tested against 16 criteria around physical health and welfare and were found to have fewer leg and foot problems, with more use of environmental enrichments to express their natural behaviors (and be chickens!). The label also means the birds were managed to G.A.P.’s rigorous 5-Step® Animal Welfare Standards.
We think you will taste the difference.
Based on research:
largest to date multi-disciplinary broiler chicken welfare study
Better for birds:
chickens experience very few leg and foot problems
Better meat quality:
significantly less woody breasts and white striping
Photo courtesy of Mary’s Chicken
What is the Better Chicken Project?
G.A.P. established the Better Chicken Project initiative to reinvent the modern-day broiler chicken and change the chicken industry for good.
With the help of a Technical Working Group made up of scientists, producers, breeders, and animal advocates, G.A.P. established a detailed, comprehensive process and protocol for defining eligible broiler breeds that meet our certification criteria.
The goal of the Better Chicken Project is to establish better welfare outcomes for broiler chickens and better meat quality for you, while also maintaining economic sustainability for farmers.
What do the labels mean?
Our tiered labeling program allows for continuous improvement on farm. The higher the number or “step” printed along the bottom of the label, the more the chicken’s environment mimics a natural one. Adding the Better Chicken Project Certified label to our Animal Welfare Certified label means that not only did the farms meet G.A.P.’s rigorous chicken welfare standards, the farms also raised broiler chicken breeds that were approved by G.A.P. as having higher welfare outcomes.
BASE CERTIFICATION (STEP 1)
This label signifies that the farm has met 100+ farm animal welfare standards including:
- Enriched environment to encourage natural behaviors
- More space to move around
- Daily monitoring of their physical health and environment
- Access to natural light in their indoor barn
- Hours of light and darkness for activity and rest
- Constant access to food and water
- A healthy vegetarian diet with no animal by-products
+ G.A.P. Better Chicken Project approved breed
ENRICHED ENVIRONMENT (STEP 2)
The label means the farm has met ALL standards of Base Certification PLUS:
- Even more space, ground covering, and air quality requirements
- Even more enrichments to allow them to express their natural behaviors (i.e., straw bales and perches)
+ G.A.P. Better Chicken Project approved breed
OUTDOR ACCESS (STEP 3)
The label means the farm has met ALL standards of Enriched Environment Certification PLUS:
- The choice of remaining indoors or outdoors (seasonally)
- Added enrichments both indoors and out
- Access to shade in summer to keep cool
- Access to feed and water in both environments
+ G.A.P. Better Chicken Project approved breed
PASTURE RAISED (STEP 4)
The label means the farm has met ALL standards of Outdoor Access Certification PLUS:
- Access to pasture year-round (during the day)
- Farmers sustainably manage their environments to maintain pasture and vegetation
- Shorter transport time to slaughter facility
+ G.A.P. Better Chicken Project approved breed
ANIMAL CENTERED (STEP 5)
The label means the farm has met ALL standards of Pasture Raised Certification PLUS:
- No physical alterations were performed
- Protection on pasture from harsh weather (shelters, windbreaks, etc.)
- Transport time to slaughter facilities is limited to short distances
+ G.A.P. Better Chicken Project approved breed
ENTIRE LIFE ON FARM (STEP 5+)
This is our top-tier of animal welfare certification. The label means the farm has met ALL standards of Animal Centered Certification PLUS:
- All chickens are processed on-farm, or through the use of a mobile slaughter facility, which minimizes stress and allows them to live their entire lives on the same farm.
+ G.A.P. Better Chicken Project approved breed
Look for the label and shop these brands for G.A.P. Better Chicken
Why did G.A.P. provide funding for broiler chicken research?
G.A.P.’s 5-Step® Animal Welfare Certification program impacts the lives of over 200 million chickens each year. G.A.P. Standards ensured the bird’s environment, diet, and day-to-day management was optimized, but some welfare challenges still lingered. And these can only be solved by getting to the root cause – breed.
Because broiler chickens have been bred for efficiency and yield for over six decades, this has resulted in unintended consequences in the bird’s welfare as well as meat quality. It was time for something to be done and G.A.P. was uniquely positioned to make a difference. We used the results of the largest-ever multi-discipline and multi-breed, broiler chicken welfare study to develop a proprietary framework and scoring criteria in order to come up with a list of acceptable broiler breeds. Read that study here.
Breeds currently meeting G.A.P.’s Breed Assessment Protocols are listed here.
Broiler breed is critical in
addressing welfare issues such as:
G.A.P. Better Chicken Project Eligible Breeds*
| Female Line | Male Line | Approved Crosses |
| Aviagen Ranger | Aviagen Classic | Aviagen Ranger Classic |
| Aviagen Ranger | Aviagen Gold | Aviagen Ranger Gold |
| Aviagen Ranger | Aviagen Premium | Aviagen Ranger Premium |
| Aviagen Ranger | Aviagen Rowan | Aviagen Rowan Ranger |
| Cobb 500 | Sasso C441 | Cobb-Sasso 200 (CS200) |
| Cooks Venture Pioneer | Cooks Venture Pioneer | Cooks Venture Pioneer |
| Hubbard JA57 | Hubbard M77 | Hubbard JA757 |
| Hubbard JA87 | Hubbard M77 | Hubbard JA787 |
| Hubbard JA87 | Hubbard ColorYield | Hubbard JACY87 |
| Hubbard REDBRO | Hubbard M77 | Hubbard REDBRO |
| Hubbard Redbro M (mini) | Hubbard Redbro | Hubbard Redbro M |
| Important! Only the specific cross breeds in black are approved, NOT the individual male and female parent lines and NOT the reverse combinations. | ||
* Please note that this list is not meant to be exhaustive. G.A.P. continues to work with breeders to test more breeds and, ultimately, add more of these to our list so that we can supply you – the consumer – with #betterchicken
Look for our label across meat, eggs, dairy and pet food products when you shop. Click here to learn more.
GlobalAnimalPartnership.org
