The animal welfare group, SAFE, is calling for a change of attitude in the poultry industry and wants farmers to stop the selective breeding of chickens.
SAFE executive director Hans Kriek says through selective breeding during the past 30 years, the poultry industry has halved the time it takes to raise a bird to the desired slaughter weight of 2kgs.
He says chickens are now killed at only six weeks of age.
Mr Kriek says the attitude of getting costs down at the sake of the bird's welfare needs to stop.
He says it's a commercial breed which is kept all over the world, but no one has made the effort to breed for a healthy bird, only for a fast growing bird, and that attitude has to change.
