Focus on Chicken
We formed the Chicken Sustainability Advisory Council (CSAC) in 2018 to inform our chicken welfare and sustainability strategies. The group includes welfare experts, suppliers, leading academics and researchers, as well asnongovernmental organizations (NGOs) such as the World Wildlife Fund.
McDonald’s is a founding member of the International Poultry Welfare Alliance (IPWA) and the U.S. Roundtable of Sustainable Poultry and Eggs.
For details of our global chicken antibiotics efforts, see ourResponsible Antibiotic Usepage.
Developing a Cage-Free Egg Supply Chain
In 2015,our U.S. market, which purchased almost 2 billion eggs in 2023, made a commitment to sourcing 100% cage-free eggs by the end of 2025.McDonald’s engaged animal welfare experts and academics to help egg producers build and renovate their farms and implement new technology to help us promote a cage-free egg supply large enough to meet our needs.
Through years of partnership with and the support of our suppliers, we were able to drive the significant industry change necessary to meet our target. We are proud to share that, as of the end of 2023, McDonald’s has achieved its goal to source 100% cage-free eggs in the U.S. – two years ahead ofschedule.
We have also made progress on sourcing cage-free eggs in our other markets across the globe, For example, Canada and Arcos Dorados (the largest McDonald’s Developmental Licensee, with operations in Latin America and the Caribbean) have also set goals of sourcing 100% cage-free eggs by the end of 2025, with Canada sourcing more than 85% cage-free eggs as of the end of 2022. Additionally, Australia2 France and Germany have each already achieved a 100% cage-free egg supply chain.
Sourcing Broiler Chickens Raised With Improved Welfare Outcomes
McDonald’s takes an outcome-based, holistic approach to chicken sustainability – one that prioritizes animal health and welfare, while also balancing additional considerations such as environmental impacts.
In 2017, McDonald’s announced a global commitment to source chickens raised with improved welfare outcomes. To achieve this, we outlined eight Broiler Welfare Commitments in 13 of our key markets1, which are expected to be fully implemented by the end of 2024. The in-scope markets represented more than 58% of our global chicken supply as of the end of 2022.
Our eight commitments to broiler welfare include:
- Establishing and convening the McDonald’s CSAC.
- Measuring key farm-level welfare outcomes.
- Developing state-of-the-art welfare measurement technology.
- Providing enrichments to support natural behavior.
- Running commercial trials to study the effects of certain production parameters on welfare outcomes.
- Utilizing CAS in the U.S. and Canada.
- Implementing third-party, on-farm auditing.
- Completing an assessment to measure the feasibility of extending these commitments to additional global markets where McDonald’s operates.
To see additional detail and latest progress on each commitment, please read more in our latest Purpose & Impact report.
Dr. Temple Grandin, animal welfare expert and livestock researcher who pioneered humane slaughterhouse practices
FAQs
In 1997, David Fraser and his colleagues at the University of British Columbia introduced a framework complementary to the Five Freedoms to demonstrate this point. They proposed there are three major concepts of animal welfare: health and production; natural behavior; and feelings (affective states).
What are the 5 examples of animal welfare? ›
Good animal welfare requires disease prevention and treatment, responsible care, proper housing, management, nutrition, humane handling, and—when necessary—humane euthanasia.
What is meant by animal welfare? ›
Thus, the most widely accepted definition of animal welfare is that it comprises the state of the animal's body and mind, and the extent to which its nature (genetic traits manifest in breed and temperament) is satisfied (11).
What is the difference between animal care and animal welfare? ›
But enclosures also need to be species-specific and provide opportunities for all natural behaviours from that species' repertoire. The provision of that environment is the care, how the animal experiences and copes with the conditions in which it lives is the welfare.
What are the 4 principles of animal welfare? ›
Animals must be provided water, food, proper handling, health care, and an environment appropriate to their care and use, with thoughtful consideration for their species-typical biology and behavior.
What is bad animal welfare? ›
Category #1 : Abuse and Neglect
They are animal cruelty abuses such as dragging downed crippled cattle, rough handling, throwing baby dairy calves, beating an animal, starving an animal, failing to provide shelter, or shackling and hoisting an animal prior to ritual slaughter.
What are the 5 F's of animal welfare? ›
In summary, the report stated that animals should have the freedom “to stand up, lie down, turn around, groom themselves and stretch their limbs.” These freedoms became known as “Brambell's Five Freedoms” and were expanded on to create a more detail list of the needs.
What are the 4 Rs of animal welfare? ›
The 4 R alternative, viz. Refining, Reduction, Replacement and Reproduction mainly leads to the minimization of animals dissected and they help in maintaining biodiversity. The experimenter should perform skillfully with knowledge and should be provided with the minimum number of animals without cruelty.
What are the five pillars of animal welfare? ›
These Five Freedoms are globally recognized as the gold standard in animal welfare, encompassing both the mental and physical well-being of animals; they include: freedom from hunger and thirst; freedom from discomfort; freedom from pain, injury, and disease; freedom to express normal and natural behavior (e.g. ...
What are 10 animal rights? ›
Accepting the doctrine of animal rights means:
- No experiments on animals.
- No breeding and killing animals for food or clothes or medicine.
- No use of animals for hard labour.
- No selective breeding for any reason other than the benefit of the animal.
- No hunting.
- No zoos or use of animals in entertainment.
Good animal welfare requires disease prevention and veterinary treatment, appropriate shelter, management, nutrition, humane handling and humane slaughter/killing.
What are the 5 needs of animal welfare? ›
The 5 welfare needs
Feed a suitable diet. Allow the animal to be able to exhibit normal behaviour patterns. Allow any need it has to be housed with, or apart from, other animals. Be protected from pain, suffering, injury and disease.
Is animal welfare a good thing? ›
Animal welfare is important because there are so many animals around the world suffering from being used for entertainment, food, medicine, fashion, scientific advancement, and as exotic pets. Every animal deserves to have a good life where they enjoy the benefits of the Five Domains.
What does animal welfare certified mean? ›
Certified Animal Welfare Approved by AGW is the only label that guarantees animals are raised outdoors on pasture or range for their entire lives on an independent farm using truly sustainable, high-welfare farming practices.
What is meant by animal health? ›
The concept of animal health covers animal diseases, as well as the interplay between animal welfare, human health, environmental protection, and food safety.
What are the three orientations of animal welfare? ›
There are three primary theories, or perspectives, on animal welfare - biological functioning, natural living and affective state.
What are the three approaches to animal welfare? ›
But, we still often come across those same welfare questions, mainly because there are still barriers in actually assessing if the animals are experiencing a good life and thriving. Our approach revolves around the three essential principles: Comfort, Choice, and Control.
What are the three principles of animal welfare? ›
The Three Rs principle was launched in the early 1960s by two English biologists, Russel and Burch in their book “The Principle of Humane Experimental Technique”. The 3 Rs stand for Replacement, Reduction and Refinement. Replacement alternatives refer to methods which avoid or replace the use of animals.
Which 3 of these form the three R principles of animal welfare? ›
The principles of the 3Rs (Replacement, Reduction and Refinement) were developed over 50 years ago providing a framework for performing more humane animal research.
