Denmark seeks to ban ‘turbo chickens’ and wants the fast-growing breed barred across Europe

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

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

A TV2 documentary broadcast last week alleged that 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, discouraged Danes from buying turbo chickens. He told the broadcaster he wanted to work for a national ban, while making clear the matter needed to be investigated both legally and economically.

The minister added that the government would now work for a national ban and would also work for a ban at EU level.

Producer Christian Tvergaard, for his part, admitted to TV2 that he had made some wrong decisions. He said he looked inward and had to admit he had made wrong decisions, that there was no excuse for that, but that he could learn from it and correct where he had not done well enough.

Tvergaard said he had already made corrections, both in the lighting programme and in a number of workflows in the stable, where procedures and the roster had been tightened up.

The proposal for a ban is gaining political momentum in Denmark and attracting cross-party support. Industry figures, however, warn that to be effective, any ban must include imported chickens as well.

Klement Hinkbøl Ribergaard, chief executive of chicken producer Danpo, said that if Denmark alone banned the production of fast-growing chickens while shops, restaurants and consumers in the Danish market could continue to buy imported fast-growing chicken, animal welfare would certainly not benefit.

According to Eurogroup for Animals, 95% of chickens in the European bloc are now raised in intensive systems and bred to produce the cheapest amount of meat possible. Its chief executive, Reineke Hameleers, said fast-growing breeds are inherently predisposed to suffering, with their bodies growing so quickly they can barely stand on their legs, and that Denmark’s political willingness to stop this was an example the EU should follow.

Britta Riis, chief executive of Animal Protection Denmark, described turbo chickens as the result of a deeply unethical and grotesque form of breeding that led to systematic abuse and considerable suffering for the birds. Her 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 Denmark in recent months. Pig farming dominated the last general election to such an extent that it was nicknamed the “pig election”. The country is also due to stop mink farming by August 2029 after the current government decided not to seek an EU exemption on the practice.