Customers of fast-food giants including Pizza Hut, Domino’s and Burger King are unwittingly buying meat from chickens bred to live in unnecessary pain, a report says.

The birds suffer lameness and heart failure because they are forced to grow at exceptionally rapid rates, and skin lesions from being kept in overcrowded sheds, World Animal Protection has claimed.

Activists said growth rates were the equivalent of a baby weighing 47st at just two months old.

But most of the chains said they took animal welfare seriously.

The charity analysed the policies of Burger King, McDonald’s, Nando’s, Pizza Hut, Domino’s Pizza Group PLC, Domino’s Inc, Subway, KFC and Starbucks.

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Its report ranks the brands on the welfare standards of chickens raised for meat, and the companies’ pledges to improve welfare globally and openness.

The authors listed Pizza Hut, Burger King and both Domino’s chains at the bottom of the table, and rated them “very poor” – the lowest of the nine, with Nando’s next, rated “poor”.

Only three of the nine companies scored above “poor”, so most are still failing to take chicken welfare at all seriously, the report, The Pecking Order 2020, claimed.

Burger King, Pizza Hut and Domino’s Plc and Domino’s Inc were all classed as having a “very poor” approach to managing chicken welfare.

Pizza Hut and Burger King both fell compared with a similar report this time last year – meaning they were scored less well on bird welfare.

World Animal Protection has been calling on Nando’s to urgently improve its chicken welfare policies, but it made no progress from last year and again achieved a “poor” rating, the charity says.

The most improved company was KFC, which signed the Better Chicken Commitment.

Ian Woodhurst, of World Animal Protection, said: “While it’s encouraging to see companies like KFC starting to take chicken welfare seriously, many people in the UK are expecting to see other companies, such as Nando’s, also do the right thing for chickens.

“These companies face a real reputational risk if they don’t take action now to move away from the use of fast-growing chickens that suffer catastrophic health issues and live their short lives in unnecessary pain.

“Consumers are becoming increasingly concerned about animal welfare, and these iconic companies have the power to put an end to this suffering.”

About 40 billion meat chickens – broilers – are raised each year in factory farms. They are bred to put on weight so quickly that their brittle bones cannot support their weight, nor can their organs keep up, animal experts claim.

A Burger King spokesperson said responsible animal welfare was a top priority. “We work very closely with our suppliers to ensure that all animals reared for meat are well cared for and treated. We require our meat suppliers and their producers to support the principles of the globally recognised Farm Animal Welfare Council five freedoms.”

A Subway spokeswoman said the chain worked with suppliers to ensure animals were treated well in accordance with its global animal welfare policy. “All UK and Ireland chicken suppliers and their producers must, as a minimum, comply with EU animal welfare legislation, and globally we support the principles of the Farm Animal Welfare Council five freedoms, which is a framework to safeguard and continually improve animal welfare. We are working actively to understand the implications of the European Chicken Commitment, and how this would affect the quality and price of chicken that we are able to offer our guests.”

Pizza Hut said it had stringent policies in place to ensure suppliers adhered to the highest standards. “We are also taking steps to ensure we continue to progress in this area – we support the European Chicken Commitment, and as such we will expect our suppliers to meet a series of set requirements for all of the chicken in our supply chain by 2026.”

(World Animal Protection ) (World Animal Protection)

A Nando’s spokesperson said: “We know that as a recognisable chicken restaurant group we have a responsibility to ensure that every aspect of how we source our chicken is done in the best possible way. We welcome initiatives like the Better Chicken Commitment and share the aspiration and recognition of the need to change, which we believe needs to be a combined effort across the industry.”

McDonald’s and Starbucks did not respond to requests to comment.

A Domino’s spokeswoman in the UK said: “We have strict welfare policies and regular checks to ensure our supply partners are 100 per cent compliant. All our chickens are reared in houses with natural daylight and enrichment, including perches and mini bales of straw. We do not have any battery cages in our supply chain. Domino’s has published targets for 2020 to ensure we continue improving.” Domino's Inc declined to comment.