A major gap in reported poultry figures may be masking the true environmental cost of England’s booming chicken industry, according to new research published today by The Wildlife Trusts.
The conservation group says millions of birds are missing from the datasets used by government agencies to shape policies on farming, pollution and land management. It's a discrepancy that could have serious consequences for our riverways, natural habitats, and native wildlife.
The Trusts' latest report, Counting Chickens: An analysis of UK poultry numbers found that at least 25 million birds are absent from official records across four of England’s biggest poultry-producing counties: Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Shropshire and Herefordshire. The Trusts surmise that similar gaps are likely to exist nationwide, calculating that the real number of uncounted birds across the UK could exceed 67 million.
Why miscounting chickens is an issue
That missing data matters because every additional flock of chickens generates waste. The report estimates the unrecorded birds produce more than 185,000 cubic metres of manure annually. To put this in perspective, that's enough to fill 74 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Environmental groups warn that much of this waste eventually seeps into rivers, carrying high levels of nitrogen and phosphorus that can damage ecosystems and threaten aquatic species.
The issue is particularly acute in rivers such as the River Wye and the River Severn, where pollution linked to intensive farming has already been blamed for damage to ecosystems, including impact on endangered Atlantic salmon populations. There's also the issue of more chickens being packed into the same amount of space, sparking concerns for welfare and quality of life.
Vicki Hird, strategic lead on agriculture at The Wildlife Trusts says: “The evidence is clear: Government decisions on poultry permits, and subsequent land use and pollution impacts, are based on misleading data. Our new research shows that in England alone, these inaccuracies could mean an undercounting of poultry by at least a third, with huge impacts on our natural world, as well as on the health of the rivers and waterways we all enjoy for bathing and drinking water.”
Beyond waterways, campaigners argue the true footprint of industrial poultry farming extends to land use and feed production. The report also highlights the growing amount of land needed to produce poultry feed, alongside the environmental pressures linked to heavy pesticide and fertiliser use.
The Wildlife Trusts is now calling for an urgent overhaul of how poultry numbers are recorded and regulated. The group says environmental permits for intensive poultry units should account not only for the size of individual farms, but also for their cumulative impact on surrounding landscapes and waterways.
Top image: Free-range chickens and hens, Stow On The Wold, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom (Photo by Tim Graham/Getty Images)
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