As one of the United Kingdom’s most popular fast-food chains, it sells almost 400 pieces of chicken every minute.

Now conditions on the farms that supply KFC with 23 million chickens a year can be shown for the first time.

The images show tens of thousands of chickens kept together in huge sheds, alive for just 35 days before they are gassed.

A documentary shows the birds living amid their excrement in conditions activists say are “oppressive” — but the farmer in charge claims it’s “a very good life.”

Footage screened on BBC1 focuses on one farm where about 34,000 chickens are penned into a shed with few windows.

When they are large enough the chickens are gassed, chopped into nine pieces and sent to warehouses in large trays where they are then distributed to branches nationwide.

About 1,000 farms in the country supply KFC with 23 million chickens a year. The program focuses on a farmer called Andrew who says the chickens at his farm — left to do nothing but eat and drink until they reach the required weight — have a good life, saying he “wouldn’t mind being a chicken in here.”

Scenes show the chickens as they walk around in their own excrement while a layer of sawdust has turned murky brown from mopping up waste.

Asked if he thinks this is a problem, Andrew says, “No, no, no, that’s not a problem at all, because you see here, this is all sawdust, so the idea is to keep this as dry as possible.” Asked whether he feels it is a shame their lives end so soon, he says, “No, they probably have a short life but they have a very good life.”

A BBC spokesman said the documentary offers “an impartial look at KFC, one of the United Kingdom’s most recognizable businesses.” It is the first time cameras have been allowed access to KFC.

作为英国最受欢迎的快餐连锁店之一，肯德基每分钟差不多能卖出四百块鸡肉。

现在，每年为肯德基提供超过2300万只鸡的农场首次被曝光。

图片显示成千上万只鸡被关在一个大棚子里，这些鸡从出生到被气体杀死只有35天。

纪录片显示，这些禽类生活在自己的粪便之中，动物保护主义者说这是一种“让人感觉压迫”的环境，但是掌管这个农场的人声称“这是很好的生活环境”。

英国广播公司BBC1频道播出的这部纪录片关注的农场将34000只鸡关在一个几乎没有窗户的棚子里。

当这些鸡长得足够大的时候，将被毒气杀死，剁成九块，送到总仓库。然后分发给全国的各家分店。

每年大概有1000个农场为肯德基提供2300万只鸡。这个节目关注了一个叫安德鲁的养鸡农民，他说，他农场里的鸡在达到要求的体重之前，每天除了吃就是喝，别的什么都不用干，它们都拥有很好的生活。他还表示，他“不介意成为这个农场里的一只鸡”。

从视频场景可以看到，那些鸡在它们自己的排泄物上面漫步，铺在下面的一层层的锯木屑由于长期清理上面的排泄物已经变成暗棕色了。

当被问及这些会不会有问题，安德鲁说：“不，不，不，这根本不是问题。你看这里，这些都是锯木屑，所以主要的问题是尽量保持这些木屑干燥。”

被问及这些鸡只存活这么短时间是否让他觉得可惜，他说：“不，他们虽然生命和短

暂，但是他们拥有很好的生活。”

BBC的一名发言人说，这部纪录片提供了一个客观公正的视角来看待肯德基，这个在英国最知名的企业。

这是第一次肯德基允许摄像机进入内部拍摄。

    Words to Learn 相关词汇

    【压迫的】yāpò de oppressive cruelly overbearing, tyrannical

    【公正的】 gōngzhēng de impartial favoring no one side or party more than another, without prejudice or bias, fair