Chicken Welfare: Raised Responsibly
Across our brands globally, Yum! is building a framework that establishes consistent expectations for chicken welfare measurement and data governance. We call this framework Yum! Raised Responsibly—a unified, science-based approach that is being integrated into our global supply chain and is grounded in measurable outcomes and transparency.
We have one clear goal: to continually improve the way our chickens are raised. This framework reflects our long-standing belief that the humane and ethical treatment of animals is not only the right thing to do, but also a driver of food quality, supply chain strength and overall sustainability.
Grounded in the Five Freedoms
At the core of Yum! Raised Responsibly are the Five Freedoms, which guide how animals should be cared for:
Freedom from hunger or thirst
by ready access to fresh water and a diet to maintain full health and vigor.
Freedom from discomfort
by providing an appropriate environment including shelter and a comfortable resting area.
Freedom from pain, injury or disease
by prevention or rapid diagnosis and treatment.
Freedom to express normal behavior
by providing sufficient space, proper facilities and company of the animal’s own kind.
Freedom from fear and distress
by ensuring conditions and treatment which avoid mental stress.
These principles shape our policies and practices across raising, handling, transport and processing. They also reflect our belief that welfare expectations evolve alongside science. As understanding advances, holistic models such as the Five Domains, help inform how physical health, environment and mental state interact.
By embedding these principles into Yum! Raised Responsibly, we aim to drive meaningful welfare improvements while strengthening consistency, trust and resilience across our global supply chain.
The foundations of our approach
Science Leads
Meaningful improvement starts with understanding real-world conditions. Yum! has more than 20 years of experience regularly reviewing animal welfare commitments and best practices across brands and markets to keep our approach aligned with international benchmarks and evolving science.
Our science-based metrics look at:
- Overall chicken health – Evaluates bird weight, age and overall condition to make sure chickens are healthy throughout their lives.
- Mobility while chickens are raised – Tracks factors that show how easily chickens can move, including space, leg health and access to enrichment like perches and natural light.
- Reduction of medical interventions – Monitors interventions like antibiotic usage, early-life treatments and percentage of houses treated to reduce reliance on routine medications like regular and preventative antibiotics.
- Chicken mortality – Measures the rate of flock loss in early ages to identify and correct potential issues.
- Mental and physical stress – Evaluates factors such as environmental enrichment, lighting, transport times and gentle handling at the end of life.
Grounded in Governance
Transparency is essential to building trust with stakeholders. Yum! is committed to showing progress on chicken welfare across brands and regions using globally collected data wherever possible.
- We share our journey—including progress, challenges and learnings—and issue regular updates as the Yum! Raised Responsibly framework continues to mature. Our reporting tracks key welfare indicators, including bird health and livability, environmental and housing conditions, humane handling during transport and other outcome-based measures.
- Oversight of animal welfare is led by the Yum! Brands Global Animal Welfare Governance Council, a cross-functional group of senior leaders from Food Safety and Quality Assurance, Sustainability, Supply Chain and our Brands.
- The Council evaluates and oversees welfare initiatives, monitors progress, facilitates collaboration and addresses emerging risks—ensuring animal welfare remains integral to Yum!’s ethical sourcing and sustainability objectives.
Sustainability at the Center
Some welfare metrics focus narrowly on individual inputs, such as breed type or housing configuration, without considering broader environmental and resource impacts. In some cases, changes that extend growth cycles or reduce productivity can increase feed and land use, water and energy demand, greenhouse gas emissions, and put pressure on supply availability and affordability.
These tradeoffs matter. A responsible sourcing approach must consider not only how chickens are raised, but also the sustainability of the systems that support them. Yum! Raised Responsibly takes a holistic approach that emphasizes outcome-based indicators and supplier engagement rather than prescriptive standards, allowing solutions that are effective, locally relevant and scalable.
Animal welfare is not a static commitment—it is an ongoing responsibility we have recognized for more than two decades. What began as an initial governance council is now a business priority supported by data, tools, training and partnerships.
- We work closely with suppliers, industry partners and internal teams to identify gaps, strengthen performance and continuously improve welfare outcomes across our global supply chain.
- KFC has led the way with a robust, science-based program that systematically collects and analyzes welfare data and embeds insights into routine supplier engagement and performance management. For our other brands, expanded data collection will begin in Europe.
- These metrics focus on outcomes that reflect chickens lived experience, including overall health, mobility, use of enrichment, reduction of medical interventions, mortality trends, and indicators of physical and mental stress.
Improving chicken welfare at scale requires collaboration. We focus on research, innovation and sustainability, working with experts, suppliers and industry groups to align with evolving knowledge and expectations. Through these partnerships, we aim to build resilient supply chains and deliver better outcomes for animals.
- International Poultry Welfare Alliance (IPWA): As members of IPWA, our global Key Welfare Indicators (KWIs) are aligned with best-practice guidelines, supporting rigor and scalability across commercial supply chains.
- International Poultry Council (IPC): As IPC members, we follow best practices to reduce antibiotic use through improved biosecurity, hygiene, nutrition and responsible veterinary treatment. In 2024, Yum! endorsed IPC’s stewardship principles that are supported by TRANSFORM, a global industry-led coalition.
- International Consortium for Antimicrobial Stewardship in Agriculture (ICASA): Through ICASA, with support from Taco Bell, we work across protein supply chains to improve transparency, advance research and combat antimicrobial resistance.
A Global Pathway for All Our Brands
Our brands operate within an increasingly shared global supply chain, while still accommodating regional variations in production systems, regulatory environments and levels of technical maturity. The Yum! Raised Responsibly framework is designed to function across this complexity through a phased global approach that includes:
A common global baseline that applies to all Yum! brands, establishing consistent expectations for chicken welfare measurement and data governance.
A shared set of welfare indicators focused on real-world outcomes used to objectively measure how chickens experience their environment, rather than prescriptive production models.
Regionally adaptive implementation, allowing markets to apply the framework in ways that are credible, practical and aligned with local operating realities.
This approach:
Supports continuous welfare improvement without mandating prescriptive production models
Enables innovation and allows us to learn about a more diverse set of strategies and solutions, as well as location-relevant practices for welfare improvements across different regions and climates
Helps manage environmental footprint alongside animal well-being
Strengthens long-term supply chain resilience
By prioritizing measurable outcomes rather than single-issue solutions, we aim to advance welfare in ways that are durable, scalable and aligned with our broader sustainability commitments.
Responsible Progress at a Global Scale
As one of the world’s largest restaurant companies, Yum! has a responsibility to consider the full impact of its sourcing decisions. Yum! Raised Responsibly reflects a commitment to progress that is thoughtful, evidence-based and sustainable over the long term.
KFC Leading the Way
Since 2018, KFC has developed and implemented a science-based chicken welfare program focused on measurable, outcome-driven indicators, helping the brand move beyond policy commitments toward practical, data-led improvement across its global supply chain.
Through this work, KFC has:
- Established a robust outcome-based chicken welfare data set
- Embedded welfare measurement into routine supplier engagement and performance management
- Published progress reporting in key markets to promote transparency and accountability
- Worked with independent experts and third-party partners to inform methodologies and strengthen data integrity
KFC's impact speaks for itself:
- We’ve monitored the welfare of over 13 billion chickens since the program began in 2018—including 2.2 billion chickens in 2024 alone.
- The number of sites collecting welfare data has tripled, growing from 28 in 2018 to 84 in 2024.
- With farm-level data now included, more than 13,000 farms in our supply chain are actively engaged in improving chicken welfare.
- The program has expanded from 9 countries to 26 countries across 3 continents, embedding welfare measurement on a global scale by 2024.
- As of 2024, 22 KFC markets reported farm-level welfare data, covering more than 138,000 tons of chicken sourced and monitored.
KFC’s experience demonstrates that meaningful welfare improvement at scale depends on consistent measurement, credible data and long-term collaboration with suppliers – not one-time commitments or single-issue solutions.
The Yum! Raised Responsibly platform builds on this foundation, helping to scale proven principles across brands, strengthen governance and create a unified, corporate framework that reflects both animal welfare and sustainability considerations.
