This Whittingstall chicken programme has afforded me the valuable opportunity of feeling smug and superior to any poor people that eat cheap chicken. Or even more superior than I already would, I mean. Henceforth I won't be buying any chicken unless it has a Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall label upon it.

Not really of course. If you really want to do something worthwhile then buy battery / supermaket-frozen chicken, and then donate the few pounds you save to a charity that supports care for the elderly, or disabled children.

Porridge John, Cardiff, Wales

I apsolutely support HFW and his campaign. We should eat good quality healthy meat even if it means eating it less often. Don't we already have an obesity problem in this country ?? So a little cutting back wouldn't hurt.
Also does anyone realise that when you buy a chicken ready meal its more than likely that the meat comes all the way from
Thailand (I have had this arguement with two leading Supermarkets this year) read the back of the pack. Do you really want to be eating this way? Apart from the health aspect shouldn't we be reducing our carbon foot print?

josephine irani, Oxford, oxfordshire

Anyone else feel the start of the wave happening. The Supermarkets will serve up what we ask for, that's how they make their money. I for one will not buy intensive chicken anymore, it freee range all the way and i guess I am not alone.

Jimbo, Inverness, Scotland

I've watched the programmes with a sinking heart - I have a packet of Tesco chicken breasts in the fridge. I will eat them, but it will be the last 'standard' chicken I buy.

Becci Wooster, Wokingham, Berkshire

What we are too keen to forget is that chicken are real people just like you and me. We would not permit our parents or siblings to be contained within a one-foot-square cage and pumped full of hormones, and so we should not allow the same treatment to be inflicted upon the chickens.

And have you seen the way salmon are treated in farms? Shameful! Let's all convert to soya, and really give the rainforests something to think about.

James Morgan, Cardiff, Wales

Thank You HFW, You have forced my eyes open on the subject of chicken rearing. I will be eating free range from now on. Even If I have to cut back on the quantity of meat I consume, the Quality will certainly be better.

Mark Stowell, Hitchin, Hertfordshire

I fully support the chef's stand on the fate of the chickens.
I have decided to have less meat and buy free range and try and make it last longer by more creative cooking. I made a left over chicken risotto tonight and there will be enough for tomorrow . I think I am on the verge of becoming vegetarian.

Hilary Davies , Twyford, UK

I would like to thank Mr H.F.W and Mr Jamie Oliver for having the gumption and honour to stand up to the giants on our behalf. They have forced our eyes open on issues which we thought we could not control but , we could aspire to their standards and not debase ourselves by buying the cheapest possible.A personal thank you for reminding us what our food should be, real , tasty, nutritiousand not eaten merely as a habit or pastime.

patience ann barton, wirral,

it's not the farmers fault. it's the supermarkets and ignorant consumers. i am 100% behind the campaign. and shall be boycotting supermarkets from now on.

david marsh, manchester,

those complaining that organic chicken is too expensive should think about the amount of meat they eat. i could not afford to eat organic meat everyday so limit meat based meals to a few times a week and eat fish and vegetarian based meals at otehr times. less quality meat is better than more nasty 'meat' which tastes vile.
AM - london

alberta matin, london,

It is the supermarkets pressurising the producers for greater quantities at cheaper prices as it is the supermarkets who say we want cheaper and cheaper food. But it is the supermarkets own competition driven profit making and need to own the consumer 'loyality' (which by the way doesn't exist) which drives the price war. We all need to learn how to use meat and poultry to its maximum, by using every last morsel of the meat we buy and to have smaller portions and greater quantities of vegetables. Buy smaller quantities of quality meat and vary your diet with pasta, vegetables and rice dishes which need not have any meat in them. We need to be re educated on healthy eating, forego that bumper packet of crisps or slab of processed cake to pay for the better quality meat and fish.

LMS, Cheshire, UK

I support the chefs who are promoting this appaling situation.
We simply DON'T need to eat as much meat as we do. I don't have lots of money but will only buy organic or free range and if I can't afford it, otherwise I don't eat it and have a vegetarian meal instead.
Affordability really is no excuse. Too many people have just become used to the fact that we should get cheap meat without really thinking or caring about where it comes from.

Nadia, London, UK

Anybody who says they can't afford a few extra pounds for a free range chicken is an out and out liar. If you can't eat responsibly, do us a favour and don't bother.

Stuart, Hertfordshire, England

I applaud Hugh Fernley Whittingstall for bringing the plight of these and many other animals to people's attention. To think of these birds treated with such disrespect and fattened up in such a short space of time to be butchered for people's dinner tables is upsetting enough, but when you see the levels of amonia they are forced to breathe in and the fact that they defecate on each other from lack of space is horrific because at the end of the day the consumer eat that meat!! I will never again eat a chicken from a supermarket. My family and I are not wealthy either by any means but I would gladly spend the extra €2 so that I eat good quality and humanely reared and killed chicken. Well done to Hugh and Jamie for putting this subject in the public eye and the poultry farmers should be ashamed of themselves if they continue in this horrifying fashion.

Caroline Flynn, Cork , Ireland

This campaign is a perfect initment of the inexcusable attitude of major retailers that they can feed peoples greed at the expense of suppliers.

As the lady last night on the programme said "50p per person for a Free range chicken is nothing...its pennies" So if this campaign fources more producers to go free range and the avaialbility of battery farm chickens falls maybe the supermarkets can be fourced into a different policy?

Parallels exist in the EU's farcial set-aside payments which now are being ignore because the fleds can now produce a profitable crop in bio-fuel crops. No difference in the demand for cheap chcikens; create a new demand and the issue changes.

David Ranby, Wetherby, Yorkshire

regarding grahams comment from london as a livestock farmer who is having to sell cattle less than the cost of production and meet high welfare standards and I mean high welfare standards why am I doing it considering the supermarket is paying less for the cattle than 20 years ago.we are all dictated to by the supermarkets on price at a meeting they only seemed concerned on how much they could sell and how little they had to pay for it.

lesley, york, yorkshire

Not only have we forgotten how to rear our own food we have also forgotten how to make the food we can afford last. It is absolutely possible to make one chicken last a family of four for up to three meals. In the past cookery books contained sections on the "art of using up" this is an art we seem to have lost. If we are careful with the food we buy, grow, rear or gather then not only can we afford to spend a little more on quality products, we will also appreciate every mouthful a little more.
As for farmers getting upset about it, boo hoo....factory owners got upset when it became unacceptable to mistreat child labour, why should humans have the right to mistreat any other animal?

becky, truro,

I think its rather disturbing that farmers are always the last to recognise animal cruelty and only ever seem concerned about the welfare of their business

Its not a vendetta against them its a concern for animals - what part of that dont farmers understand?

Graham , London, England

I agree with Lucy's comments. People claim that being "on a budget" means they are just too poor to be able to take the welfare of the animals they consume into consideration. Why not try eating more meals based on cheaper items like vegetables, lentils, beans, rice, etc, and buy decent meat for a more occasional treat eg Sunday roast. I'm sure the extra £2 for a free-range bird won't seem quite so unattainable, and I would bet the overall diet would be much healthier too!

Caroline, Bristol,

So battery chickens only have a space the size of an A4 piece of paper.
Then it would be easy for the farmers to remedy the situation. Instead of putting 10 birds in a cage - just put 5.

Before they say that would double the cost per chicken it wouldn't. The original day old chick, the transport and amount of feed would all remain the same.

GJB, Slough, BERKSHIRE

I find it really unfortunate that all the focus is on the farmer rather than the supermarkets, who, lets face it, control all aspects of farming these days.

I was brought up with the idea that shooting a bird that had lived free was far better than buying a plastic wrapped battery farmed one (and before everyone cries foul, I've not got a silver spoon). I still believe to this day that its a better life for the bird despite what some PC liberal will undoubtedly say now.

Dave, Gibraltar,

stop all so-called factory farming. we, as humans, have a resposibility to animals

terry bellamy, barnstaple, england

As someone not on a chef's income who egts to the end of each week with virtually nothing left. Anything that keeps prices low is good. I honestly cound not afford the extra £2 or so for chicken.

David, Bradford, England

I just think it is a real shame that again, it takes two celebrities to create an awareness of how ill treated these creatures are.
I have alsways been suspicious about cheap meat. It isn't rocket science in this day an age. If it is cheap then it is produced cheaply and I have never had this naive view that human beings are kind enough that they would treat their animals with respect AND sell it to me on the cheap. Total ignorance that is all it is.
The good thing about these programs is it taught me how free range chickens are treated because I was very suspicious of that title too on the eggs I bought until then.
I'm not well off by any standards but I read all labels very carefully and look beyond the shiny subliminal packaging to find out where my food has actually been.

maxine beilby, milton keynes, buckinhamshire

So, celebrity chefs, what the hell are the poor supposed to eat?
Im sure people who buy battery chickens would love the income to buy free range this and organic that, but alas they are not all on massive salaries like yourselves!
So, until you put up your money to open mass producing free range farms that can supply the amount of free chickens for the same low price, I suggest you shut up!

Pete, St Albans, England

There will also be consumers that don't care about animal welfare and the quality of the product so long as it is cheap, and supermarkets that will exploit that fact in the name of profit.

The only way to stop this is for the government to set minimum standards on both of these issues.

We have a nanny state these days on issues that have nothing to do with the government, where there are real issues where we need control, where none is applied because they are only interested in acting against individuals, not corporations, as teh government is practically run by the latter.

Matt, Reading, UK

If the farmers had nothing to be ashamed of then fair enough.. but if the truth hurts them, then tough luck. Apart from the disgusting conditions battery chickens are kept in, the meat is slimy and horrible and only chicken in name. If you want to taste chicken like its meant to be, spend an extra couple of quid and enjoy your food.

Philly Auster, London , UK

The power lies with the consumer, as always - no demand, no product sold. A measly pound or two extra in price to treat these creatures with dignity and respect is nothing to ask for.

The supermarkers need to be beaten down on the issue of benefiting from sadistically produced animal products, cruelty means nothing to them. Only consumers have the power of the purse needed to do the beating down.

Hit them where it hurts - those fatcat profits they gain at whatever cost. Not like they need the money, is it?

But then Tesco allowed the sale of out of date meat - an employee mixed cooked meat with raw meat and happily set it out to be sold on the counter - fact not fiction. So why should we expect them to give a damn about animals if they don't give a damn about humans?

Justine , London, UK

thank you for showing the conditions these chickens live in ,i will be buying organic from now,keep up the good work.

robert maddison, gateshead, tyne wear

i am not one of life's cooks, and so i would never buy a chicken, not much point if you live alone, i buy all my dinner's at work etc but what about those tins of chicken in a white sauce etc in the shops and at work they make chicken curry. is there anything that can be done for the chicken that goes into ready meals?

i completely support anything that means a living thing has a better life even tho i am carnivorous.

i bet millions of people have been watching hugh and silently giving support and wish they had a voice..... couldnt you do a page where people could add their name if they support him with the "chicken out campaign" thus showing hugh and the nation the level of support.

please please consider this and i think you will be pleasantly surprised at the results!!

can i also just say that when i was very young i went to a battery farm with my dad and i was really upset , the birds had no feathers on their necks, couldnt turn round, and had to stand on metal bars.

barbara booth, peterborough,

Having moved from England to Tasmania I still watch UK TV and in particularly Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall.
I now keep my own chickens and grow a lot of my own food and applaud the chicken out campaign, I have nothing but praise for anyone who is highlighting the plight of these much underated and valued birds and anyone that continues eating chickens that are kept in such appalling conditions should take heed that the financial price may be low now; but there is ultimately always a further price to pay!

stefan apostol, Longford, Tasmania

We as customers of the major supermarkets have the power to stop all of this cruelty that has been raise in the Chickens Out series, the power lies in our pockets, we all need to stop buying cheep chickens, when we do this, the point will have hit home to the money grabbing supermarket boses that may be it is time to stop. So the next time that you go to buy a chicken just take a moment to think about what you saw on Chickens Out and dont buy thoes 2 for a fiver little birds that never see daylight, can't run around, are so fat that they are unable to fly, only breathe amonia air from all the waste that they sit in. Do the decent thing and leave it on the shelf and buy a proper chicken.

Andrew Hill, Coseley , West Midlands

People like Hugh are doing us a favour showing us how our food gets to our plates. I fully support what he is doing.

Sean Brown, Newcastle, England

Humans are such an ignorant and obnoxious group. We want food for a lower price, and we want to eat far more than our ancestors, but rather than take the blame for our gluttonous behaviour, we lay blame on the people that are supplying the market with the product. Rather than pointing fingers elsewhere, maybe we shoudl look at ourselves and how we eat today. Then maybe we should ask, "how did my ancestors do it with so little?" But that would require us to do something that we really hate...THINK.

JNB, Greenock, Scotland

Farming should be based on good welfare and sustainability, not suffering for the sake of a quick buck. A humane system is more likely to be successful and the supermarkets must play their role in supporting that view. The more people who demand humane food, the better for all concerned and the cheaper it can become.

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Jamie Oliver should be congratulated for their stance.

Jim Barrington, London, UK

I think we all need to learn that we aren't automatically entitled to the excess we take for granted. We used to fill our plates with veg and the meat was a bonus, now we just expect more for less. These price drives are not sustainable, the supermarkets are driving farmers out of business and replacing them with foreign suppliers anyway, this campaign is actually more likely to increase opportunities for British farmers to diversify, surely that's a good thing for them and the chickens? By the way, I'm an accountant and it certainly isn't my dream to see thousands of chickens packed together.

Sandra Norval, Stevenage, United Kingdom

These farmers have only themselves to blame, they went along with such extreme cruelty purely to make money, shame on them.

Catrina, London, uk

The problem with chicken is the same as the problem with all food- people don't, won't or can't pay enough for their food to ensure that that food they're buying has been treated with respect during the time it was alive. For some reason, people are convinced they need to eat meat at every meal and this is simply not the case. It will not do anyone any harm to eat 2 or 3 vegetarian meals a week, which are generally cheaper to prepare than meat-based meals, and then use the money they save on that meal to buy better quality meat i.e humanely killed and properly reared animals. We are too greedy, too self-indulgent and far too lazy about what we eat- we want what we want, when we want and to pay as little as possible for it. Meat should not be the cornerstone of our diets, that should be vegetables, balanced with a small amount of protein i.e meat, fish, nuts, eggs or cheese and an amount complex carbohydrates. When did we forget how to feed ourselves?

Lucy Dunstan, Manchester,