A factory farm was given the green light to confine more chicks without proper consideration of its environmental and animal welfare harms.

We’re bringing a legal challenge to stop the cruel expansion.

With your support, we can overturn this death sentence for thousands of chicks.

How we got here

In June 2026, Braintree District Council approved the expansion of a factory farm at Hubbards Farm in Shalford despite clear legal flaws in the application.

The applicant was vague and provided conflicting information on the number of birds that will be confined. Whilst applying for a permit for almost 110,000 chickens, Councillors were told only 5,000 birds would be accommodated. They also failed to reveal the full scale of air pollution and animal welfare impacts.

"This decision was made without full awareness of the environmental, biodiversity, public health, and animal welfare impacts. The Council’s lack of scrutiny over conflicting bird numbers and lack of environmental detail is deeply concerning.” - Jo Lazarus, Campaign Coordinator, CAFF

Over a thousand objections were submitted to the proposal. Local residents raised concerns about their health, local environment, and the suffering of birds trapped inside the factory farm.

Yet, Braintree District Council waved through the plans without even requesting more information to determine if this was a major expansion of bird numbers.

We're challenging the decision – and need your help to stop this deadly expansion.

How You Can Help 

We’re the last line of defence before millions more chicks are born into a lifetime of cruelty.

We need your help to raise at least £4,000 to bring this legal challenge. To start, we need to raise £600 to pay for initial legal fees.

Legal action works – we’ve already reversed planning decisions through legal challenges. But a case like this comes at considerable cost for an organisation like ours.

To take this case all the way to High Court, we have a stretch target of £40,000. With your support, we can hold Braintree District Council to account, stop this sneaky intensification and prevent the expansion of intensive chicken farms.

Thank you for anything you can spare – every donation helps end us fight against factory farming.