I'D like to appeal to readers to join our campaign against the intensive farming of broiler (meat) chickens.

Every year, more than 800 million chickens are killed in the UK for their meat. Some 98 per cent of them are reared on factory farms.

They are crammed into foul-smelling windowless sheds and kept together in huge numbers. Each bird is allowed an area no bigger than an A4 sheet of paper.

Viva! undercover investigators have filmed inside broiler chicken farms and revealed shocking conditions.

Piled up outside the sheds on one farm were decaying chickens. Inside the shed, investigators found dead and dying birds being pecked at by living ones.

Some birds were so severely deformed that they could not stand or walk and their feet were splayed out to the sides of their bodies.

Chickens are selectively bred and pumped full of drugs to reach "slaughter size" in just 41 days. Today's chickens are slaughtered when they still "cheep" - chicks in an obese adult body.

Everyone can do their bit to end this misery by not eating chicken and opting for a vegetarian diet. For a free veggie recipe pack and to join our campaign call Viva! on: 01273 777688 or write to 12 Queen Square, Brighton BN1 3FD

KAT MACMILLAN,

Viva! Campaigner.