Carrying chickens by their legs “causes injury, pain and unnecessary distress”, Adrian Ramsay has warned in a bid to block a law change.
The Government has planned to overturn an EU ban on catching and carrying poultry by their legs.
But Green Party co-leader Mr Ramsay has called for animal welfare standards to be “improved, not stripped back”, as he urged ministers to halt their plans.
He has tabled a “prayer motion”, calling for the Welfare of Animals (Transport) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 to be “annulled” before they come into force next week.
The regulations set out that farmers will be able to catch and carry turkeys weighing 5kg or less and chickens by both legs, but not by one leg.
The existing ban “does not reflect long-standing policy on appropriate methods of ‘catching’ chickens set out in GB statutory guidance”, according to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
Ministers’ decision to change the law followed a consultation throughout Great Britain, which found 40% of respondents supported two-leg catching.
The majority of these were “poultry industry stakeholders” who “did not consider two-leg catching to be directly detrimental to bird welfare”.
Some industry stakeholders also “confirmed that young turkeys (weighing 5kg or less) are routinely caught by two legs, while older heavier turkeys (weighing more than 5kg) are routinely caught upright, by a range of different methods”.
But Mr Ramsay told the PA news agency: “The Government’s attempt to quietly weaken animal welfare standards for poultry is deeply troubling.
“After Defra cited this practice in its guidance, ministers are now attempting to restore outdated industry practices in law.
“Allowing chickens to be carried upside down by their legs causes injury, pain and unnecessary distress.
“I want our animal protection laws to be improved, not stripped back further.
“If handling methods widely used on farms don’t meet welfare standards, then they need to be improved, not made legal because enforcement has failed.”
His motion has received cross-party backing, including from Conservative MP for Brigg and Immingham Martin Vickers, his running mate in this year’s Green Party leadership election Ellie Chowns, and Labour MP for North Ayrshire and Arran Irene Campbell.
