Protests took place at more than a dozen Morrisons stores this weekend after one of its suppliers was accused of breeding "FrankenChickens".
Places where demonstrations took place this Sunday include Liverpool, Manchester, Dundee, Bristol, London, Sheffield, Reading, Cornwall, Bognor Regis, Isle of Wight and Glasgow.
The nationwide protests were led by one of Morrisons’ own employees, Doug Maw, who claims he is facing disciplinary action.
It comes after the charity Open Cages released video footage which it claims shows images of chickens who’ve been genetically engineered to grow unnaturally fast on four farms run by one of Morrisons’ suppliers.
The investigation accused the supplier Cranswick of rearing "FrankenChickens" and said some birds were "completely or almost unable to walk" as their legs can't take the weight of their bodies.
Cranswick provides meat for Morrisons’ Butcher’s on Market Street range, which is marketed as "welfare assured".
Doug Maw, who works at the supermarket's Bognor Regis branch, claims the supermarket has tried to silence him after he signed a petition and shared it on an internal Facebook group.
However, Morrisons denied this when asked by The Independent earlier this year and said "we encouraged him to post his views on Morrisons' general colleague Facebook page".
Mr Maw said: "Morrisons has made me feel unwelcome as a member of staff and questioned my commitment to the company for putting my values first.
"I believe we all have a responsibility to hold the companies we work for to account, and encourage them to do better."
Morrisons is being urged by Open Cages, Animal Equality UK, and The Humane League UK to sign the Better Chicken Commitment, which is a policy that looks to improve chicken welfare in the UK.
Issues the policy wants to highlight include making sure all birds are reared with natural light and more space.
Marks and Spencer and Waitrose are the only British supermarkets that have signed the commitment so far.
In response to the Open Cages footage, Morrisons said: "We care deeply about animal welfare and require all our suppliers to maintain the highest standards.
"We have asked the supplier Cranswick to conduct a full investigation and report back to us."
Cranswick, the chicken supplier that featured in the Open Cages investigation, has also issued a statement apologising for the footage.
A spokesperson said: "We have been made aware of footage of our farms, filmed by Open Cages, following on from a number of separate incursions.
"The film shows a small number of our chickens suffering on farms operated by Cranswick and these birds should have been removed as part of our standard high welfare procedures.
"The team at Cranswick would like to apologise for the recent footage. We have investigated this thoroughly both internally and with the support of unannounced external audits.
"Whilst we are confident that the occurrences are isolated we have identified procedural improvements to our farming system that have been implemented to significantly reduce the likelihood of an issue occurring in the future."
