6th May 2026
ITV News has obtained exclusive footage from the animal welfare organisation, Protect the Wild, who secretly filmed at farms breeding and supplying birds for organised shoots across the UK.
In total, seven UK farms were investigated. One member of Protect The Wild worked undercover at Heart of England Farms Ltd in Warwickshire for several weeks at during last year’s breeding season.
His footage allegedly shows several breaches of the DEFRA Code of Conduct on animal welfare and potential environmental hazards.
He claims birds were often kept in in small, overcrowded cages with little or no enrichment, and were denied veterinary care and were routinely fitted with beak management devices to inhibit their natural behaviours.
The worker alleged that a hen was made to continue laying eggs despite having a damaged leg, and a member of the farm’s management even appeared to admit to the improper use of rodent poisons by laying them in the grass under outdoor bird cages to prevent rats eating bird eggs.
This practice is banned under environmental law due to concerns that it can seriously harm wild bird populations.
An undercover worker said: “I saw shocking things. A bird had a damaged leg and when this was brought to the attention of one of the workers, he literally just said, ‘well, you know, as long as she can still lay an egg, don’t worry about it.’
“It’s literally a case of breeding as many birds as possible to survive for as long as possible to be sold and then shot.”
In other parts of the footage, a farm worker is seen removing beak management devices from dead birds saying they “get stuck under the feeders and just don’t eat, they get stuck and just die”, with more shots of bins full of dead pheasant hens.
The undercover worker claims no records were kept of the number of birds that died on the farm.
In other sections of footage, to prevent fighting, male birds are seen placed alone in small cages with little room to move.
A dead pheasant hen was found with holes through it’s septum, the piercing of which is illegal under current animal welfare laws.
Robert Pownall, Founder of Protect The Wild, said: “We have conducted what we believe to be the largest undercover investigation into the British bird shooting industry. You’ve got probably hundreds, if not thousands of these cages in fields across England, where these birds are not able to show any natural behaviours.
“There isn’t proper legislation, isn’t proper regulation, there isn’t proper oversight of what they’re doing or how they’re doing it, and that is a serious, serious problem.”
Shooting as an industry is estimated to be worth around £3 billion each year to the UK economy (according to figures compiled by the British Association for Shooting and Conservation) and it relies on a constant supply of birds.
DEFRA-sourced figures estimate that between 40 and 60 million pheasants and partridges are bred or imported from farms to be released into the countryside during the summer months for shooting parties to hunt during the winter.
However, figures from the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust suggests only 37% are shot. 25% die before the shooting season even begins, often eaten by foxes or killed on roads. On average, just 16% actually survive the winter shooting season.
Those representing the shooting industry claim they go to great lengths to maintain the countryside and wild habitats, while many animal welfare groups say that releasing such a high number of non-native birds puts huge pressure on ecosystems and harms other species.
The footage was also presented to Ayesha Smart, a specialist barrister in animal welfare law, who reviewed it for Protect The Wild, she says: “These game bird farms, they are less frequently visited in comparison to, say, for example, your factory farms where you’ve got pigs and cows and chickens.
“So there’s no compulsory requirement to go in and inspect them. In terms of the environment conditions these animals are put in, they’re put in cramped, barren cages. It’s effectively like being in solitary confinement in a prison, they’re resorting to aggression with other birds because they’re so hemmed in.
“When you compare it to the legislation, there’s no underlying justification for that.”
The Game Farmer’s Association, an industry body representing many of the UK’s game bird farms said: “The GFA promotes high welfare standards and best practice across the game farming sector and the overwhelming majority of game farms operate to these high standards.
“Where issues arise, we work with members to address them and improve practice. However, the GFA does not have legal powers of enforcement.”
We reached out to Heart of England Farms Ltd with multiple requests to address the allegations, but they have not yet provided a response.
We also approached the Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) for comment.
A DEFRA spokesperson said: “We want to see the highest possible animal welfare and environmental standards across the gamebird industry.
“In March, we announced that we would review the evidence and issues associated with recreational gamebird shooting and release.”
An APHA spokesperson said: “We take breaches of animal welfare legislation very seriously and investigate every allegation that is reported to us.
“We will always take appropriate action where non-compliances with welfare regulations are found.”
Well done for exposing these evil bastards that are so cruel to these beautiful birds. These vile parasites only care about money same as grand national and all so called “sports” Time to end all this, no more breeding just to shoot the bird on its first flight it is truly disgusting as are these filthy scum that shoot.