I AM writing to inform readers about the shocking life of intensively farmed broiler ("meat") chickens.

Every year more than 800 million chickens are killed in the UK for their meat and 98% 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.

Animal welfare group Viva! has filmed undercover inside broiler chicken farms and revealed shocking conditions.

Piled up outside the sheds on one farm were dead and rotting chickens.

Inside the shed, investigators found dead and dying birds being trampled on and pecked by living ones.

Some birds were so deformed they were unable to stand or walk.

Chickens are selectively bred and pumped full of drugs to reach "slaughter size" in just 41 days.

Chickens are slaughtered when they still "cheep" – chicks in an obese adult body.

By the time they are killed, most of them are crippled as their legs cannot support their body weight.

Some lame birds die from starvation and dehydration as they are unable to reach food and water points.

In the squalor of the broiler house, infections spread like wildfire.

Salmonella, listeria, campylobacter and botulism all thrive in the sheds.

Viva! has launched a campaign to end the factory farming of chickens.

We can all do our bit to end this misery by not eating chicken and opting for a vegetarian diet.

For a free veggie recipe pack call Viva! on 0117 944 1000 or write to 8 York Court, Wilder St, Bristol BS2 8QH.

Louise Adam

Handford Street

Derby