UK’s intensive farming hotspots have 79 times more chickens than people, data shows

Despite large poultry units being a key driver of river pollution, their number has soared near the Wye and Severn

More than 51 million chickens are being industrially farmed in the river valleys of the Severn and Wye - the equivalent of 79 chickens for every person in the region, according to new figures.

The exponential rise in large intensive poultry units (IPUs) in the valleys is a key driver of river pollution. Chicken dropping contains more phosphates - which starve fish and river plants of oxygen - than any other animal manure.