Aviagen® is pleased to announce that the Rambler Ranger™ has been accepted for use by the RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) for the RSPCA Assured scheme, making it the third breed from Aviagen’s Rowan Range® to become part of this farm animal welfare scheme in the UK.

A part of Aviagen’s Rowan Range portfolio of slower-growing and colored birds, the Rambler Ranger generates a traditional broiler with exceptional robustness, competitive meat yield and excellent health and welfare characteristics. This breed is particularly well suited to organic growers that are processing at high ages.

Earlier this year, the Ranger Gold™ and Ranger Classic™ were also affirmed by the RSPCA as breeds acceptable for use within the scheme.

Magnus Swalander, general manager Aviagen Ltd, said: “Aviagen is delighted that the list of RSPCA-approved Rowan Range breeds is growing. The RSPCA’s acceptance reflects the special care we take to continuously improve bird health and welfare in all aspects of our breeding program.”

“The Rambler Ranger demonstrates Aviagen’s commitment to the higher welfare market, for which they should be commended. We hope that with their ever increasing portfolio of breeds with demonstrably high welfare outcomes, there will be a wide uptake of these breeds by producers.” said Sophie Elwes, senior scientific officer, RSPCA Farm Animals Department.

About Aviagen
Since 1923, Aviagen® has established itself as the world's leading poultry breeding company, developing pedigree lines for the production of commercial broiler chickens under the Arbor Acres®, Indian River®, and Ross® brand names. The Rowan Range® and Specialty Males® are specialty breeding stock from Aviagen that offer greater flexibility for customers to meet specific or niche market requirements. The company is based in Huntsville, Alabama, USA with a number of wholly-owned operations across the United Kingdom, Europe, Turkey, Latin America, India, Australia, New Zealand, and the U.S., and joint ventures in Asia. Aviagen employs more than 3,900 people and has a distribution network serving customers in more than 100 countries.

For further information, please visit www.aviagen.com.

About the RSPCA:

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) was established in 1824 and is the leading animal welfare charity. The Society is concerned with all animals, including farm animals, and has a team of farm animal scientists who, in addition to promoting improvement in farm animal welfare through advice provision and advocacy, develop detailed animal welfare standards for the main farm animal species. The standards are used by the Society's farm assurance and food labelling scheme, RSPCA Assured, which is solely dedicated to improving farm animal welfare.