Intensively reared chickens often have very small areas to live in The RSPCA's view

The RSPCA commissioned a poll after the conditions of some intensively farmed birds were exposed on TV by Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

Some 27% of the 2,011 people polled said they would pay �2 extra, and 22% �3 extra, for "higher welfare" chicken.

The RSPCA is urging better labelling of chicken to help people choose.

Some retailers have confused consumers about their chicken products Dr Mark Cooper RSPCA farm animal scientist

It says many shoppers are still unclear which chickens on offer have been intensively-reared and which have not.

The RSPCA has introduced a new food labelling scheme in which animals which have been "well-treated" during their lives bear the logo "Freedom Food".

It means the animal has come from an environment that has been inspected to the RSPCA's standards for rearing, transport and slaughter.

"The results of our poll are extremely encouraging and show that the campaign has begun to make a real difference with shoppers," an RSPCA farm animal scientist, Dr Mark Cooper said.

"We think some retailers have confused consumers about their chicken products, so we hope our good chicken guide will clarify what chicken the RSPCA recommends and help people to make an informed choice."

The animal welfare group reported that almost 80% of the people surveyed said animal welfare was an important consideration when buying chicken, and 70% said they now usually bought "higher welfare" chicken.