tbh the fact many people don't realise this happens is more a reflection of how disconnected many people are from the farming process than anything else. What did you think happened to male chicks? (And going free range doesn't take you outside this process, btw.)
The issue goes far beyond chicken, though. US money is buying up British farming and seeking more and more to impose US-style megafarming on us, meaning intensive farming for chickens, pigs and cattle in increasingly awful conditions.
Half of UK chickens produced by US agriculture giants
A post-Brexit trade deal with the US is only likely to accelerate this process.