The Danish government is pursuing a national ban on "turbo chickens" and wants the fast-growing breed banned across Europe, the Guardian reports. Politico Europe reports that the move would be the first of its kind in the world.

"Now we will work for a national ban, we will work for a ban at EU level," Christian Rabjerg Madsen, the minister for animal welfare, said to the broadcaster TV2, according to the Guardian. "They simply grow too fast for their bodies to keep up," he said, Politico reports.

The breed, called Ross 308, is the most common in Danish chicken farming, the Guardian says. It grows from about 50 grams to 2 kilograms in just 33 days. Such fast growth can lead to problems with the bird's bones and organs. Other breeds take between 46 and 63 days to reach the same weight.

The push follows a TV2 documentary with secretly filmed footage from a chicken farm in North Jutland. The Guardian reports the documentary alleged that producer Christian Tvergaard gave chickens only half the darkness each day that the law requires, so they would eat more. Politico says the footage showed chickens getting just three hours of darkness a day. Tvergaard said to TV2 that he had made "some wrong decisions," the Guardian reports.

The plan has support from several parties, but Madsen said legal and economic questions remain. The Danish chicken company Danpo says a ban must also cover imports, or animal welfare will not benefit. Politico notes that could be hard under EU rules on the free movement of goods.

The Netherlands proposed a similar national ban in September, Politico reports. The European Commission plans new welfare rules for chickens later this year, but has not announced bans on any breeds.