The Truth About Factory Farming. *Graphic description*

[cluckmecoop7]

I know there's already a thread about this, but:

Its just so terrible. I can't stand it. We will use chickens for example. So, factory farming is basically this: A crowded place where hundreds of chickens are kept in a tight place with a LOT of dirt and poop. Its a crowded place where chickens have to live either until they are killed (sometimes un-humanely) and shipped out to stores all across the country. If they are egg chickens, then they are kept almost the same way - all crowded together with feather picking and all - and fed a unhealthy diet to "force" them to lay an egg everyday. How about this: Type into google "factory farming". Then, once it loads, click on the images tab. You will see so many awful pictures!! Its simply terrible. I think the way pigs are kept in factory farms are the worst. I saw one picture with cage like things formed into the pigs size wrapped around them while they just laid there - waiting to be butchered.
That is why I encourage you raise as much of your own food as possible.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

double post

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I agree that it is horrendous. However, I have some other points I'd like to raise.
One is the food aspect and the other is the large scale production.

As for the feed - "and fed a unhealthy diet to "force" them to lay an egg everyday."
The diet doesn't force them to lay an egg a day and it isn't unhealthy.
They lay an egg every day because they have been genetically selected to do so for hundreds of years - long before there was such a thing as 'factory farming'. The feed is more nutritious and healthy than the majority of what backyard chicken keepers feed.
All the broiler and egg operations as well as the turkey and swine operations have their own feed mills and not only do they make the most nutritious feed possible for the age and purpose of the animal but it is also fed the day it is made, unlike the rest of us that are feeding stuff made 3, 4 or more months earlier and is unhealthy because it has lost many of the nutrients in the original milling. And many small holders don't have the nutritional acumen to feed their animals exactly what they need.
It makes no economic sense for large scale poultry operations to feed unhealthy diets.
Every cent they gain per bird on millions of birds means big money. An unhealthy diet means they will lose money on every bird.

The other thing I would like to address is the need (as much as I hate it) for large scale meat and egg production.
In 1790, ninety percent of Americans lived on farms and ranches. By 1920, more Americans lived in cities than on farms for the first time in our history. In the 50 year period from 1870 to 1920, 11 million Americans migrated from rural to urban settings. During the same period, 25 million immigrants came here and the majority of them moved to cities. Today, only 2% of Americans live on farms or ranches. The same trend has been going on globally for a few centuries.
My question is, who is going to feed the other 98% of the humans on the planet who can't feed themselves. The solution has been the 'factory farm'. As immoral as it may be, the truth is that most people want and buy the cheapest food possible. Hence, large scale production. The need to undercut other producers on price means they pack more animals into even smaller space. If Americans demanded more humane treatment of livestock - as they have done in Europe - things will improve. However, do you really think that all the people who are at Walmart buying the cheapest meat and eggs they can find really care? People shopping for food are impressed by the nice Styrofoam packaging with the clear plastic covering and gassed with carbon monoxide to prevent the red meat from turning brown. No matter how old it is, it will stay red because there is no oxygen in the package. There are no pictures of the tightly packed animals on the package. It has gotten to the point that some people don't even know that meat comes from butchered animal. A nurse friend of the family never considered that eggs came from chickens. She wouldn't eat my eggs because she saw my chickens. She would only eat store eggs because she didn't draw the connection to cage hens. I offered to explain how they were raised and she wouldn't listen.
The bulk of the population doesn't have the space, knowledge nor desire to learn how to raise their own food.
The main problem as I see it is human overpopulation.

Here is a good read on the reason for and timeline of the transition from agrarian to industrial societies around the world.
http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/...nt_store/Sample_Chapter/9780745623450/001.pdf

"That is why I encourage you raise as much of your own food as possible."
I teach classes on poultry and state that for each backyard bird, there is the need for one less caged hen.

 

[CCUK]

Information is key. I don't think that anyone likes to think of how battery farmed chickens are kept and there is certainly alot of horror stories about what happens. The reality is that most developed countries are trying to make a difference in welfare and conditions in how they are farmed. They certainly aren't fed an unhealthy diet. The feed they get will be formulated to give the hens exactly what they need for increased production. What does happen is they are denied the life a chicken that you or I or 99% of people on this site strive to give. At 18 months they are classed as 'spent' so will be replaced with the next generation. If it were so easy for people to just have a small flock and be self sufficient I'm sure many people here would. I just mentioned on the other thread that it is the low cost of the final product that is the driving force for hens to be farmed in this way. If people were more aware and could afford to pay that little bit more for eggs or chickens it would make the world of difference. But sadly many people just can't afford that extra. Whilst something is cheap people will continue to but it.

 

[CCUK]

for each backyard bird, there is the need for one less caged hen.

Never a truer word said. I like that.

 

[cluckmecoop7]

Thank you for the input, @ChickenCanoe. And yes, @CCUK so true!
Sorry about the food thing in my OP post - but since you both said something, I won't edit.

 

[cluckmecoop7]

Never a truer word said. I like that.

I really agree!!!

 

[CCUK]

It's easy to get emotional or angry even when the subject of battery farms is raised. I feel saddened when I see a lorry full of chickens. I know where they're going. As poultry owners for pets or meat or eggs or all three we understand that chickens are more than just a product. As chicken canoe said that 98% of the population don't have the space, knowledge or desire to raise their own food but they can still make a difference by sourcing where there food comes from and make an informed choice. Look at how it was raised and make that choice to not buy factory farmed eggs or meat. You dont need to keep chickens to make a small but significant difference.

 

[BantyChooks]

I agree that it is horrendous. However, I have some other points I'd like to raise.
One is the food aspect and the other is the large scale production.

As for the feed - "and fed a unhealthy diet to "force" them to lay an egg everyday."
The diet doesn't force them to lay an egg a day and it isn't unhealthy.
They lay an egg every day because they have been genetically selected to do so for hundreds of years - long before there was such a thing as 'factory farming'. The feed is more nutritious and healthy than the majority of what backyard chicken keepers feed.
All the broiler and egg operations as well as the turkey and swine operations have their own feed mills and not only do they make the most nutritious feed possible for the age and purpose of the animal but it is also fed the day it is made, unlike the rest of us that are feeding stuff made 3, 4 or more months earlier and is unhealthy because it has lost many of the nutrients in the original milling. And many small holders don't have the nutritional acumen to feed their animals exactly what they need.
It makes no economic sense for large scale poultry operations to feed unhealthy diets.
Every cent they gain per bird on millions of birds means big money. An unhealthy diet means they will lose money on every bird.

The other thing I would like to address is the need (as much as I hate it) for large scale meat and egg production.
In 1790, ninety percent of Americans lived on farms and ranches. By 1920, more Americans lived in cities than on farms for the first time in our history. In the 50 year period from 1870 to 1920, 11 million Americans migrated from rural to urban settings. During the same period, 25 million immigrants came here and the majority of them moved to cities. Today, only 2% of Americans live on farms or ranches. The same trend has been going on globally for a few centuries.
My question is, who is going to feed the other 98% of the humans on the planet who can't feed themselves. The solution has been the 'factory farm'. As immoral as it may be, the truth is that most people want and buy the cheapest food possible. Hence, large scale production. The need to undercut other producers on price means they pack more animals into even smaller space. If Americans demanded more humane treatment of livestock - as they have done in Europe - things will improve. However, do you really think that all the people who are at Walmart buying the cheapest meat and eggs they can find really care? People shopping for food are impressed by the nice Styrofoam packaging with the clear plastic covering and gassed with carbon monoxide to prevent the red meat from turning brown. No matter how old it is, it will stay red because there is no oxygen in the package. There are no pictures of the tightly packed animals on the package. It has gotten to the point that some people don't even know that meat comes from butchered animal. A nurse friend of the family never considered that eggs came from chickens. She wouldn't eat my eggs because she saw my chickens. She would only eat store eggs because she didn't draw the connection to cage hens. I offered to explain how they were raised and she wouldn't listen.
The bulk of the population doesn't have the space, knowledge nor desire to learn how to raise their own food.
The main problem as I see it is human overpopulation.

Here is a good read on the reason for and timeline of the transition from agrarian to industrial societies around the world.
http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/...nt_store/Sample_Chapter/9780745623450/001.pdf

"That is why I encourage you raise as much of your own food as possible."
I teach classes on poultry and state that for each backyard bird, there is the need for one less caged hen.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

... Look at how it was raised and make that choice to not buy factory farmed eggs or meat. You dont need to keep chickens to make a small but significant difference.

Well put.

I think another thing for people to try and wrap their heads around is the sheer numbers of animals involved.

Globally, 66 billion chickens are killed for meat each year. That's almost 150 million a day.
And that is just broilers. Same goes for egg type chickens. They hatch at a 50:50 ratio. Global laying hen population is 6.5 billion. So an equal number of the males are killed as hatchlings.
I don't recall the actual number now but a few years ago, Russia developed a poultry processing plant that could process (if memory serves) 2500 chickens an hour. That's just one plant in just one country.
I once worked in the feedmill industry. We programmed mills all over the world.
There was a closed facility in Singapore that hatched their own broilers, raised them on feed they produced from product that came into the facility by train. Feed went in and out the other end was prepackaged chicken bound for grocery stores in Europe. It was obviously a huge facility.