Some interesting facts that I found shocking about industrial chicken farming and why I want to try and find an alternative.
- According to this, 8,395,000,000 chickens are processed each year for consumption. That is approximately 28 for every person in the US.
- Many chickens are shackled upside down, paralyzed by electrified water and dragged over mechanical throat-cutting blades … all while conscious. Millions of birds each year miss the blades and drown in tanks of scalding water.
- ChickenIndustry.com reports that “in the 1950s, it took 84 days to raise a five-pound chicken. Due to selective breeding and growth-promoting drugs, it now takes only 45 days.” These animals are so genetically engineered and monstrosities of nature, that they cannot barely even walk.
- In egg producing farms, the current amount of space recommended for a chicken is about 9 by 9 inches.
- Closeness of chickens often results in cannibalism and to help prevent this, farmers de-beak chickens (a practice where the chicken’s beaks are trimmed).
- According to this article, your local factory chicken farmers often are under contract and controlled by the corporations. It seems that these companies create very shady arrangements with folks just trying to make a living. 71% of growers earn below poverty level wages according to Grist.
- In one McDonald county Missouri, there are 13 million chickens and several hundred thousand turkeys and this has an impacton the invironment. According to this, there is a correlation between farming practices and the health of rivers and streams. The waters of McDonald County don’t support aquatic life due to “excessive nutrients from animal agriculture”. Imagine what this kind of farming can do for your community.
