Here is an excerpt from Food Inc. about McDonald's, the meat industry and chickens.
There is so much that these industries aren't telling us, or even letting us see. The truth about what factory farms really do to the animals we eat is enough to make sure you never eat fast food, or supermarket meat again!
The truth about factory farm chickens
Chickens Used For Eggs
- Chickens used for egg laying are among the most abused animals.
- Because male chicks have no value to the egg industry, 260 million are killed each year upon hatching. Methods are often inhumane and include being sucked through a series of pipes onto and electrified "kill plate", being ground up alive and fully conscious in a "macerator", or by being gassed. Compared to what the hens most go through through out their life, the male chicks seem almost lucky!
- Female chicks are "debeaked" at a very young age to prevent the abnormal feather-pecking that results from their captivity in a teeny tiny cage. The beak is filled with nerves, and when it is seared off with a hot blade (with no numbing or anesthesia) it can cause severe, and possibly chronic, pain.
- These egg laying chickens spend their life in a battery cage, which can hold 5-10 birds, each are given floor space equal to less than a sheet of letter-sized paper. Constantly rubbing against each other, standing on wire floors, and the sides of their cages these hens suffer from feather loss and painful sores all over their body.
- After only 1-2 years egg laying chickens are considered "spent" and sent to slaughter houses. Chickens and turkeys are exempt from the Humane Slaughter Act, a federal law that requires some animals to be rendered insensible to pain before being killed. As there is a decline in market for "spent" hens, producers often kill the hens themselves by gassing them with high concentrations of carbon dioxide. Often times this dose isn't high enough to kill the birds, and hens are sometimes reported to be seen crawling out from piles of decomposing chickens at landfills.
Chickens Used For Meat
- Chickens raised for meat grow at an alarming rate, most of them have trouble walking because their bodies can't support the rapid growth. Chickens who survive their gruesome lives, are slaughtered at just 42 days old. Even though their bodies have expanded to the size of an overgrown adult chicken, they are still "peeping" the sound of baby chicks when they are killed!
- A study conducted in 2006 shows that half of uncooked chicken bought at supermarkets contain arsenic, a known to cause cancer in humans. Arsenic is added to the feed of 70% of chickens each year, because it is believed to promote growth.
The truth about factory farm pork
- Female pigs, sows, spend most of their life pregnant with only about a months brake! The majority of breeding sows spend their entire pregnancy in a gestation crate, which is only slightly larger than their bodies making it impossible to lie down comfortably or even turn around! The floor under these "crates" is usually made of slats which allow manure to fall through. This means that the sow lies directly over her own waste which exposes the sows to high levels of ammonia, this often leads to respiratory disease. Sores are common, and the constant standing on the slatted floor can cause foot damage or even lameness. They have an average of about 2 litters per year until they are considered "spent" and then shipped off to slaughter.
- Right before the piglets are born sows are moved to "farrowing crates" where the piglets will be nursed. This cage separates the mother and piglets to avoid her crushing them, but are so restrictive that the mother pig can only stand or lie down. She can't even turn to look at her babies!
- At only 17-20 days old the piglets are taken from their mothers, are castrated and have a portion of their tails cut off without any form of pain relief. The piglets spend the next 6 months of their lives confined in pens until they reach "market weight" and are shipped off to slaughter.
The truth about factory farm cows
Cows Used For Dairy
- Dairy cows spend their lives in a constant cycle of impregnation, birth, and milking with only a few short months between pregnancies. Nearly all cows used for dairy are eventually slaughtered for human consumption. At an average of under 5 years old cows are considered "spent", in a natural setting cows can live more than 20 years.
- Usually within hours of their birth calves are taken from their mothers. This distresses them so much that they become sick, lose weight from not eating, and cry so much their throats become raw. Male calves are of little value to the dairy industry, and are sold to be raised for beef.
- Dairy cows spend most of their lives indoors typically standing on hard cement floors, and are frequently connected to milking apparatus.
Cows Used For Meat
- After taken from their mothers these male cows are often castrated, dehorned, and branded all very painful processes done with little to no pain relief.
- Between 6 months and a year of age cattle are moved from pasture to feedlots to fatten them for slaughter. The unnatural diet provided these cattle allows them to reach "market weight" (1,200 lbs.) in just 6 months!
The truth about factory farm turkeys
- Same as chickens, male turkeys are bred to gain so much weight in so short a time that their bodies have trouble keeping pace with the growth.
- They are debeaked at a young age, and are treated much the same as chickens.
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