I generally consider myself to be a reasonable person. I speak to people in a conversational tone. I don't interrupt other people's stories just to tell my own. I try to answer people's questions politely and efficiently. However, sometimes subjects come up that leave me feeling like a raving, raging stream of unrestrained ire and frustration the likes of which street preachers and schizophrenics turn their heads toward in alarm. One such subject is pants. WHY can't I get a good pair of short jeans? I'm not disfigured, I'm merely not very high!
The other is animal rights.
Don't get me wrong, I am not a fan of cruelty to animals. I don't wantonly kick puppies or beat kittens. I am, after all, majoring in fuzzy animals. I also don't go out of my way to kill less... interesting animals, though on occasion, certain things are required. But I don't anthropomorphize. I try not to think of animals the way I think of people, for the simple reason that animals are not people.
Thus begins a quick look into my long-standing ire with public misconceptions about factory farming.
Obviously, this is the time to make a blanket apology-- I am not insulting anyone, not trying to say that anyone doesn't know what they're talking about. I honestly am not. However, I do think that there is, again, a great deal of misinformation being spread to the public as a whole, and I feel honor bound to address this, to my limited ability. So here we go.
In the United States, one can generally classify chickens in to three varieties: Laying hen, Broiler breeder, and Broiler. Of these three, only two ever seem to have any issues.
Laying Hens
Laying hens are most often considered when bringing up issues of animal welfare, and not without reason. The cages are small, the conditions are somewhat unsavory, the life isn't particularly glamorous. This is being addressed in some areas; the EU recently passed a directive that requires a phase-out of standard battery cages to enriched laying cages that must be implemented by 2012. It must also be noted that this has been speculated to potentially depress the European egg market by as much as 30%.
Debeaking does occur in laying hens, though this may not be as traumatic as it sounds. First, the fact that the beak is made out of cartilage and bone has no bearing on whether or not the practice is cruel, unusual, or unjustified. Cartilage is an avascular, aneural tissue. There have been reports of neuroma formation in cases of severe beak amputation, but this is not the normal practice in most poultry operations. Beaks are trimmed (debeaking is a misnomer) using a self-cauterizing machine to limit pain and trauma. Usually, only a small portion of the beak is removed. Research has shown that these minimally invasive amputations heal quickly and will dissipate pain over time. Also, they do lead to a severe reduction in mortality due to cannibalism.
Laying hens under a capable manager are not undernourished. They are fed specially formulated rations specifically created by leading nutritionists to accommodate their reproductive needs. If the hens were starving for essential nutrients, their eggs would begin to be of extremely poor quality. They would fail to be marketed due to cracks, poor consistency, color variations, or any other number of unappetizing features. Alternately, the bird may just fail to lay, causing another economic nightmare. Though it may not be the kindest or most altruistic of reasons, birds are kept as healthy as possible to ensure output of a high-quality product that will net greatest market results. Their meat is tough, but that is due to old age. Older animals lay down more fat and less water in tissues because they are through with growing-- you don't slaughter old cows, pigs, or sheep for their meat either.
Sanitation and biosecurity are HUGE issues in the poultry industry. The inherent aroma associated with chickens is due to the ammonia content of their feces, and not necessarily because of the condition of the farm on which they are raised. Any time you put that many aromatic animals in an area, they are bound to make a stink. If a farm is squalid or contaminated, its products will come out squalid and contaminated, which makes them unsellable. Though some farms invariably fall into these categories, the vast majority necessarily do not, or we would have a lot more food poisoning cases reported every year.
Broilers
In comparison to laying hens, broilers seem to get a much better rap. Though debeaking (the exact same process as above) may be used, genetics have led to a more docile bird who is afforded more space than laying hens, and therefore has less reason to revert to cannibalism. They do not live in cages, but rather in broiler houses measuring about 40 x 400 feet - 50 x 600 feet large. The research on stocking density of broilers is inconclusive: some reports state that more room will result in a larger, more productive bird. However, this does not necessarily mean that birds need more room-- you may want to live in a mansion but you can still thrive in an apartment. Birds grown at higher densities grow more consistently and have no noticeable increase in mortality or other grow out issues, in addition to being an economically feasible plan for the grower.
Chickens are not fed antibiotics or hormones in accordance with United States law. Have you seen the statements on Tyson chicken products lauding the fact that they don't use growth hormone or antibiotics on their birds? Look closer. They state this on the packaging. They are playing on public fears when in reality, it is not an issue. The cost of providing growth hormones to chickens is absolutely, positively, without a doubt economically unfeasible. It is also completely pointless-- today's broiler takes approximately four weeks to reach market weight. It is unlikely they would, or even could, grown any faster than this, though the fine line between safety and performance is one that is always being researched. Low levels of non-prescription growth promotants with antibiotic properties may be present in subtheraputic levels in the diet-- this is part of the food animal controversy. These tend to promote high growth by minimizing incidence of secondary infection after vaccination or due to parasitism. Birds who are not given any form of preventative treatment often develop life-threatening, painful diseases such as necrotic enteritis-- the British poultry market had a huge upswing in this disease following a ban on feed-added antibiotics.
I think that's all I have to give for today. I'm sure at another time, in another place I will take issue with something else, but for now, I just hope I've helped set the record a little straighter.
Please, please never just settle for biased sources... treat yourself to some research instead!