This undercover video, via Mercy for Animals, illustrates the problem with industrial farming—the disregard of living things and the environment for the benefit of efficiency and cost. Hy-Line International’s practice of sending living chicks through a grinder is unconscionable and certainly immoral.
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Buck – I saw this disturbing footage this morning, and then I did three things:
1. I thought about it. Aside from those chicks that slip off of the conveyor belt (there cannot be too many of those), this seems to me to be a case of AESTHETICS rather than ETHICS. The goal here is a SPEEDY death. An auger, hammer or chipper does that, doesn’t it? Is it ugly? Sure. All death is. Go to YouTube and watch the video of hawks plucking and eating living birds in the wild, and you will see some pretty grizzly stuff there too. The only ethical question, I think, is speed. An auger or hammer or chipper is pretty quick. One can argue, I suppose, that all the male chickens should be raised to maturity, but that has never been done since the dawn of time because roosters are a REAL pain in the ass. It’s not just their crowing and their higher feed-to-meat ratio — it’s that they fight like hell and to the death. Remember; these are the descendents of dinosaurs!
2. I looked up the mortality rates for junglefowl in the wild. The junglefowl is the closest wild relative there is to a chicken (it is indistinguishable from the chickens I raised in Africa as a child). I could not find wild junglefowl data, but I did find data that says junglefowl raised in an aviary under pretty close to ideal conditions have less than a 35% survival rate. Wow! Mother Nature is about pretty nasty to chickens — no wonder they have so many eggs! See >> http://www.seaza.org/scientific_papers/captive_breeding_of_green_jungle_fowl.htm
3. Beak trimming is never done with broilers – only with egg chickens that are raise to a further age of maturity. It is done to reduce the incidence of cannibalism which often occurs at the onset of egg laying. Cannibalism is NOT related to how a chicken is raised or the type of chicken being raised — it seems to be a kind of mania that can develop in any kind of egg-laying flock no matter how it is raised — another reminder that we are raising the descendents of dinosaurs. Beak trimming, by the way, seems to predates large industrial chicken operations, and there are apparently pros and cons to the practice and not every chicken operation does it. Cannibalism rates without beak trimming are about 13 percent or so, while beak trimming if done under age 10 days seems to leave to long term health problems. See >> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debeaking
For what it’s worth ….
Patrick
Patrick,
I’ve raised chickens, ducks, and geese as a boy, and I understand the need of selecting, sexing, pinioning, or why beak trimming is necessary, and I would even kill my own chickens for food (if I had them, so I don’t keep poultry at the moment). I also know that chickens are prone to picking, cannibalism, and egg eating, but these problems (from my experience) are reduced when chickens have a lot of space to roam.
However, I still disagree with how these chicks are destroyed. It’s clearly wrong. Furthermore, the larger issue is industrial agriculture and where our food originates, and how industrial agriculture impacts the environment—and from an environmental perspective, industrial agriculture is largely unregulated.
Anyhow, many thanks for the information you provided and insight. & I enjoyed your post about the Henry Louis Gates fiasco.
Buck
Buck – I saw this disturbing footage this morning, and then I did three things:
1. I thought about it. Aside from those chicks that slip off of the conveyor belt (there cannot be too many of those), this seems to me to be a case of AESTHETICS rather than ETHICS. The goal here is a SPEEDY death. An auger, hammer or chipper does that, doesn't it? Is it ugly? Sure. All death is. Go to YouTube and watch the video of hawks plucking and eating living birds in the wild, and you will see some pretty grizzly stuff there too. The only ethical question, I think, is speed. An auger or hammer or chipper is pretty quick. One can argue, I suppose, that all the male chickens should be raised to maturity, but that has never been done since the dawn of time because roosters are a REAL pain in the ass. It's not just their crowing and their higher feed-to-meat ratio — it's that they fight like hell and to the death. Remember; these are the descendents of dinosaurs!
2. I looked up the mortality rates for junglefowl in the wild. The junglefowl is the closest wild relative there is to a chicken (it is indistinguishable from the chickens I raised in Africa as a child). I could not find wild junglefowl data, but I did find data that says junglefowl raised in an aviary under pretty close to ideal conditions have less than a 35% survival rate. Wow! Mother Nature is about pretty nasty to chickens — no wonder they have so many eggs! See >> http://www.seaza.org/scientific_papers/captive_breeding_of_green_jungle_fowl.htm
3. Beak trimming is never done with broilers – only with egg chickens that are raise to a further age of maturity. It is done to reduce the incidence of cannibalism which often occurs at the onset of egg laying. Cannibalism is NOT related to how a chicken is raised or the type of chicken being raised — it seems to be a kind of mania that can develop in any kind of egg-laying flock no matter how it is raised — another reminder that we are raising the descendents of dinosaurs. Beak trimming, by the way, seems to predates large industrial chicken operations, and there are apparently pros and cons to the practice and not every chicken operation does it. Cannibalism rates without beak trimming are about 13 percent or so, while beak trimming if done under age 10 days seems to leave to long term health problems. See >> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debeaking
For what it's worth ….
Patrick;…
Americans have a RIGHT to know what goes on, if it causes sales to decline then tough. If there are ground up puppies in my new HDTV, I want to know. If it offends you that the truth gets out, hallelujah that you arent the person who is in charge of the world. Secrets leak out. Concealment of the truth from paying customers is the most Anti-American ideal I ever heard of. There isnt such a thing as a right not to be offended by reality. Americans have a RIGHT to know.
No arguement there Orion — I want people to know as much as possibe.
You seem, however, to be offended that I have simply put this video in context and added a few bits of information about chicken cannibalism, etc. I have not taken away any information — I have added new information. And that has offended you. Odd! I would think you would be offensive to you that this video told only part of the story and not all of it.
Who knew truth to suffer in a free and open debate? Not me!
In a world of 7 billion people, most of then urban, we are not going to raise chickens in flocks of 12 with a half acre for them to roam at will. Sadly, we no longer live in an age of schooners and candles.
Any video or essay that talks about the problems of industrial agriculture should start with “The problem is too damn many people …” and end with “and that’s why you an everyone else needs to stop and one or none.” Funny how that never gets mentioned. You want an uncomfortable truth? Try that one.
PBurns
Your video what quite comical. Too bad you don’t really know the whole truth. How often do you cut your fingernails? That is exactly what is happening when these baby birds beaks are being trimmed. They use lasers because it is a very precise and clean cut. Do you think its right to go under cover and steal your footage? Dont push your vegan lifestyle onto others. That is your choice–why do you think people need to be grossed out so they will become vegans. Stop playing on peoples emotions. What are you going to gain from it? I raise cattle and chickens for butcher in a very humane way–so should I become a vegan? Thats not ever going to happen. Where would this world be without agriculture and those of us who enjoy juicey cuts of meat? Way worse off than we are now. Go ahead and enjoy your tofue from Argentina that makes use of the rain forests. Farming practices in other countries are not regulated like it is here. Take your under cover cameras there and find out how much “organic farming” is hurting our world. Do a little more research as to where your “protein” comes from.
I never said I was against debeaking. I’ve kept poultry and other animals for agricultural purposes, so I understand what animal husbandry entails. As a result, just because I’m a meat eater and familiar with agriculture, that doesn’t mean I have to blindly support the status quo. I prefer my meat to come from more traditional/humane old school practices over industrial farming. There’s a lot that’s wrong with industrial agriculture. Furthermore, I’m not a vegan, and I never said that I was.
If people didn’t go undercover/spy—a lot would be unknown that should be known. I’m sure you’ve benefited from clandestine activity indirectly. Also, I never said you should become a vegan, but there’s nothing wrong with vegans or vegetarians or informed carnivores who try and make wiser choices. I do believe there’s something wrong with ignorant carnivores and uninformed vegans. I never said agriculture shouldn’t exist. Furthermore, your tofu analogy works both ways, and just because someone eats tofu, that doesn’t mean it was grown via unsustainable practices. Lastly, in my opinion, organic farming is superior to industrial farming for a plethora of reasons.
Why I only buy free range