Do We Really Need to Be So Cruel?

This is not a pleasant read, but we need to know the truth about how farmed animals are treated.

Where do chickens come from?

It is thought that chickens are descended primarily from the red jungle fowl (Gallus gallus) of Southeast Asia, although they also have some ancestry from other jungle fowl species.

Arguably, domestication of the birds began over 3,500 years ago. Some evidence suggests it may have started even earlier. The distribution of chickens occurred rapidly because of their ability to provide meat and eggs.

Wild red jungle fowl still exist today, but you would have to travel to the forests of Southern Asia to see them.

One estimate for the number of captive chickens alive today is over 34 billion.

Chickens used for meat and egg production are born into highly mechanised, unnatural environments.

Chickens on factory farms are among the most intensively farmed animals bred for meat and egg production.

Layer chickens. Egg-laying chickens.

The cruelty starts when the chicks are only one day old. Male chicks are considered an unwanted by-product of egg production. The reason is they cannot lay eggs and they are not suitable for meat production.

Male chicks are mostly disposed of in two ways, gassing and maceration, although some countries are beginning to replace these methods with technologies that identify the sex of chicks before they hatch. Although both traditional methods are horrendous, they must be better than the miserable lives many of the female hens will have to endure.

Special breeds of hens are most commonly used for egg production. They have the ability to lay high volumes of eggs, and in many parts of the world they are still kept in cages where they are unable to stretch their wings.

Wild red jungle fowl lay between 10 and 15 eggs per year, but hens bred for egg production can produce around 300 eggs in a year, which can lead to many health problems. After about two years egg production decreases, and commercial laying hens are sent to slaughter and replaced.

Broiler chickens.

Broiler chickens are bred and raised for their meat and are treated very inhumanely. Their rapid growth can cause painful leg disorders, heart problems and difficulty walking. Stress and confinement can also lead to injuries and feather pecking.

Chicks are placed inside large buildings capable of housing tens of thousands of birds and, on some farms, many more. Their miserable lives are short. After about 47 days they are sent for slaughter, which is maybe not so bad considering the horrendous lives they lead.

Chickens in an outside environment can live for over six years.

Not all hens are confined in an enclosure for 24 hours a day. Some factory-reared hens have access to the outdoors and can roam freely.

These free-range hens can experience the rain and the wind, breathe fresh air and feel the heat of the sun. Would it be unreasonable to give all chickens that opportunity? Of course, it all comes down to what people are prepared to pay at the shop or supermarket.

Now it is time for their miserable lives to end.

One method of killing factory-farmed chickens is called live shackle slaughter. The birds' legs are forced into metal stirrups, and they are hung upside down. From there they are passed through an electrified bath of water intended to render them unconscious before their throats are slit. Then it is time for their bodies to be tossed into boiling water to remove their feathers.

And we call ourselves civilised!

British spelling.

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