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Chickens

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Revision as of 08:34, 10 June 2019 by Greg.Fuller (talk | contribs) (Mass Slaughter of Males)

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General Information

It's commonly thought that the domesticated chickens used for meat and eggs are primarily descended from the Red Jungle Fowl of Southeast Asia. More recent research paints a more complex picture—birds from India, Cambodia, Ceylon, and other areas may also be involved in the lineage.[1]

Early interest in these birds centered around cockfighting, but later the bird became domesticated for eggs and meat. Chickens were used widely in Southeast Asia, India, Tibet, and the islands of the Pacific. By the sixth century B.C. Egyptians were using chickens for religious sacrifices and cockfighting, and by the third century they were being used for their meat and eggs. Chickens were a common fixture Greek life. After being shown a chicken, Plato defined humans in terms of the chickens as "bipeds without feathers". Their exploitation in the West spread from Greece to Rome and then on to Europe. [2]

Sentience and Cognition

Humane Labels and Certifications

Suffering and Violence

Mass Slaughter of Males

Because laying hens are bred specifically to lay eggs, males hatched from the laying hen variety of chicken are not profitable—they don't yield sufficient meat and they can't lay eggs. And because they are not profitable, the males are ground alive in a macerator, gassed, or suffocated, shortly after they are hatched. This industry refers to this practice as chick culling. (Weak and struggling females are also discarded in this manner.[3])

Hatchlings are about 50% male and 50% female. So statistically speaking, every laying hen has a brother who has been violently slaughtered. This is true even for backyard chickens, as the female hatchlings are sold not only to commercial producers, but individuals keeping backyard chickens.

In the United States, over 375 million male chicks are slaughtered via culling. Worldwide, it's in the billions.[4]

Female hatchlings are sold to a broad range of producers, including individuals keeping backyard chickens.

Dibilitating Selective Breeding

Debeaking

Debeaking is painful, causes lasting suffering, impairs feeding, eliminates exploratory pecking, and contributes to lice from impaired preening.[7]

Human Health and Nutrition

Footnotes

  1. Smith, Page, and Charles Daniel. The Chicken Book. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2000, 11-13.
  2. ibid.,16-30.
  3. “What Happens with Male Chicks in the Egg Industry? – RSPCA Knowledgebase.” Accessed June 10, 2019. https://kb.rspca.org.au/knowledge-base/what-happens-with-male-chicks-in-the-egg-industry/
  4. Estimated from 2017 data: “FAOSTAT.” Accessed June 10, 2019. http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QL.
  5. “United Egg Producers Statement on Eliminating Male Chick Culling.” UEP Certified (blog), June 10, 2016. https://uepcertified.com/united-egg-producers-statement-eliminating-male-chick-culling/.
  6. Daley, Jason. “A German Grocery Chain Is Selling First-Of-Its-Kind ‘No-Kill’ Eggs.” Smithsonian. Accessed June 10, 2019. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/what-no-kill-eggs-are-now-available-berlin-supermarkets-180971117/
  7. “Welfare Implications of Beak Trimming.” American Veterinary Medical Association, February 7, 2010. https://www.avma.org/KB/Resources/LiteratureReviews/Pages/beak-trimming-bgnd.aspx

Meta

This page was originally authored by Greg Fuller. The contents may have been edited since that time by others.

  1. “Animal Husbandry Guidelines for U.S. Egg Laying Flocks 2016 Edition.” United Egg Producers, 2016. http://uepcertified.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/UEP-Animal-Welfare-Guidelines-20141.pdf
  2. Dan Flynn, “Cage-Free Hens Don’t Improve Egg Food Safety, Nutrition Levels,” Food Safety News, March 1, 2017, http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2017/03/cage-free-hens-dont-improve-egg-food-safety-nutrition-levels/
  3. Cheng, H.-W. “Breeding of Tomorrow’s Chickens to Improve Well-Being.” Poultry Science 89, no. 4 (April 1, 2010): 805–13. https://doi.org/10.3382/ps.2009-00361
  4. Jamieson, Alastair. “Large Eggs Cause Pain and Stress to Hens, Shoppers Are Told,” March 11, 2009, sec. Finance. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/4971966/Large-eggs-cause-pain-and-stress-to-hens-shoppers-are-told.html
  5. Rutherford-Fortunati, Rutherford-Fortunati on. “Do Chickens Mourn the Loss of Their Eggs?,” June 29, 2012. http://gentleworld.org/a-chickens-relationship-with-her-eggs/
  6. Stevenson, Peter. “Leg and Heart Problems in Broiler Chickens.” Compassion in World Farming, January 2003. https://www.ciwf.org.uk/media/3818898/leg-and-heart-problems-in-broilers-for-judicial-review.pdf
  7. “UPC Factsheet - Debeaking.” United Poultry Concerns, Inc. Accessed March 28, 2018. https://www.upc-online.org/merchandise/debeak_factsheet.html
  8. “GAP Chicken Standards.” Global Animal Partnership. Accessed April 2, 2018. https://globalanimalpartnership.org/5-step-animal-welfare-rating-program/chicken-standards-application/
  9. “FSIS.” Food Safety Inspection Service, USDA, www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/food-labeling/meat-and-poultry-labeling-terms/
  10. Moyer, Justin Wm. “Whole Foods’ Expensive, ‘Humanely Treated’ Meat Is a ‘Sham,’ PETA Lawsuit Claims.” Washington Post, September 22, 2015, sec. Morning Mix. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/09/22/why-that-expensive-humanely-treated-whole-foods-meat-might-be-a-sham/
  11. Stempel, Jonathan. “Whole Foods Wins Dismissal of PETA Lawsuit over Meat Claims.” Reuters, April 27, 2016. https://www.reuters.com/article/whole-foods-mrkt-lawsuit/whole-foods-wins-dismissal-of-peta-lawsuit-over-meat-claims-idUSL2N17U11E
  12. “Global Animal Partnership.” Open Philanthropy Project, March 26, 2016. https://www.openphilanthropy.org/focus/us-policy/farm-animal-welfare/global-animal-partnership-general-support
  13. Direct Action Everywhere. Truth Matters: DxE Investigators Expose “Humane” Fraud at Whole Foods. Accessed April 2, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yU4PJCuslD0