Hidden cruelty exposed
Matt Lillie
Issue date: 11/20/01 Section: Opinion
Though hens have been genetically engineered to produce more than twice the amount of eggs that they used to, the horrible conditions in which they are forced to live causes them to produce fewer eggs than they would if they were kept in better conditions. If better conditions would result in more eggs per bird, then why don’t the egg industries make conditions better for the birds? The reason is that it is more profitable to have more chickens crammed into cages, accepting lower productivity per bird, but greater productivity per cage. Chickens are cheap, cages are expensive. As a result, the birds are forced to live their whole lives in misery, unable to fulfill their natural behaviors or achieve a state of well-being.
At 12 to 18 months of age, the hens’ egg production rate begins to decline. These birds are considered “spent,” as they are no longer making maximum profits for the egg industry. After a life of cruelty and abuse, they are ripped from their cages and thrown into trucks. Due to excessive calcium loss from producing so many eggs, their bones are brittle and break easily as they are thrown from cage to truck. Workers are paid per bird, not per hour, so they have no incentive to handle the birds gently. Trucks then haul them to the slaughterhouse, where they are hung upside down by their ankles. Then their necks are sliced open with a blade, and they spend their last seconds or minutes of life dangling upside down, dripping blood, on the way to your local supermarket meat isle.
Meat from spent hens badly bruised from constantly rubbing against the wire cages. The bruised meat looks unpleasant and, as a result, it is shredded up and put into products where the blemishes can be hidden, such as chicken soup or chicken potpies.
Since male chickens are unable to produce eggs and don’t grow fast enough to be raised profitably for meat, it is not profitable to keep them alive. As a result, the unwanted baby male chicks are thrown into trash cans, where they are left to suffocate or die of exposure or starvation, or they are crushed or ground up alive. All mass-produced egg production, whether free range or factory farmed results in baby male chicks being killed.
At 12 to 18 months of age, the hens’ egg production rate begins to decline. These birds are considered “spent,” as they are no longer making maximum profits for the egg industry. After a life of cruelty and abuse, they are ripped from their cages and thrown into trucks. Due to excessive calcium loss from producing so many eggs, their bones are brittle and break easily as they are thrown from cage to truck. Workers are paid per bird, not per hour, so they have no incentive to handle the birds gently. Trucks then haul them to the slaughterhouse, where they are hung upside down by their ankles. Then their necks are sliced open with a blade, and they spend their last seconds or minutes of life dangling upside down, dripping blood, on the way to your local supermarket meat isle.
Meat from spent hens badly bruised from constantly rubbing against the wire cages. The bruised meat looks unpleasant and, as a result, it is shredded up and put into products where the blemishes can be hidden, such as chicken soup or chicken potpies.
Since male chickens are unable to produce eggs and don’t grow fast enough to be raised profitably for meat, it is not profitable to keep them alive. As a result, the unwanted baby male chicks are thrown into trash cans, where they are left to suffocate or die of exposure or starvation, or they are crushed or ground up alive. All mass-produced egg production, whether free range or factory farmed results in baby male chicks being killed.
