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Poultry farming comes at a great cost to both humans and animals. Billions of chickens, ducks, and turkeys are mistreated on factory farms each year.
A bird flying through the skies is the ultimate expression of freedom, but not all birds are afforded the ability to spread their wings. Farmed birds, known as poultry, endure some of the worst treatment of any animal, especially on factory farms, which provide virtually all of the animal products consumed in countries like the United States.
Poultry farming comes at a high cost, not only to the birds themselves but to humans and the environment.
WHAT IS POULTRY FARMING?
Poultry farming refers to the farming and husbandry of birds and encompasses both meat and egg production. Within the confines of factory farms, where millions of animals are raised for food, birds are never allowed to fly, hatch eggs in the nests they’ve created, or nurture their young in the forests, meadows, and skies where they traditionally live.
Farmed chickens and turkeys endure lives of near-total darkness.
Instead, farmed chickens and turkeys endure lives of near-total darkness. The sun never reaches their feathers, and their feet remain firmly planted on the ground for most of their short lives. Like all types of factory farming, intensive poultry farming gives rise to rampant animal cruelty that the birds don't deserve.
WHAT ARE THE FOUR TYPES OF POULTRY?
Eggs and poultry meat remain central to many diets worldwide. Below are the four most common types of birds that can be found living in backyards, roaming through subsistence farming communities, and, most commonly, on factory farms.
Chickens
Chickens are by far the world’s most populous bird, thanks to the high demand for their meat and eggs. Around the world, hundreds of different chicken breeds are farmed. In US factory farms, the Hybrid White Leghorn is most popular for egg production. Selective breeding forces these “layer hens”—a term that refers to female chickens used in egg production—to birth an unnaturally high number of eggs.
In the US, the majority of chickens raised for meat—also known as broiler chickens—are a hybrid between Cornish hens and Plymouth Rock chickens. These chickens can grow abnormally large pectoral muscles, which later become pieces of white meat sold at supermarkets after the birds are slaughtered.
Turkeys
Turkeys are unlucky enough to grace the dinner tables for Thanksgiving in the United States, as well as Christmas in many other countries. The Broad Breasted White turkey is the most popular on North American factory farms, while Bronze, Bourbon Red, and Royal Palm turkeys are also raised for meat.
Ducks and geese
Ducks and geese are raised primarily for their eggs and meat. The White Pekin duck is most popular in North American factory farms, but other breeds such as Muscovy, Moulard, and Mallard ducks are also raised for their meat. Campbell, Runner, and Buff ducks can also be raised for eggs.
While less popular than ducks, certain types of geese are raised for meat, including African and Embden breeds.
Squabs
Unlike adult pigeons, who roam freely along sidewalks and window ledges, baby pigeons are rarely seen. That’s because wild pigeon parents do a good job of raising and protecting their young until they are ready to hit the streets. Farmed pigeons, on the other hand, are unable to hide their babies from human predators. These pigeon babies are known as squabs and are eaten as delicacies by different cultures around the world.
WHAT ARE THEY RAISED FOR?
Poultry birds are raised primarily for meat and eggs, although some are used for other purposes. Below are four common uses for poultry.
Meat production
Chicken dinners, turkey sandwiches, duck confit—all of these dishes require birds to be killed. And when you take a broad view, the total number of birds killed for meat each year in the US is astronomical.
- Chickens: 9 billion
- Turkeys: 270 million
- Ducks: 31 million
- Squabs: Around 1 million
Egg production
For many, breakfast isn’t complete without an egg dish, whether sunny side up, poached, or benny. This demand has given rise to a gargantuan egg industry. In the US alone, the amount of eggs produced by various species in one year is truly unfathomable at about 113 billion.
Foie gras
Foie gras is a delicacy prized by those who can ignore the extreme cruelty required to produce it. The food is among the more controversial uses of farmed ducks and geese. Meaning “fatty liver,” foie gras is the artificially-fattened liver of male geese and ducks who have been force-fed corn for most of their adult lives. Gavage, the industry’s term for force-feeding, involves locking birds into cages that prevent them from moving. Pipes are then forced down their throats, pumping food directly into their stomachs.
Pipes are then forced down their throats, pumping food directly into their stomachs.
This forced-feeding causes the livers to swell many times the normal size. Gavage can cause ruptured organs, broken bones, and death from choking on vomit or pneumonia if food is accidentally pumped into the lungs. Because only male birds are used for foie gras, female ducklings and goose chicks are killed, usually by grinding them up alive.
Due to the intense suffering caused by the production of this food, foie gras has been banned in many cities and even in some countries.
HOW ARE BIRDS TREATED ON POULTRY FARMS?
In North America, the majority of birds consumed in North America spend their lives in factory farms. Birds are held in extreme confinement on poultry farms and are subjected to lives full of pain and suffering. Below are a few of the typical conditions of life on a poultry farm.
Battery cages
On egg farms, layer hens are confined to small cages that can be stacked on top of one another to mimic the form of an artillery battery, hence the name. Each cage houses a handful of hens, and each bird is given an amount of space that is not much larger than their bodies. The United Egg Producers recommend an area of up to 86 square inches per bird, which is not even enough space to allow hens to stretch out their wings.
Crowded sheds
Poultry production barns tend to keep birds within vast, indoor spaces, often without any access to the outdoors or even windows to let in natural light. Broiler barns and turkey farms can accommodate thousands of birds at a time. High stocking densities can prevent birds from getting proper exercise or rest and lead to dangerously unsanitary living conditions.
Mutilation
Chickens, geese, ducks, and other poultry birds are subjected to mutilations throughout their lives. Chickens and turkeys are often debeaked and lose portions of their beaks so they don’t peck other birds. But the procedure is only necessary because this pecking behavior is exacerbated due to the stress of intense confinement. In egg production, male chicks, who are useless to the industry since they cannot produce eggs, are killed often within hours of hatching, either by suffocation or grinding.
Inhumane transportation
At the end of poultry birds’ life—which often comes years earlier than it would in the wild—they are loaded onto trucks for transportation to the slaughterhouse. Birds are handled with little care when they are collected from barns and stuffed into cages on trucks. Many suffer broken bones in the process. Many chickens end up dying during transport, for lack of food or water, or exposure to extreme weather.
HOW ARE POULTRY KILLED?
Birds are not covered by the two pieces of federal legislation meant to protect certain animals from unnecessary harm, the Humane Slaughter Act nor the Animal Welfare Act. Because of this, birds are often exposed to some of the most painful killing methods commonly used by the industrial agriculture industry.
By far the most inhumane slaughter method is known as live-shackle slaughter, in which birds are hung upside down and electrocuted. If a bird survives the electrocution—and every year hundreds of thousands do—they remain conscious as their throats are slit, and even after, as they are thrown into a vat of scalding water.
WHAT ARE THE HEALTH IMPACTS OF POULTRY FARMING?
Aside from harming the physical and psychological well-being of birds, poultry farming gives rise to several human health impacts. Considering the bacterial diseases and pandemics that poultry farming gives rise to, it appears to cause more trouble than it’s worth.
Antibiotics
Like other species in factory farms, birds are given a cocktail of antibiotic drugs throughout their lives to prevent disease. When the chronic stress of these living conditions depresses the bird’s immune systems, poultry farms can easily become hotbeds of disease. Without regular antibiotic administration, it is unlikely many individuals could survive these conditions at all.
Salmonella found on eggs causes close to 80,000 deaths each year.
Antibiotics used in the poultry industry can affect humans in a variety of ways. The drugs can leach into groundwater supplies and wind up in drinking water, although this is a relatively minor threat to human health. Antibiotics used on poultry farms primarily affect humans by creating drug-resistant superbugs, which then spread from the birds to humans. The World Health Organization considers antibiotic resistance to be among the greatest health threats facing humanity on a global scale.
E. coli and Salmonella
E. coli and Salmonella are two strains of disease-causing bacteria that are commonly found on poultry and egg products. Originating in feces, these contaminants cause food poisoning that can be fatal. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) estimates that Salmonella found on eggs causes close to 80,000 deaths each year. Across the board, E. coli causes about 50 million people to become sick and 3,000 to die. Many of those cases can be traced back to contaminated poultry products.
Avian influenza
Avian influenza is a flu virus that occurs naturally within birds and some species of poultry. While most avian influenza does not infect humans, it can jump to humans. In these cases, larger disease outbreaks and even pandemics become a possible risk. Many bird flu outbreaks have neared pandemic levels in the recent past.
WHAT ARE THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS?
Bird droppings, as well as other refuse from poultry factory farms, including feathers, bedding, and rotting carcasses, can contaminate the surrounding environment. Air pollution, soil contamination, and fouling of surface and groundwater sources pose significant threats to both human health and the health of other animals in local ecosystems.
WHAT ABOUT WORKER HEALTH AND SAFETY?
Workers in the poultry industry face many health and safety hazards. Among the most high-profile of these issues are line-processing speeds at meatpacking plants. Fast line speeds can lead to serious injuries, as workers are forced to work faster without added protection. Injuries caused by slippery floors, dangerous equipment, and exposure to high noise levels are also significant sources of concern for workers, who are often underpaid and unable to afford adequate health care.
Farmworkers also encounter health hazards when working around living birds. Exposure to harmful dust and other pollutants that arise from bedding, feathers, and feces can increase the risk for several dangerous diseases including psittacosis and campylobacter infection.
YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Poultry farming comes at a great cost to both humans and animals. Billions of chickens, ducks, and turkeys are mistreated in North American factory farms each year, all for the sake of chicken wings, eggs, foie gras, and other food products. At the end of the day, no bird belongs in a cage.
By reducing or eliminating your consumption of poultry products, you can help address the demand that keeps these birds within the confines of the industrial agriculture system. To get involved in the movement to pressure companies to treat chickens more humanely, visit our Take Action page.
