In the news! are caged commercial hens misrable? read the link

[Wifezilla]

Great point

 

[ellieroo]

When one thinks of the 29 million tons of wasted food this country generates yearly there really is not much need for giant calo:cd:cdus farms.We and our critters are better served by less is more in so many ways!

 

[fancbrd4me02]

I think that probably the reason older hens on factor farms get sick faster is not just due to age. Stress after a while has been proven to lower the immune system and cause illnesses. These birds are subjected to more lighting to increase laying, which equals less sleep and more stress. The hens get burned out. I also want to say that I think people need to realize that you can't put "human" emotion on an animal, but you can't prove they don't have emotions either. I think it would be wise to err on the side of caution and allow that it is unkown if and what kind of emotions animals have. I don't think my chickens love me when they come running, I think they think I might be edible. But them thinking I am the food lady doesn't mean they feel nothing. Some studies have shown that chickens can recognize different human faces. Animals are used in research in human drug development - even drugs for emotional conditions. Why would drug companies test drug effectiveness on an animal that could not be affected by it? Obviously, something similar is going on in thier brains as ours when emotion takes place. I do agree that "human" emotions should not be made into an animals burden. Humans misinterpret animal behavior all the time, and then they make broad generalizations that they have no proof of.

 

[technodoll]

Amen to that!

 

[A.T. Hagan]

You can have your meat birds and layers raised by the commercial poultry industry any way that you are willing to pay for.

But you WILL pay for it.

I don't make my living selling eggs which is a good thing because I'd go broke even at the three dollars a dozen I'm currenly selling them for. There are economies of scale that come with expanding into a larger operation, but the bigger you get the more you begin to look like a commercial poultry farm and for the very same reasons.

If you're on this board, reading this thread, you're a poultry enthusiast and have some concern for the way the birds are treated. Most folks are not. They want good quality eggs at the lowest price they can get them at. By our standards most factory eggs are not good quality, but by those of the typical grocery store customer they are. The sign on the drug store I passed this morning had eggs for ninety nine cents a dozen. I can't even pay for the feed it takes to produce a dozen eggs at those prices.

We don't eat store bought eggs. I'd rather go without. But then I keep my own birds and can afford to subsidize the cost of the eggs my birds produce. Most folks cannot do that.

With education and awareness quite a lot of customers can be led to demand their eggs be produced differently from the way the industry mostly does it now, but it means paying more for those eggs. Some folks have the discretionary inccome for that, many do not.

There is no free lunch here.

.....Alan.