just saw the saddest thing

[dharmasister]

DH and I are rolling up I-55 toward Chicago and I'm on my phone reading the forums. I just looked over my shoulder as we passed a semi in the darkness and what is he hauling? A couple hundred cages full of beautiful, white hens. Presumably off to the slaughter house. Poor things are packed together, their feathers wildly flapping in the wind, their heads tucked down. They just look miserable on their trek of doom. They've never experienced being loved the way all of our birds have.

 

[Free as a Bird]

I haven't been able to eat chicken since I got my flock and learned about those factories.

 

[cassie]

I haven't been able to eat chicken since I got my flock and learned about those factories.

Oh Jeez!! If the broiler chickens in those factory farms were half as miserable as you think they are they wouldn't gain as well as they do. As long as they have feed, water, and a place to sleep they are happy. Kind of like my brother-in-law. However, I have seen some truly miserable Cornish X. They were in someone's back yard and these people had no idea what they were doing but thought they did. Those chickens didn't grow very well either.

 

[dharmasister]

Hmmmm.... happiness = weight gain. Didn't know that.

 

[cassie]

Hmmmm.... happiness = weight gain. Didn't know that.

Put your own animals in miserable conditions and see how well they perform.

 

[dharmasister]

Ya, but you just said that the factory chickens are happy in their miserable conditions as evident by how big they grow! Make up your mind.

 

[cassie]

Ya, but you just said that the factory chickens are happy in their miserable conditions as evident by how big they grow! Make up your mind.

Huh? What I meant by bad conditons are inadequate and/or improper feed, not enough water, and wet bedding. I don't think the factory broiler chickens are kept in miserable conditions at all. Apparently you do. What you think are bad conditions and what I think are bad conditions and probably what the chickens think are bad conditions are not the same. In my experience, if a broiler chicken has plenty of the right kind of food, water, and a dry place to sleep he is happy. I provide these conditions for my broilers. The commercial broiler facilities I have personally seen do the same. However I have seen several backyard raisers who do not and then wonder why their chickens don't grow out well.

 

[Arroz con Pollo]

Very sad. I saw the same sight a few months back ago when stuck in traffic.

 

[Pinkaboo]

Factory chickens are kept in awful conditions
Lights on all the time, constantly feeding
No room for them, its cruel

We recently had a similar truck full of chickens over turn on the motorway
Some died but many were rescued and given new homes
Talk about lucky

 

[Arroz con Pollo]

Factory chickens are kept in awful conditions
Lights on all the time, constantly feeding
No room for them, its cruel

We recently had a similar truck full of chickens over turn on the motorway
Some died but many were rescued and given new homes
Talk about lucky

Dang, that's awesome (too bad for the poor clucks who didn't make it, though). I've always wanted to rescue some factory hens.