nationwide movement aims to ban controversial conditions

[Ferrret]

Quote:
Well there are a lot of people who are looking for work that wouldn't mind working on a farm if it meant a paycheck and being able to feed their families!

Changing the standards of living will take new laws and enforcement of said laws before anything is done.
I can't blame the farms from a cost and time consumption aspect but I also can't see why it's so hard to give a pig at least enough room to turn around, or a chicken some wing space.

Who knows, maybe with the way things are, more people will turn to raising their own food and running farms again and factory farms wont need to produce as much.

 

[Tailfeathers]

I'm not positive about this but if memory serves me correctly, the reason the pregnant sows are put in such confined areas is because the aren't smart enough not to roll over on their babies and kill them. So to protect the babies, the sows are put in very limited space confinements.

God Bless,

 

[SilverPhoenix]

I absolutely disagree with the notion that animals do not deserve at least the most basic rights--the rights to live their life out to its natural end, to not suffer terribly, to have a degree of freedom of movement, and to behave in ways that are natural to their kind. However, I also recognize that the vast, vast majority of people do not agree with this moral viewpoint. Even humans, who (it is generally accepted) have these rights are not protected from cruel and unnatural deaths. However, I would hope that a reasonable person would be able to look at the animals in factory farms and be revolted at what they see. If animals must be raised for human products, don't they at least deserve to be treated with respect and kindness? Don't they at least deserve to live as they were intended (in social groups, where they have sun and shade and grass, eat well, and can move about) until they meet their untimely, and hopefully quick and humane, demise?

Many people take my vegetarian/pro-animal rights stance to mean that I am black and white opposed to all killing of animals. In an ideal world, I would fit in that category. I wish this world could be one where no animals are killed for any reason other than absolute survival. However, given that this world is not that way and sadly may never be that way, I will do all I can to fight for the quality of life for these animals. If their bodies are going to be used for human purposes, they at least deserve a quality life in exchange. For that reason, I will always choose to support and stand behind a small farm versus a factory farm. I will always vote in support of laws governing better treatment of animals used for human purposes. Animals are not products--they are living things that feel as we do, for these vertebrates have similar nervous systems to our own. They certainly don't need rights like ability to vote, but don't we owe the fellow animals of this planet at least a tiny bit of compassion and care? Because a lot of those factory farmed animals sure don't get any compassion or consideration as their own beings whatsoever.

 

[michickenwrangler]

Quote:
Which is why a lot of us do what we do with the animals we have. My 6 chickens provide enough eggs for us and 2 other families. My neighbor's 10 hens provide her family and 3 others with eggs. That's 7 families not buying eggs from battery hens. It's a drop in the bucket, but enough drops ...

 

[A.T. Hagan]

You can have your meat, eggs, and milk produced in any manner that YOU are willing to pay for. I don't like factory farms either so I produce my own eggs. You'd better believe they cost more to produce than factory eggs and that's the reason why there is a limit to how many I am willing to undertake selling. There isn't any way to make enough profit on them to make them worth more of my time and effort than I already put in.

The vast majority of this country either does not have the interest in producing their own, cannot because of space or other limitations, or both. This means they have to buy their eggs from someone else. Some are very concerned about how the eggs are produced so are willing to pay more for them. Most are more concerned about how much they cost. At a time of record unemployment cost is a major factor to many people. The difference in price between cheap factory eggs and expensive organic, free-range, pastured or whatever you want to call them will be the difference for a lot of folks between whether or not they eat eggs.

We have a very active animal rights movement in this country that is forever working towards not only eliminating factory farming, but also ownership of animals period. Once they knock off the factory farms YOU are next because I can guarantee that you will never be able to satsify them that your particular operation is good enough to suit them no matter how pretty your coop is or how many treats you give your birds.

If you want to eliminate factory farming the way to do is with your wallet. Just keep in mind though that yours may be fatter than other folks.

.....Alan.

 

[mom'sfolly]

I think this thread will be shut down soon, but here's my take....

There are lots of differences of opinion on what constitutes humane care. The farmer who confines sows in farrow feels that he is protecting the sow and piglets from other pigs and the piglets from their mother. The pastured pig advocates see things differently. I'm also reasonably sure that even the pastured pig farmers do not run boars and sows together all year round. Pigs penned together also fight, sometimes wounding one another, so the people who confine argue that they are protecting their livestock.

Debeakers will argue that it protects hens from cannibalism. And I doubt anyone would advocate running an equal number of hens with roos. The roos will fight and the hens will be over bred. So what happens to the excess roos?

Anyone who has watched nature shows should realized that wild animals do not live in blissful harmony, and this also would apply to farm animals kept completely "naturally". Males would fight, fatally sometimes, females would fight for dominance, and be hurt during breeding....

Just saying that "behaving in ways natural to their kind" isn't always going to be sweetness and light.

I'm not an advocate of factory farms by any means, but people writing legislation should have some clue about farming and animals. And different people see humane in different ways.

 

[Buck Creek Chickens]

yes the tight cages are awful and should be stopped, but some of the 'free range' is just as bad, a closed building, no air, a hole in the wall for going outside that doesn't get use because the hen don't know what outside is.

here is the government and industry standard to what it all means,

I found this:


"Cage Free," "Free Range" or "Free Roaming”

“The terms "Free Range" and "Free Roaming" mean that hens have "been allowed access to the outside," according to the USDA. There are some third-party verification programs, too. "Free Range" usually means the laying hens are raised in large flocks in big open warehouses rather than in stacked cages. They can walk around, flap their wings and preen their feathers. But outdoor access is not clearly defined - it is probably very limited, and on dirt or concrete rather than pasture. "Cage Free" does not mean outdoor access.

"Certified Humane."

Humane Farm Animal Care operates a certification program specifying that laying hens are uncaged, with access to perches, nest boxes and dust bathing areas. There are stocking-density maximums, but outdoor access is not required. Beak trimming (but not debeaking) is allowed; starvation to induce molting is prohibited.

"Certified Organic."

Production methods must comply with the USDA National Organic Program, including organic, vegetarian feed, no use of antibiotics and no cages. Debeaking and forced molting by starvation are allowed. Organic standards require producers to "maintain livestock living conditions which accommodate the health and natural behavior of the animals." How much access to the outdoors this requires for chickens is still being debated. On large organic chicken farms, it may mean nothing more than a small door opening onto a concrete yard.

"Omega 3."

All eggs contain small amounts of omega-3 fatty acids, thought to be beneficial to human health. Omega-3 levels in eggs can be raised by supplementing the birds' diet with fish oil, flax seed or alfalfa meal (or by simply allowing the birds to forage on lawn or pasture).

I'm refering to chickens only

 

[Katy]

Quote:
That is exactly the reason farrowing crates are so narrow. The producer is trying to protect the piglets from being squashed. Growing up our sows that were not contained to farrowing crates squashed and laid on more piglets than they raised often times.

 

[Buck Creek Chickens]

Quote:
That is exactly the reason farrowing crates are so narrow. The producer is trying to protect the piglets from being squashed. Growing up our sows that were not contained to farrowing crates squashed and laid on more piglets than they raised often times.

right, and the veal pens are tight because the calves will suck each others ears off if they get close to each other, and its not because they are hungry, it is not in the best interest of the farmer to starve is animals they will not produce

 

[Katy]

I am not in favor of inhumane treatment of animals.

That said, it angers me that those who would like to be in charge of deciding what is or isn't inhumane often times have no agricultural background or any animal experience past a pet dog or cat.

We treat our cattle very well, but someone with no cattle experience would not understand why things may or may not be done a certain way.

Our society is so far removed from their agricultural roots that most people have no clue. Factory farms and GM crops came about because of people pushing for an affordable, constant, cheap food source...now that they have it they're crying about how it is produced.