Facts about broiler chickens
The automation involved in the rearing of chickens
for meat is more advanced than that of any other factory
farmed animal. Hatching machines in oversized breeding
factories have taken over the role of the brood hen.
Around 180,000 eggs are taken from this machine at
the end of each 21 day breeding cycle. The unhatched
chicks are not machines but individuals, this means
that some chicks hatch earlier and some later. However,
chicks who have not hatched after exactly 21 days
are thrown, together with their egg shells, into the
waste processor which grinds up the living chicks,
or they are killed with gas. Fifteen million one-day
old chicks and 1.5 million turkey chicks are killed
this way in Austria every year.
Over 52 million broiler chickens and 5 million turkeys
are put into broiler factories for rearing in Austria
each year. On these factory farms 1 m² is allotted
for each 30kg of poultry, at about 1.5 kg slaughtering
weight per bird, this means about 20 birds – It is
impossible to squeeze more birds together into this
tiny space! On turkey farms the 30kg is increased
to 40kg for 1 m². Because the slaughter weight of
turkeys is much more than that of broiler chickens
this means that there are fewer turkeys occupying
1 m².
A major concern with this method of breeding chickens
is the accelerated rate of growth that builds up muscle
but not the chicken’s bones and joints. As a result
of this unnatural growth rate chickens reach slaughter
weight in only 35 days. This is in stark contrast
to egg laying hens of the same age who are still little
chicks and only start laying eggs at the age of 140
days, that is, when they are growing into adulthood.
This rapid growth of broiler hens means that invariably
all chickens suffer from joint deformities which cause
a lot of pain. Thirty percent of all broiler chickens
suffer broken legs before reaching the slaughterhouse.
The situation is not much better for turkeys. Experts
on poultry agree that this selected breeding results
in animals who find it impossible to move without
experiencing pain. Their shear existence is agony.
According to the new Austrian Animal Welfare Law,
this selected breeding is not prohibited, nor is it
restricted in any way. The only concession is that
straw must be provided as bedding. In practise this
means straw is laid out on the floor of the broiler
sheds before the chicks are put inside, but it is
never changed; the chickens spend their life standing
or laying in their own, ever accumulating manure with
all the associated health problems that that brings.
Untrained farm workers are legally permitted to mutilate
the, sometimes not even 10 day old, chickens. It is
standard practice to debeak the chickens, where up
to a third of the bird’s beak is removed without the
use of any anaesthetics.
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