Animal Welfare

Chickens have some of the worst living conditions because of their small size. “The average egg-producing chicken… is allotted about as much space as half a sheet of notebook paper”, states the author from the article “Life on a Factory Farm”.  The chickens that live on these factory farms are also “debeak[ed]” in order to prevent “aggressive” behavior and “fatal[ities]” among the egg-layers (“Life”).  Because of the extremely cramped cages, these chickens are forced to live in unsanitary living conditions. By stuffing these farms with thousands of animals in small pens, the sanitary conditions of these birds remain completely forgotten. Feces line the bottom of each pen which unfortunately causes high concentrations of ammonia. Because the birds are constantly inhaling this harmful toxin, we, as consumers, are eating this unhealthy meat.   

 

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In addition to chickens, turkeys, beef and dairy cattle and swine also greatly suffer from factory farming.  Beef Cattle differ from chickens because they begin their life on open pasture land; it’s not until they reach a certain age that they are taken to feed lots. Unfortunately, feed lots provide these cattle with a terrible quality of life. Once they reach these farms, the cattle are stuffed in pens with many other steers and heifers in which there is no fresh grass and they are standing in at least ankle deep mud/feces.  Additionally, the cows are fed “growth hormones and extremely rich diets during their time at the feed lot in order to ready them for slaughter” (“Life”).  

Hogs are treated likewise to cattle.  At the beginning of their lives, the “piglets are removed from the care of their mother as soon as one week after birth” (“Life”).  Unfortunately, for the piglets, they lose valuable time with their mother, and they do not receive all the nutrients their mothers’ milk provides them.  Then they are thrown into “large pens with hundreds of other young pigs” where they have no room to freely roam around. 

 Dairy cattle luckily have a little better life than some other factory farmed animals.  Although the calves are taken away from their mother at a very young age, they have more room to move in their pens and are better taken care of.  Although factory farmed dairy cattle do not have a picture-perfect life, at least their future is brighter than those of meat producing livestock.  Tragically, animals suffer every moment from these horrific situations, and it is up to us, the consumer, to immediately put an end to the extreme abuse.    

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