There are videos of huge trucks dumping chickens in a landfill in Ohio. Happened june 18th. Some of the chickens were still alive.
Wasn’t reported on much in mainstream media.
“The ODA also stated that these birds in particular did not have any diseases. Instead, they were at the end of their egg-laying cycle, writing: “It is a standard practice in the poultry industry to euthanize a flock when laying hens reach the end of their productive life cycle.””
That’s b.s. Such birds are turned into food for humans or animals.
Is bird flu back?
Report says they are being investigated for not euthanizing animals before dumping.
Here is another video source.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZyn7SaDBKU/?igsi=MWxtdzd2YjBvcTFhaA%3D%3D
Wall of text incoming explaining this totally “normal” process in the egg-industry:
Tap for spoiler
(Translated from german, source linked at the end)
Egg laying hens in conventional agriculture have a short and deprived existence. After only ten to twelve months of intensive egg production, in which they are exploited to the limits of their performance, the so-called “Mauser” follows. However, this natural resting phase, in which her body regenerates and renews the feather dress, means for the hens the end of their “usability”.
The Mauser goes hand in hand with a laying break of at least three weeks, which means an unacceptable slump for the profiteers of the animals. Instead of giving the hens this well-deserved recovery, they are mercilessly eradicated. In Switzerland, 3 million laying hens suffer this sad fate every year and are gassed or otherwise killed after only a few months of their lives to make way for young, “more capable” chickens.
(source: swiss-german animal-protection website)
Note: This is one of the reasons people (often vegans) avoid consuming eggs or products that have eggs in them.
aaaaaand this is why I’m vegan. Animals are here WITH us, not FOR us. They do not deserve what humans do to them.
I wish it was easier to keep your own chickens.
They are pretty easy to care for if you have the land for them.
My grandpa has his own chickens. He does live out in the country with room for them.
He did have to put up overhead fencing/netting along with regular ground fences to keep out hawks and eagles. And occasionally he has had a ground predator problem. But he owns a shotgun so…
But I would say still, pretty easy to raise egg-producing chickens in a humane way.
If only people had the land then anyone could. You can even keep them where your little garden is. They eat pests.
You don’t need that much room for a few chickens either.
Why don’t they at least send them to meat processing facilities? Even if it’s lower quality meat you could probably sell it for cheaper or use it in pet food. Also where ere they getting that many new chickens in? Wouldn’t it cause a significant shortage if something like bird flu hit the source? Also if they really are worried about a 3 week dip, couldn’t you minimize that by time it so that only some of the hens weren’t producing. It just seems incredibly wasteful.
Because it is economically not worth it processing those exhausted egg-laying hens into anything. A tiny fraction of the chickens are given a second-life through “give-away actions” by animal-welfare agencies like the one i linked but thats only for small batches since there isn’t enough demand for those millions of sub-optimal hens yearly and sadly the major selling point for the agency is that it is just cheaper to give them away than ordering the gassing-truck to put them to death. I know that the breeders are planning the spikes into the breeding process so there is enough chicken eggs to cover the market on christmas and easter, i’d guess they also weigh in factors like disease and heat waves in to manage the supply of fresh hens.