Ethical Dilemma #2: Chicken Farms: How Ethical Are The
The Ethical Dilemma Around Chicken Farms
Chicken is a very popular meat, but many feel the chicken production industry can be cruel to the birds. Broiler chickens are the most popular chicken on the market and fast-food menus. These chickens are raised in large, windowless buildings in flocks between 20 000 and 50 000 birds. Feeding, watering, temperature and ventilation are all automatically controlled. Most broiler chicken are slaughtered after just six or seven weeks (a chicken's natural lifespan is around seven years). The farm carefully controls the artificial lighting within the broiler sheds. When the chickens first arrive, the lighting is bright so the chicks can find the food and water. This encourages eating and rapid growth. After a time, the lighting is dimmed in order to prevent fighting between the chickens. The birds have little space in which to move. The space diminishes even further as the chickens grow.
Free-range chickens are raised in open pastures where they forage during the day for natural foods. They return to their nesting sheds at night. As a result of their daily exercise, the chickens develop good muscle tone and are much more meaty than the farmed chickens (it is the muscle tissue of the chicken that we eat). The chickens are treated better, and the meat is tastier, but these birds are more expensive for the consumer. If we impose free-range standards on all chicken production, the price of chicken will skyrocket.
Another issue to consider is the environmental impact of these chicken farms.
How important is it to you how chickens are raised?
Do you care more about the availability of inexpensive chicken from the supermarket or your favourite fast-food restaurant?
What is your standard for ethical treatment of chickens?
Some resources:
http://www.peta.org/
http://www.upc-online.org/fouling.html
http://sustainablepoultry.ncat.org/
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/12/epa-plays-chicken-regulations-poultry-farm-emissions--steel-mills-oil-refineries.php
Free-range chickens are raised in open pastures where they forage during the day for natural foods. They return to their nesting sheds at night. As a result of their daily exercise, the chickens develop good muscle tone and are much more meaty than the farmed chickens (it is the muscle tissue of the chicken that we eat). The chickens are treated better, and the meat is tastier, but these birds are more expensive for the consumer. If we impose free-range standards on all chicken production, the price of chicken will skyrocket.
Another issue to consider is the environmental impact of these chicken farms.
How important is it to you how chickens are raised?
Do you care more about the availability of inexpensive chicken from the supermarket or your favourite fast-food restaurant?
What is your standard for ethical treatment of chickens?
Some resources:
http://www.peta.org/
http://www.upc-online.org/fouling.html
http://sustainablepoultry.ncat.org/
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/12/epa-plays-chicken-regulations-poultry-farm-emissions--steel-mills-oil-refineries.php
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ReplyDeleteMaggie I completely agree with your statements, you seem to be very knowledgeable on the subject and I agree with the way you think this chickens should be raised and with your ethical standards.
DeleteOh yikes, I accidentally deleted this. I posted it again below.
DeleteI find it to be disturbing and unethical how chickens are raised on these chicken farms. It is important to me that they are raised using the free-range method because they are, after all, living creatures. Free-range chickens have a longer life span than mass produced chickens which means that they have a more natural lifestyle and more time to develop proper muscles which are tastier. I care more about the availability of inexpensive chicken in supermarkets rather than fast-food restaurants because more people purchase chicken in supermarkets than in restaurants. Instead of supporting these large supermarkets I would prefer to buy my chicken from a local butcher supplied with local free-range chickens. My ethical standard, for not only chicken but all animals, is that they live the most natural and happy life before they get butchered for our dinner tables.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your statement William, I feel by not supporting local super market or fast food venders is good for the chickens and as well as our health considering the negative effects the chicken from chicken farms can cause.
DeleteI second your opinion, especially the part about animals living before they die.
DeleteYou're right William, chickens should have a more natural life, instead of being stuck inside with artificial light and no room to move. Buying from a local butcher with ethically raised meat is a good solution.
Deletei agree that chickens do need more time to develop muscles and things such as that and i think your solution to buying them from a local butcher is a good one.
DeleteI agree that chickens should live happy and healthy lives before they get butchered for our dinner tables. While they are done living their happy life, their well toned meat fills our stomachs.
DeleteThe unknown is me.
DeleteI agree that chicken should healthy and in good conditions because they are living creatures and they deserve a healthy and happy life before they get to be food.
DeletePersonally, the way meat is raised and the process it goes through is very important to me, for my health and the treatment towards the chickens. The absolute cruelty these chickens experience in my opinion is disgusting. Being born into a large factory to be slaughtered six to seven weeks later is horrible. I understand the business side of this as well, with the fast production rate as well as cheap cost venders sell out there meats quickly and buyers purchase it for cheap. Although I feel that there should be a difference between a supermarket and fast food vender. In my opinion, these sails matter more in super markets then any fast food restaurant because when buying from a fast food restaurant the amount they have to sell each day and the quickness of preparing the meat is obvious that it is not pure good meat although when making a purchase from the supermarket I personally find it should be real free range raised chickens even if the prices are higher considering the fact the other chicken meat is horrible for our health. My personal ethical standard for chickens are free-range and full life times, this allows chickens to live fuller lives and suffer less while also allowing humans to enjoy chicken that are fresher, tastier and better for your health.
ReplyDeleteI agree Carter, chickens should be allowed more time to grow and live fuller lives. I hadn't thought about the health benefits that free range chicken has on consumers, but it's a great point.
DeleteI agree Carter that chickens that are raised organically and are allowed to run freely are more nutritious for you.
DeleteI agree with all of carter's statements and I also learned that chickens that exercise are not only tastier but they are more healthy.
DeleteI think it is good that your family buys free range, and agree that it should be advertised as it is.
Deletei agree carter that chickens should live fuller lives, and this also increases the flavour.
DeletePosted on behalf of Chloe:
DeleteI like how you talked about chickens should at least be allowed to live fuller lives before getting killed, you also mentioned that eating free range chickens are better for health, which is a great point I didn’t think of.
It is very important to me that my meat is raised ethically, and I am willing to pay more to ensure that the animals have a good quality of life before they are killed. That being said, I acknowledge that not everyone is in a position in which they can afford to discriminate between meats. Chicken is one of the cheapest and healthiest meats, and people with low incomes still need to feed their families. The affordability of chicken is especially important in supermarkets as everyone, especially low income households don’t eat out nearly as much as they cook from home. That being said I still have a standard that I believe all chicken farms should be held to. The proper care of chickens is something I would say I know a fair bit about from a lot of research in the past (long story short, there was a time when I was going to be “chicken sitting” for my neighbours). A widely accepted way of raising poultry is to let them out into a chicken run during the day and bring them into a coop at night (with a minimum of 2 square feet per bird in to coop). If they stay indoors all day, they need more space inside the coop. It makes little sense to allow the birds out in a field ALL day (they need somewhere safe to sleep at night)
ReplyDelete, because virtually any animal out there will try to kill chickens, and without extremely careful fencing, farmers would simply loose too many chickens to predators to be profitable. If chickens must be kept in a warehouse all day, they must have a good deal of space, with proper ventilation and good sunlight. It is actually beneficial to productivity to do this, because poor ventilation and little space leads to a lot of sickness and death in a flock, and in the case of egg producers, proper sunlight increases the number of eggs they lay.
REPLYDELETE
i think your point about low income families is a good one that i thing should be taken into consideration.
DeleteThat is a very good point on how chickens should be allowed to run during the day, it gives them a sense of their surroundings and a lot more freedom than staying in a crammed environment.
DeleteMaggie, I agree with all your points especially the one saying that they needed extremely careful fencing because they could get eaten by animals. That is definitely something to factor in when thinking of the free-range method.
DeleteI think you are very knowledgeable either because of research or experience and I thank you for sharing your opinion.
DeleteTo me, chicken farms are a very unethical way of farming and are completely biased towards profit and not the quality of the chicken or its quality of life. personally my family we only ever buy free range even if it does cost more because the quality of the chicken is completely different but with that, there are also lots of families very that little change in cost is important so they opt for the cheaper one or they just have not been taught about the difference. I think if the chicken is raised in a chicken farm with 50000 of chickens around it then that should be advertised on it just like free ranged is advertised on free-range chickens and this might detour people from buying them and have a bit of a long think about the quality and the ethics behind it. chicken farms like very unethical because of how the chickens seven-week life goes and how they manipulate the chicken using light to make them eat more just for profit.
ReplyDeleteExactly. We would not allow human beings to live nor work in these conditions. (Although they would not be killed). I believe if more people were informed about this that they would be a bit more cautious. Broiler chicken farms are unethical and cruel.
DeleteI agree that it should make the buyers more aware of the condition and lives that non-free range chickens live. and I also think there should be more advertisement about what goes on in chicken farms.
DeleteThe way that chickens are raised is personally very important to me, not only will the meat be better but also consider the fact that chickens aren't just food but animals, too. Chickens deserve to be happy for the time that they live. I care more about the availability in supermarkets, because for families who don't have much income, the chicken at supermarkets are easier than spending more money at restaurants all of the time. My standard for ethical treatments of chicken is that chickens are treated like living creatures, (because that's what they are) and they can be in spacious environments where they can live a good life and develop muscle for when they are eaten. Also, in my opinion, free range chickens are treated with care so that ensures that you eat better chicken, and the animals weren't treated carelessly.
ReplyDeleteIt's cam again
DeleteI agree with you Cam, especially with the point you made that chickens should be happy for the time that they are alive. When free-range chickens die there are no chemicals used, but there are chemicals used in restaurants chicken.
DeleteI agree with Cam that chickens should be treated like living creatures and they should have a happier life.
DeleteI believe that it's important to me on how chickens are raised, meat quality will improve when they are well fed and in good health. Chickens are living beings and they deserve at least a few years of happiness close to nature, not in some industrial factory. Also the availability in supermarkets are more important than fast food restaurants due to the fact that some people are not well off and can't always afford the chicken from restaurants and would rather spend on the chicken at supermarkets. My standard for ethical treatment of chickens are that they can roam wherever they like which is described as the term free range. Free range chickens have a lot more freedom and are taken care of much more than the chickens born in factories.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point because broiler chickens are mass bred and are susceptible to several health concerns, particularly skeletal malformation and heart conditions.
DeleteI spoke to my neighbor (who raises free-range chickens) about the ethical way of raising chickens, and she told me she feels justified in killing the animal and eating it when they have been ethically raised and culled.
I agree with you Marcus, free-range chickens are healthier and more delicious and that they should have a few years of happiness close to nature. Chickens from grocery stores are cheeper then restaurant chicken.
DeleteMy standard for ethical treatment of chicken is the Free-Range method. It is very important for me that the chicken is non-gmo. Broiler chickens are most likely gmo. The producers of Broiler chickens consider them to be only profit. I believe that chickens (just like us) should live before they die. Free- Range chickens are more expensive because they are not in bulk. This means that the Broiler chicken method is most popular. This is a shame considering that the Free- Range method is more environmentally friendly.It also means that we don’t always pay with money. You can taste the life in Free-Range chicken. Most Broiler chickens contain more fat than muscle. I would not search for any chicken as my first choice. I would usually have another meat option. I have never really pondered this topic until now.
ReplyDeleteThis got deleted yesterday.
It is very important to me that my meat is raised properly. I care about the availability of inexpensive chicken from the supermarket because their chicken is way healthier and you don’t use chemicals to cook your chicken. I think chickens should be treated the same way as humans are, and they should be treated with respect and everything they need to survive. I say this because chickens are one of our main protein source and if we don’t care for them properly, then we are ruining a good protein source. We should be giving chickens lots of room to get exercise, enough food and water to survive. They also should have a clean coop, natural sunlight. Fun fact: Chicken farms generate about 8 times more ammonia emissions annually than oil refineries and steel mills combined in poultry heavy states
ReplyDeleteI see the ethical industrial idea and free range sides of this, but this does not exclude how weird it is. That's why i feel there should be some sort of law protecting it. For example a law stating a limit of how many animals can be kept in a certain space. But understandably this would increase the price that fast food restaurants etc Pay for there chicken, but judging at how well the world is spreading messages on social media and other online places, I feel that it wouldn't be overly hard for the world to take a shift in how we raise or buy our chicken. I have looked into this out of personal interest and found out about the rules of chicken farming and it states that each pen must has to be sure that “it is capable of being maintained in a sanitary condition” which I find quite interesting because it would only take one of the chickens to be born with some sort of contagious disease for all the thousands of other chickens to catch on.
ReplyDeletePosted on behalf of Chloe:
DeleteI agree with you Matthew, it wouldn’t be too hard to improve the living conditions of chickens but the questions followed by that is it causes their prices tp raise, so it wouldn’t be affordable for some families. In my opinion, the best way to be more ethical when it comes to animal production is to limit the amount that we are eating, and occasionally purchase free range chickens, that way, we can protect our own health and also spread compassion for the chickens.
I think that chicken farms are unethical, chicken is a living creature and not because they raise them to make them food it means it's okay to treat them that way, instead free-range chicken is healthier to it and it has a happier life, even though it's more expensive than chicken raised in a chicken farms, it's a more ethical way to raise the animal that is going to be our food. Chicken is one of the most popular protein sources we use in our life, but treating them like that and using so many chemicals to raise them, that makes it a worse meat than the free-range meat because the free-range meat is more natural, healthier and the chicken are treated better, what in my opinion is really important.
ReplyDeleteEthical Dilemma #2 Chicken farming
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion chicken farming is unethical and cruel. I believe a better solution would be to create large farms specifically for chickens run by the government. These farms would be run by solar and wind energy received by windmills and solar panels on the property or in the fields. The extra power could then be sold which would allow the chicken prices to stay lower because the land would be making more money. This solution would create jobs and help those in need. You could also add a visitor center to show people how the chickens are farmed there and charge admission for additional income. The chickens would be raised in large building and allowed to roam free during the day in the large fields mentioned earlier. They would sleep in the building on multiple floors allowing for more chickens. Hopefully this solution would be possible, but I would like feedback on how to make it more affordable, ethical, and logical. I believe that our food should be raised humanely, because I think we should respect our food that has been gifted to us.
-Devon Hansen
Posted on behalf of Chloe:
ReplyDeleteTo me it is very important how chickens are raised. I like believe that all animals deserve to be treated equally, us humans should not make animals to suffer just to meet our needs and wants. Manually raising them in a large farm and slaughtering them is brutal and inhumane. I personally do not eat any animal product, but If I have to choose one, my choice would definitely be free ranged eggs. Knowing the food on my plate does not cause any suffering, or at least minimal suffering of animals makes me feel good and secure. I care about the availability of inexpensive chickens in the supermarket more than the fast food places, just because I think supermarkets have a greater and more of a variety of customers. Also, the chickens they sell at the supermarket are just plain chickens, where at the fast food places the chickens have been cooked and combined with others foods, like in burgers and sandwiches, if they were to provide inexpensive chicken opinions, it means that the other ingredients like lettuces or buns in that chicken burger or sandwich also have a lower cost, which means that they would have to make major changes with their supplier and shipper etc. My ethical standard for chickens are free range. If we can’t stop the suffering of these animals, we can at least try to minimize them.