Why cage free eggs just aren’t cutting it Summary Hickman’s Family Farms has approximately 6 million laying hens, all of them labeled as “cage free”. By giving the chickens more room to live their lives and converting them to free range, Hickman’s will be able to see improvement in their business. Hickman’s does man things to focus on their sustainability practices and this is just one way more thing they can do to improve. Some of the benefits of switching from cage-free to free range eggs are more room, more daylight of the chickens, more nutrient rich eggs, and less contact with waste. It is important to be competitive with other farmers and this will make Hickman’s stand out from the rest. Policy implication for this project would include …show more content…
Giving the chickens space to roam in the outdoors rather than inside a dark crowded warehouse will increase the quality of their life. The quality of their life affects the quality of the eggs they produce. A new law has been passed “which requires that egg-laying hens must be able to lie down, stand up, fully extend their limbs and turn around freely”(the guardian). Hickman’s strives to create a quality product while also practicing sustainable farming. By allowing the chickens to be free range they will be getting a better quality egg and becoming more sustainable …show more content…
By having the chickens outside their manure will be able to biodegrade into the soil. “A study backed by the Federal Government's Envirofund program found that free range farming practices are viable and have minimal impacts on the environment”(free ranger). This change in farming practice would help Hickman’s become more sustainable and have less effect negative effects on the environment. When the chickens are in the large warehouses, Hickman’s has to find a way to get ride of the waste themselves, but if the chickens were outside they would not have to worry about
First, the local sustainable food chain is healthy for people. In the book The Omnivore’s Dilemma as people stand around to buy chicken from Polyface, Pollan records some of the customers’ quotes. In the book it says, “ You’re not going to find fresher chickens anywhere. (Pollan, 184). ” This quote shows
On the topic of environmental impacts due to “industrial farming”, Bill McKibben and Blake Hurst share completely different perspectives. McKibben believes that industrial farming has simply left an unexcusable bad impact on the environment, saying that it is unethical and that the meat we eat is potentially killing our environment and us as well. McKibben states that “we should simply stop eating factory-farmed meat, and the effects on climate change would be one of the many benefits.” (page 201). McKibben addresses that the techno fixes brought in industrial farming are simply not enough to help our environment.
One example of one of the companies is Perdue Farms. The company likes to make sure they have reliable producers. “Producers, in turn, are responsible for providing housing that meets Perdue 's standards for poultry welfare and biosecurity, and for caring for the birds on a daily basis” (perduefarms.com), which means Perdue makes sure that all of the farms meet their standards to provide their product in a cost-effective, environmentally-friendly manner. In turn for the proper care of the chickens, the company provides the farmers with the resources they may need to properly prepare their product. This includes the equipment, the food for the animals, and then all of the scientific experts and lab technicians that are working with veterinarians and poultry welfare officers to research what will help the company to grow their product
Chickens are one of the top most tortured animals in factory farms. Farmers get the most money for chickens that are heavier and have enlarged thighs and breasts. Like most factory farmed animals, broiler chickens are raised in overcrowded cages their entire life, and become very aggressive. Because of this aggressiveness the employees of the farms cut of their beaks and toes without any type of painkiller or an anesthetic just to keep them from fighting. After being “debeaked” some chickens are then not able to eat and starve. Layer chickens lay 90-95% of the eggs sold in the U.S. (2013b) The torture starts the day they are born. Chicks are placed on a belt, where an employee than picks up each chick to see if it is a male or female. Newborn male chicks are thrown into trash bags, ground up alive, crushed, and killed many other inhumane ways.
“We take care of animals, and the animals take care of us.” (Rollin 212). The preceding phrase is a policy that American farmers in the old west lived their lives by. Modern farmers live do not live their lives anywhere near to this phrase because they own factory farms, and the whole reason for having a factory farm is to fit as many animals in a small space as possible in order to maximize profit. Factory Farms, or Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) first appeared in the 1920s, right after Vitamins A and D, because if animals are given these vitamins in their diets, exercise and sunlight are not necessities for the animals to grow anymore (In Defense of Animals 1). The growing number of factory farms is coupled with the decreasing population of rural areas, which means that many people are beginning to factory farm because it yields a higher profit (“Agricultural Sciences” 170). In the 1950s, the average number of chickens on a given egg farm in the United States was 100, but now the average number is a shocking 10,000 chickens (“Factory Farms” 4). The reason for the increase of chickens has to do with new and cheaper technology developed just after World War II. The new technology increased the number of chickens, while it had the opposite effect on dairy and meat cows, their numbers went in the other direction. The number of cows used for milk was cut by more than half between 1950 and 2000, because farmers discovered new and more efficient methods for milking cows (Weeks 4). Many activists for animals’ rights are concerned about the methods used by factory farmers because they confine their animals into tight spaces and since there are so many of them in a small ...
Some of the chickens were not able to walk because their bodies were not able to sustain the weight gained by the use of steroids and antibiotics to aid in their rapid development. The manner in which the chickens were treated when they were picked up by the big chicken corporation was inhumane. They were kicked, thrown and crammed into small cages. The big chicken companies owned the farmers in every sense of the phrase. Owners were expected to pay out over $500,000 to start two chicken houses and additional fees for the latest and best for their chicken farms, but make on average $18,000 a year. Failure to adhere to their strict demands often resulted in the loss of their contract as was the case with Carole. The conditions in which cows and pigs were raised was not very different from that of the chickens. They were being fed corn to help them grow bigger and faster. They were found living in manure up to their knees and much of this manure was contaminated with E. coli. Since a majority of the animals were walking and living in this environment, it is easy for the
Although confinement of livestock and poultry is a well-established practice, modern housing does not allow animals to exhibit most normal behaviors3. Research has shown that animals held in restricted cage areas suffer from unnecessary stress and are unable to maintain normal bone structure, most commonly in the limbs and/or wings. The larger cages suggested by Proposition Two might provide a great deal of opportunities to supplement the wellbeing of animals and the quality of the products that they produce.
Friedrich, Bruce. "The Cruelest of All Factory Farm Products: Eggs From Caged Hens." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 14 Jan. 2013. Web. 02 May 2014. .
He is amazed every time he sees urban people using gardens. This has to be the easiest way to obtain fresh produce. Another good idea is taking advantage of community gardens. This gives people the opportunity to get outside and work with others to feed their communities. The last thing that the author mentioned in his article really surprised me. He says, “For others, it may be three or four chickens laying eggs in an apartment (186).” This was something that I never imagined people doing. He starts talking about ordinances and how people should ignore them and defy. I would have to disagree with him on this particular point. Could you imagine having someone in Ames raising chickens in an apartment complex? Me either! There are certain points where some people go too far and this is a great example. Throughout this section of the article the author painted many pictures in the reader’s heads and this really helped me understand what he was trying to get across to his
In the 21st century everything is about industrialization and getting everything modified. The food industry has become involved, and is trying to find a more productive and healthier way to produce foods. People argue on the fact if free range foods should be used; as well if it’s a healthier lifestyle for the citizens that are consuming it. Free range foods refer to animals that have the privilege to go in outdoor spaces, freely graze or forage for food. With these types of animals, it will be a more natural meat. The benefits of having free range chickens and cows they will have a well-rounded healthier diet, than those animals that are caged in pens. With the free range chickens eggs we get from the store they have more nutrients in them
This study shows the importance on how America is being affected in a bad way, because of unsustainable foods. Unsustainable foods are not just hurting America as a whole, but could be affecting you. According, to the CSA “Many children in the US have developed life-threatening allergies to peanuts and other foods”. This is because, of food unsustainability. This study will give an insight on how sustainable foods are helping America rather than unsustainable foods. This idea will help turn America away from heading down the wrong path which is uns...
This was shown in the video when the interviewers went to a different chicken farm before the one where they were let in. This farm was run by a man, and although he did not seem to mind talking about the conditions of the chicken farm, there were certain things he seemed to try not to answer and he definitely did not allow the cameras to enter the “coops.” This is because, since his chickens are owned by a large company in the industry, if he showed how the chickens were treated before being made into food, that would lessen the company’s reputation. It appears the companies know their techniques are so morbid and inhuman that they do not want the public to be aware of them in fear of a drop in sales. With that being said, the female chicken farmer did not care and let the camera crew into her coops as a sort-of call to arms. She wanted to expose the industry and even though her coops still had windows unlike many of the other farm’s coops, the company that owned her chickens wanted to get rid of them because chickens are calmer in the dark. It was courageous of this woman to try and let everyone know what really goes on behind the scenes of the food we eat. Though, and I cannot remember if the film said this or not, but I am sure she no longer has her job. It is easier for the companies to silence their employees rather than
Industrial farmers see chicken and other animals such as: cow, pigs, and goat as egg and dairy production and not as an intellectual individuals. From the birth of a baby chick to their death on the production line, chicken endure pain and suffer through out their entire short lives. Baby chicks are de-beak then they are move to battery cages that are wired up high in warehouses that are filled with artificial lighten. The cages are so confined that the ...
MacDonald, G. Jeffrey. "Chickens come home to roost in backyards around the USA." USA Today.
I have always been drawn to chickens since I was a little girl. It was only in my thirty’s that I first came in to contact with chickens on a farm. You would think that a city girl like me would be afraid, nope, I went right in to feed and sat in chicken poop. No one told me I shouldn’t sit in the coop and feed them, but I was fine with it, they calm me. Each year I keep telling myself I will move when I can have my chickens. I will cover the difference between meat and egg layers. I will discuss the different ways to home them, and keep them safe. Why should people keep chickens at all? In this research paper I will go over the information that I have read and how I feel personally about raising and keeping chickens in your back yard.