See the Individual
Did you know that chickens enjoy sunbathing and can distinguish between more than 100 faces of their species? They also feel pain and distress like dogs, cats, humans, and other animals.
On this farm, they’d be denied the chance to do anything natural and important to them, such as roaming, foraging, scratching, building nests, and caring for their offspring. The sheds will be so packed that each chicken would be crammed into a space about the size of an A4 sheet of paper – barely enough room to spread a wing.
An Unnaturally Short and Miserable Life
In their natural habitats, chickens could live up to 11 years, but on this farm, they would be crammed into a barren shed with roughly 46,000 other birds and slaughtered when they are just over a month old. Frankenstein-esque genetic manipulation meant to maximise profits means chickens on factory farms grow unnaturally heavy upper bodies extremely quickly. As a consequence, they suffer from severe health problems, including heart failure and difficulty breathing, which is compounded by the hot, ammonia-ridden environment.
Their legs cannot support such a large body, meaning many chickens cannot move at only a few weeks old. Unable to reach food or right themselves after falling on their backs, many starve. Birds also die as a result of disease, which runs rampant in these filthy, cramped sheds, and deceased chickens may be left to rot among the living.
The sheds would only be cleaned out between flocks, forcing birds who cannot stand to languish in excrement for most of their lives. The acrid waste burns chickens’ legs and feet, leaving them in constant pain. These burns are often visible on the hocks of chicken carcasses on supermarket shelves.
A Violent Death
When birds on factory farms are around 40 days old, workers catch them by their legs and cram them into crates. They are then sent to an abattoir to have their throats cut. Many sustain broken bones from rough handling and are left to suffer, and the journey is often horrific – more than a million chickens die in transit each year. Those who survive the transport are either gassed or electrocuted then their throats are slit before they’re plunged into scalding-hot water – sometimes while they’re still conscious.
Chickens Are Sentient Beings
The Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2002 recognises that since animals are living, feeling beings, their welfare should receive due consideration. It’s time for planning committees to start considering this when reviewing applications for animal farms and how these will affect the individuals condemned to suffer on them. Although some committees have begun to do this, animal welfare must become a material consideration across the board.
Risks to Public Health
The most recent series of bird flu outbreaks is the largest yet and has killed tens of thousands of birds in the UK alone. Cases of bird flu have been found in humans, seal pups, a polar bear, and other animals around the globe. Factory farms holding hundreds of thousands of sick, stressed birds are breeding grounds for pathogens that pose serious public health hazards. We should learn from the COVID-19 pandemic and protect all animals by rejecting plans for farms like these.
Environmental Disaster
Waste run-off from the farm, which would flow toward nearby streams, may contaminate local water sources. The UK’s rivers are becoming increasingly contaminated due to factory farms – the River Wye, for example, is often described as the colour of “pea soup” due to pollution from surrounding chicken farms. Animal agriculture is also one of the leading causes of climate catastrophe. We should be shutting farms like these down, not approving new ones.
Local Concerns
This farm would be a hellhole for birds, a public health risk, and an environmental disaster. It would also create a nightmare for local residents by significantly increasing traffic, noise, odour, and air pollution.