Ethical Dilemma #2 - Chicken Farms: How Ethical Are They?





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

Comments

  1. Anonymous21 June 2017 at 19:20

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Anonymous21 June 2017 at 19:26

    As for being the top consumer in the food chain of this planet, humans gain energy through animals and plants. As a result of the large need of food happened nowadays, people come up with some solutions to create fast-food. Chickens are one of the main resources among all the types of meat. In order to obtain more chicken to eat, there are lots of broiler chickens that are being raised. However, my opinion is this action can be unethical in some ways. First, according to the article, broiler chickens have limited space to move but they got too much food to grow rapidly. Secondly, chickens are killed too early compared to their normal life span. On the other hand, this project will let more people waste chickens since the price of their meat is cheap. Furthermore, every business should be considering about their clients. Fast-raised-chicken can meet the expectation of more food, but it can't assure the consumers that it's healthy for them. Based on news reports and scientific articles, those farmed chickens' meat includes so many proteins and fats that are harmful to physical body. From my side, I do encourage this broiler chickens project if it doesn't occupy the whole chicken production industry. Without a doubt, it's convenient for people and it helps a lot in different ways like the economy, science, and jobs. Despite all the advantages, it's still cruel for the chickens and it sometimes influencing people's health.

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  3. Joe28 June 2017 at 17:37

    As long as human beings live, there is killing. We are at the top of the food chain which means we have to feed on other animals. Chicken meat is healthy because it is the main source of protein and contain little fat. Therefore, chicken farms are absolutely necessary. As for me, the price of chicken is not that important, what matters is the quality. Most chicken farms use chemicals to make chickens grow faster and tastier. However, these kind of methods are cruel to animals and effect the quality of chicken meat. So the best thing to do is to buy free-range chickens. They are healthier, tastier and less tormented.

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    1. Anonymous29 June 2017 at 09:01

      I agree with joe as we do need chickens and they are a great source of protine and nutrience and on top there quite cheap, also we need to realize that killing is an actual part of life that cannot get avoided and we need it to happen for the food chain to make a full circle

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    2. Anonymous29 June 2017 at 15:12

      I agree with your thoughts about how we do have to kill and eat chickens for their nutrients, but we don't have to make their life miserable before they are slaughtered.

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    3. Anonymous4 July 2017 at 05:08

      i agree with your comment as we are humans and we need to eat but we need to be humane in the way these animals are kept.

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    4. Anonymous19 July 2017 at 17:07

      I agree with your point. People need to eat and we constantly eat chicken because of the easy access. We will continue to eat them but we could at least be a little less cruel to them when killing them.

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  4. Anonymous29 June 2017 at 02:08

    I personally feel that chicken farming is necessary as we need meat and chicken is one of the most popular meats that we have. However the way in which we farm this chicken is important do to the fact that we shouldn't be abusing these animals as they are of course still animal

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    1. Anonymous29 June 2017 at 16:51

      I like your points, but is there a better way to farm chickens in your opinion?

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    2. Unknown30 June 2017 at 03:35

      The value of chicken is to be eaten.

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    3. Anonymous30 June 2017 at 11:12

      I mean it's easy to think all other animals are live for us because humans are top consumers but we are also animals and what we will feel if we aren't top consumers then being considered to be 'food'?

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  5. Anonymous29 June 2017 at 02:10

    I agree with Joe in that it matters more about quality than price and this is why again I agree with Joe that free range chicken is much better as the chickens are raised freely and properly. I strongly disagree with the use of horomones or steroids to increase the size of the chicken as it is harmful to them and us.

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  6. Unknown29 June 2017 at 04:40

    There have two kinds of chickens, broiler chickens and free-range chickens. The large-scale breeding of chicken is more convenient and scientific than the free-range chicken. It can greatly reduce the cost and improve the production efficiency of livestock and poultry products. But the bad thing about it is the texture of chicken is not good. Come back to free-range chicken, the requirement of chicken is a huge number, we don’t have time to make all chicken free-ranged. So for our society, for the requirement, we need to raise more broiler chicken, and it is also a good way to earn money, KFC, McDonald's
    World’s largest fast food company, they need a lot of chicken, even only them buy the chicken, we also can earn a lot.

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    1. Anonymous29 June 2017 at 16:05

      I like your points here. Do you think its more important to raise broiler chickens than free-range chickens?

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  7. Unknown29 June 2017 at 08:04

    With chicken, as one of the most consumed meats, there is a high demand for this which results into of more chickens being used for consumption. With them being raised in different ways for the customer's needs. But we are treating them in unfriendly ways sometimes in order for them to grow quickly so they can be consumed. This is especially with fast food chains as well as treating them stuff like antibiotics, cramming them into enclosed spaces, etc. Though while they are being treated more naturally and friendly by some ways of on open pastures, have space to move around as exercise for example. There is still controversy on how they're being treated for food and especially with animal rights groups like PETA discussing this as an serious issue. For me, chickens should be treated more naturally for consumption so it won't have any negative effects on people who eat it, not be in crammed spaces in order for them to thrive and grow and raised naturally within its environment. I would prefer chicken from a supermarket because at east that way we can at at least choose what way to cook it and know if it's been treated properly rather than eat something chicken that I have no idea about on how it's treated or what it has in it by a fast food place.

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    1. Joe30 June 2017 at 03:24

      I agree with you. The quality of chicken meat is the most important.

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    2. Unknown30 June 2017 at 03:35

      I think you are right, we care about chicken is good or bad.

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    3. Anonymous1 July 2017 at 15:09

      I agree with you P Zhang, I believe that if people let chickens grow more naturally and in a better environment then maybe the meat might not only be better for us, it might also taste better. The point that I disagree with you on is the supermarket point I believe it would affect us more at fast food chains, because fast food chains are a easy way to get access to food quickly.

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    4. Anonymous19 July 2017 at 18:00

      I agree, we should be caring how our chickens are raised.

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  8. Anonymous29 June 2017 at 11:09

    Chickens are an animal that has been farmed and slaughtered for hundreds and thousands of years. Their meat is a good source of protein and it contains less cholesterol than red meat. For me personally, the way chickens are raised does not affect me what so ever; I think it would affect somebody prefers chicken over any other source of protein and if the price skyrockets then yes it would affect them, but for me chicken, red meat, fish, egg, I couldn't care less where I get my protein. I think it would certainly affect fast food chains such as Chick-Fil-A though, on their menu they mainly serve chicken so they would be heavily affected by the price of chicken. I think I would care more of the unavailability of inexpensive chicken from my favourite fast food restaurant rather than from the supermarket because I really rarely go to the supermarket. If I go to the supermarket then I'm probably going all the way down there to get some good chicken right? At fast food restaurants you want something that you can eat fast and that it's pretty good. I don't want the chickens treated horribly either though, I want them to be well fed, and well taken care of. I don't want to be eating some nasty underfed chicken that has no meat on it. I think it should be fed properly and given enough water and a good shelter so it can grow nice and big with muscle and that way the company can charge a bit more and that way we get more chicken meat and it will also be a little better quality.

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    1. Anonymous29 June 2017 at 15:18

      You said that you want the chickens to be well fed and taken care of. I strongly agree with you saying that, because its cruel what they do to chickens in those farms around the world.

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  9. Anonymous29 June 2017 at 15:56

    Since the beginning of humans we have been hunting and trapping. I don't see this as any different. We, as humans, have just evolved and figured out a way to do our hunting and trapping smart enough to where we can sustain the food supply. This means we have found a way to do it more efficiently, we yield more product, which increases revenue and income for farmers, with less work. I can't see a truly negative side to this type of farming. I don't see how this is any better than way back when we would just hit them with clubs or shoot them with bows or even guns. The demand for broiler chicken is high so the supply must meet with that. This way is so smart and efficient that all the chicken request by any store or restaurant will be available. I believe that this is close to if not the best system for farming chicken.

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    1. Unknown30 June 2017 at 07:38

      I agree that they current way we farm chickens is a way without negative effects to increase the income for the workers there. Also about that this way is a good way to keep up with the high demand for consumers who use it as a food source. I also like your comparison of the current way we do it from the beginning as I see how similar these two ways are.

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    2. Anonymous4 July 2017 at 05:09

      humans have been hunting and trapping wild animals... chicken locked in dark damp rooms are anything but wild.

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    3. Unknown20 July 2017 at 02:30

      I like your point about the farming system and just add to that as long as no chemical or artificial additive are used to promote the growth of the chicken is fine to sell broiler chickens.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous29 June 2017 at 17:05

    I believe that chickens should be killed for their meat, because the world is full of chickens and without them the food income will decrease. By saying that, I do not agree how the broiler chickens are treated before they are slaughtered. They shouldn’t also be consuming or be taking any chemicals, which causes negative effects to the chicken. The chickens should be in a wide range instead of broilers and treated normally until they have to be slaughtered for their meat. I don’t care if the prices for the chickens are increased from the chickens in wide ranges, because no one should support the broiler companies for how they treat the chickens. The proper solution to this ethical problem towards the chickens is for people to stop wanting meat from chickens, because when people buy from the broiler companies, who cram the chickens in, they get more money and can keep running. That’s one solution that people can do to help this problem and that is to switch to vegan.

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    1. Unknown20 July 2017 at 02:29

      While the problem is that wide range chickens spend too much time to grow, so people could not get enough chickens overall. As a result, broiler chickens are existed because people want a large quantity of it but not the high quality ones.

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  11. Joe30 June 2017 at 03:36

    I like your point. Chickens are common animals, there is no doubt that they should be killed.

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  12. Anonymous30 June 2017 at 05:40

    as we all know chicken is probably the most popular meat due to the nutritional value and is full of protine while being one of the cheapest meats and being really tasty but when something is in high demand there will be a supply from some where whith people trying the most for the cheapest price to increase profits and this with live stock and any food will include pesticides and while it would be nice to have everything free range and organic or to make all food with out killing but we cant and this is what we need to keep people happy and keep the huge live stock industry alive

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    1. Unknown30 June 2017 at 07:13

      I agree that chicken is something that is something of high demand and continue with increasing for its supply. But we should still be aware when it comes to treating them before selling them in order to make a profit. To make it organically raised, living in natural open spaces, and other ways to sustain the our live stock industries.

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    2. Anonymous30 June 2017 at 11:14

      I think it's impossible that people avoid killing chickens for food but we can still release the chance of this action and treat chickens better before they die.

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    3. Anonymous4 July 2017 at 12:30

      Phillip while you may be able to afford organic and free range chicken many people cant afford the extra few dollars it would cost them for that so its unreasonable for us to force them to buy more expensive food

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  13. Anonymous30 June 2017 at 11:30

    Life is life, no mater how big or little one might be. Chicken farms are good for the economy they bring in lots of money, especially because chicken is one of the easiest and fastest meats to cook. However, in my opinion I believe that chicken farms are bad because of the mistreatment of chickens. Life is life, no mater how big or little one might be. What is the chicken is a child? Would you treat your child with abuse? Would you feed it steroids? Would you stretch out their arms and skin them while their still alive? Would you grow them without heads? Would you slaughter them in their infancy? The correct answer is NO! What people do to animals in a slaughter house is cruel and inhuman. Sure we end up eating the chicken, but at least we can respect its life. For that reason I don't agree with chicken farms.

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    1. Anonymous1 July 2017 at 15:14

      Chickens are made and bred to be eaten and yes the way they treat them is bad but then again they're chickens and in the big picture me, personally, kill a bunch of chickens to make income for my family rather than struggle and spend more money taking care of them than on my family. Chickens aren't humans and as you said what people do to chickens are inhuman, well chickens aren't human so that's why. I don't think you can compare chickens to humans it just doesn't make sense

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  14. Unknown3 July 2017 at 02:40

    On the topic of whether broiler chicken farms are ethical or not, I personally think that it depends on the targeting customer group, because some people only want high quality meat while others want a large quantity of it at a relatively cheap price. Some business men or workers who have only little time to eat lunch will definitely choose to eat fast-food, which might include broiler chickens, without them, the workers cannot even eat anything during lunch time due to the price and time limitations. Without broiler chickens, people could hardly eat chicken because it takes a long time for them to grow. However, people who only want high quality chicken might want to buy free-range one, even though it is expensive, it is healthier. Despite the advantages of free-range chicken, they have limited amounts and they are expensive. All in all, broiler chicken farms should be ethical due to its efficiency, even though it is not that healthy.

    ReplyDelete

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