Upon relocating to the east coast (NJ) some 25 years ago I was struck by multiple oddities that I still, to this day, find disturbing and indicative of the arrogance so frequently equated with the general populace of the two extreme coasts.
The first being the general acceptance of a belief that firearms somehow, of their own accord, take it upon themselves to randomly discharge their loads; frequently resulting in renewed demands for further regulations/laws designed to strip law-abiding citizens of any actual ability to defend themselves.
The second being a (seemingly) widespread belief that the inhabitants of the two coasts are entitled to dictate their whims upon those who happen to comprise the population of the “fly-over” states.
The third being the growing belief that city dwellers are the best source of information when it comes to farming operations and what constitutes the proper practices for said farms.
There are other observations, of course, but the above three sufficiently envelops the current discussion.
I was fortunate to grow up on a farm in the mid-west (fly-over country) where we raised a variety of crops, chickens, ducks, geese, hogs and cattle. At a young age (10 or so) I borrowed $30 to start my own sheep operation – growing my herd to 30 or so by the time I was a proper teenager. I sold the wool, some of the lambs, and eventually the entire flock (for meat and breeding stock) as a means to pay back my loan while turning a profit in the end (less my loan and feed costs).
I’ve pulled calves, castrated calves, pigs, and sheep and brought more than one newborn animal into the house so it could live despite the harsh wintry weather. I’ve inoculated more animals that I can successfully recall and I’ve spent time on a one-legged stool hand-milking the dozen or so head of milk cows that we had when I was young.
Ours was a small scale operation (in comparison to the mega operations so common today) but that doesn’t mean I didn’t have direct experience with the much larger operations; among friends and family there were many who had large (more specialized) operations, concentrating on hogs, chickens, cattle or crops.
Despite knowing (personally) many farmers – who raised many thousands of various animals – I have never once witnessed anything close to what could logically be labeled animal cruelty. I’ve seen farmers, and their families, go without sleep, without eating, without personal items – all because their animals came first.
Conversely, I’ve never once witnessed a single animal activist make a single sacrifice that remotely compares to the the many sacrifices that every farmer makes every day. It just doesn’t happen.
I call it the “Bambi complex.”
Clueless people, perhaps with good intentions, foolishly believing that animals are living Teddy Bears – soft and cuddly creatures incapable of anything other than spreading joy and love to all who care enough to voice an opinion about something they (usually) know absolutely nothing about.
Chickens are vile, disgusting creatures. They’ll kill just about anything they can – frequently each other.
It isn’t unusual for them to eat a strange (or wounded) chicken while it is still alive – pecking at it non-stop until the victim finally succumbs (after it has been partially eaten). I’ve seen them pulling the entrails out of another chicken’s rectum – a frenzied gang mercilessly attacking the harassed victim.
They’ll kill each others’ chicks and eat the eggs of any hen incapable of fighting the hoard off.
That is why the larger operations “de-beak” their birds (as others have explained, the beak is NOT removed).
That is why the larger operations place their hens in individual cages – it greatly cuts down on injuries/death.
That is why they’re fed via conveyor belts (to ensure that all birds have access to feed). (Otherwise the weaker birds will go without and/or be killed)
If they’re stressed, they don’t lay at all.
The fact that they are laying (eggs) tells the story – as far as the actual chicken is concerned, living in a egg factory is a life of ease and no stress. There they have no need to fight for their survival, no need to fight for food/water and no need to fend off the predatory attacks of their fellow chickens (or other predators).
The worst thing I can say about the major chicken operations is that the stench (inside the buildings) is awful. In fact it is nearly as bad as the smell that so frequently permeates the inner cities.
I’d also like to address the video of the hog farming operation.
I’m appalled that the owners didn’t shoot the drone down. I would have if I were the owner (and saw the drone). I’d certainly push any potential legal charges available (trespassing leaps to mind, since the drone operator was obviously trespassing on private property).
Sows are kept in confinement so as to reduce the loss of their piglets. Sows frequently step on, or lie on, their own offspring – killing them and reducing profit. Sows are also prone to eating just about anything they can find – including their own kind. (That goes for all pigs, not just the females of breeding age).
The sewage ponds are the result of local/state regulations/laws. It is a means of disposing the waste of thousands of hogs and it is usually the result of demands placed by those who moved to the country long after the farm had been in operation.
I am always a bit amazed by the audacity of those who move, from a urban area, to the country in order to escape the hell that is urban life, only to spend their time trying to change the country into that which they moved away from. That happens frequently here in southern NJ: urban dwellers move to escape the crime, corruption and noise of their former life and then spend their time complaining about the smell of farms and the lack of action in the country.
As a direct result, there are very few farms left in this area. Not counting vegetables, every “farmed” food is now shipped in from elsewhere – a trend that seems to be increasing with great momentum. I have to wonder how these people plan on feeding themselves, once they’ve managed to rid themselves of all traces of the farms that they appear to loathe.
Maybe the Chinese will feed them?
They’d better hope so and they might want to think twice about telling the Chinese how to operate a farm.
I’m glad I’m old. I hate what this nation is fast becoming.
Chickens are willing carrion eaters for sure.
So are pigs.
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Thanks for your first-hand insight on this matter; as you may have read on this thread, many FReepers have bought the animal cruelty angle that PETA and the rest of the non-farming urbanites have been preaching.