Every year in the United States, approximately 9 billion “broiler” chickens are killed for their flesh. To put such a large number into perspective, that’s about 25 million chickens killed every day; 1 million chickens killed every hour; 17,000 chickens killed every minute; or 300 chickens killed every second. In the time it took you to read this paragraph, 9,000 chickens were killed for food. More chickens are raised and killed for food than all other land animals combined.
Almost all of these chickens spend their entire lives in total confinement. They’re hatched in incubators, packed into shipping crates, and sent off to factory farms when they’re only a few days old. They never meet their parents, and they never get the chance to participate in the activities that are a natural and important part of a chicken’s life: socializing with their families and friends, dustbathing, scratching for food, roosting, and enjoying sun and fresh air. Instead, they spend their short lives suffering in filthy, overcrowded, windowless sheds. Even so-called “free range” chickens are only required by law to have access to outdoor areas, but there’s no requirement for how much time or space they must have outdoors.
These living conditions make it impossible for chickens to establish a natural social structure. Frustrated birds peck at each other relentlessly, causing injury and death. Respiratory illnesses and bacterial infections are common in such an unsanitary environment, where salmonella and campylobacter run rampant. On top of this, the selective breeding that makes “broiler” chickens grow so quickly means that many suffer and die from heart attacks, organ failure, and crippling leg deformities.
At just 6-7 weeks old, these chickens are sent to slaughter. They’re packed into small crates and trucked to the slaughterhouse, often in extreme weather. On this journey, chickens are likely to sustain broken wings and legs, and many die from stress and exposure. The ones who survive the journey to the slaughterhouse are often conscious when their throats are slit.
No part of these chickens’ lives is happy or natural. They suffer from the moment they hatch until they die. Because birds are exempt from the Humane Slaughter Act, they have no federal legal protection against this cruelty.
You can help save countless chickens from enduring such a horrible life by going vegan.
