Poultry Farming: What You Need to Know About This Highly Secretive Industry

Poultry farming is a popular method of food production that depends on the suffering of millions of animals every year. In order to maximize profit, the poultry farming industry has caused birds to grow at alarming rates that impact their welfare in the process; it has starved birds in order to combat the unnatural growth for which they were bred; and it has force-fed birds in order to engorge their liver so that fine diners can enjoy a particularly cruel delicacy. Get more news about Poultry Farms,you can vist our website!

What Is Poultry Farming?
Poultry farming is the raising of certain species of birds for the purpose of human use. The industry is filled with animal suffering at every stage from the hatching of chicks to their slaughter.
Chickens are the bird that is most commonly associated with poultry farming. This is likely due to the sheer number of chickens raised globally for consumption. Chickens make up 95 percent of farmed poultry. There are two different classes of chicken that can be raised in the poultry farming industry: broiler chickens and laying hens.

These chickens are raised to be slaughtered and eaten. Some of the most popular breeds of broiler chickens grow so quickly that they reach an average slaughter weight of 6.2 pounds in just a matter of weeks. During the 1950s chickens were not slaughtered until a week later and weighed on average only 2.2 pounds. This vast disparity in growth is because of breeding that selects for growth rate and size at the expense of welfare.

Laying hens are those that are raised to produce eggs. These hens often spend their lives in cages barely larger than they are. During their short life of 72 weeks, birds lay upwards of 320 eggs. This is despite their ability to live much longer productive lives of roughly four years if left to lay at a slower, more natural rate.

Chickens have surprised scientists with their high levels of intelligence. They have been found to be curious and manipulative, to learn quickly, and can even do basic arithmetic. Further, chickens have unique personalities with some even purring from contentment when they are being petted by a person that they trust.

Every year almost 630 million turkeys are raised for consumption globally. Of these approximately 240 million are raised in the United States and another 240 million in the European Union. Modern birds grow astonishingly quickly and can reach a weight of over 20 kgs (44 pounds) by their slaughter, typically between 9 and 24 weeks of age. Like chickens, turkeys are smart animals that are capable of forming tight bonds with members of their flock and with other animals, including humans. When a turkey goes missing from the flock the other members of the group have been known to make sounds of distress until the lost bird has been found.

Ducks and geese are both waterfowl (they are capable swimmers and have webbed feet). Though they are often mistaken for each other, but the key difference is that ducks have fewer bones in their necks than geese. Ducks also tend to have shorter necks.

Ducks are considered an “easy” animal to raise due to their docile nature. This coupled with the fact that duck eggs and meat are relatively expensive to purchase at grocery stores means that these birds are an ideal candidate for poultry farming operations to raise if they are willing to sacrifice the animals’ welfare. One of the most profitable ways to raise a duck is to keep him in a small pen that barely allows for movement and force-feed him until his liver is engorged. This allows for the liver to be marketed as foie gras and sold for upwards of $50 a pound.