Chickens
Table of Contents
Introduction
Chickens are often considered an eco-friendly alternative to higher impact meats such as beef, however the massive shift from beef to chickens has had a shocking impact on the planet.
This page explores both the chicken industry as well as the impacts of backyard chickens.
What's Important about Chickens?
Chicken Population & Slaughter Statistics
People often worry about human's overpopulating the planet (which is a myth), but livestock vastly outnumber us. They use most of Earth's habitable land, most of our water, and a shocking percentage of seafood and grains that could otherwise go to feeding people.
"In the U.S. alone over 8 billion chickens are killed every year by the food industry. Worldwide, estimates suggest more than 70 billion chickens are killed each year, not including chickens killed by the egg industry.
Broiler chickens — chickens raised for their meat — are bred to gain weight at a rapid pace so they can be slaughtered at around 6 weeks old. The selective breeding used by the industry also causes chickens painful and debilitating health problems. The industry kills vast numbers of birds at a time, prioritizing efficiency over the welfare of the animals.
Male chicks born in egg industry settings are victims of animal agriculture. Just hours after hatching, chicks in the egg industry are separated by sex, with at least 7 billion male chicks immediately sent to their death each year. Typically they are either suffocated, decapitated, crushed or electrocuted at several hours old.
Chickens have the potential to reach 15 years in age, but farmed chickens typically live a fraction of this length of time. Laying hens live the longest, reaching the end of their lives at just 20 months old. Once they’ve reached this age, generally after having laid around 300 eggs, hens’ egg production tends to decrease, they are considered no longer useful and are sent to slaughter." - Sentientmedia
Disease Spread
Most transmittable diseases come from animals including livestock, wild animals, and pets. Eating animals including chickens can also raise your risk for developing heart disease, cancer, and other non-transmittable illness.
Avian or Bird Flu
"Bird flu, also known as avian influenza, is a type A influenza virus. It is lethal to poultry and is potentially fatal in humans. Bird flu spreads between both wild and domesticated birds. It has also been passed from birds to humans who are in close contact with poultry or other birds."
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"The strain of bird flu presently affecting Asia is the H5N1 strain. This strain has killed more than 130 people in Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Eygpt, China, and Iraq since 2003.
There have been several bird flu outbreaks in Australia among commercial flocks of birds, all of which have been contained and eradicated." - Better Health Channel
Salmonella
"Backyard poultry, such as chickens and ducks, can carry Salmonella germs even if they look healthy and clean. These germs can easily spread to anything in the areas where the poultry live and roam.
You can get sick from touching your backyard poultry or anything in their environment and then touching your mouth or food and swallowing Salmonella germs." - CDC
Health Effects on Humans
Diet & Nutrition
Peeks Behind the Egg Industry Curtain (Written By Michael Greger M.D. FACLM, 2015) “… because of existing laws against false and misleading advertising, the head of the USDA’s poultry research and promotion programs reminds the company that eggs or egg products cannot be couched as being healthy or nutritious. “The words nutritious and healthy carry certain connotations, and because eggs have the amount of cholesterol they do, plus the fact that they’re not low in fat, [the words healthy and nutritious] are problematic.” This is the United States Department of Agriculture saying this!”
... "the egg industry wanted to run an ad calling eggs a nutritional powerhouse that aids in weight loss. The USDA had to remind the industry that they can’t portray eggs as a diet food because of the fat and cholesterol content. In fact, eggs have nearly twice the calories of anything that can be called “low-calorie.” "
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"It’s illegal to advertise that eggs pack a nutritional wallop, or that they have a high nutritional content. Eggs have so much cholesterol, we can’t even say they “contribute nutritionally.” Can’t say eggs are “healthful,” certainly can’t say they’re “healthy.” Can’t even say eggs contribute “healthful components.”
Since we can’t say eggs are a healthy start to the day, the USDA suggests a “satisfying start.” Egg corporations can’t call eggs a healthy ingredient, but they can call eggs a “recognizable” ingredient. Can’t truthfully say eggs are good for us, either. By law, according to the USDA, the egg industry “needs to steer clear of words like ‘healthy’ or ‘nutritious.’”
For a food to be labeled “healthy” under FDA rules, it has to be low in saturated fat (eggs fail that criteria) and have less than 90mg of cholesterol per serving (even half an egg fails that test). For the same reason we can’t tout ice cream for strong bones, we can’t say eggs are healthy because they exceed the threshold for cholesterol.
Egg corporations aren’t even allowed to say things like “Eggs are an important part of a well balanced, healthy diet” on an egg carton because it would be considered misleading according to the USDA’s National Egg Supervisor, since eggs contain significant amounts of fat and cholesterol and therefore can contribute to the leading killer in the United States, heart disease."
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"Not only is the industry barred from saying eggs are healthy, they can’t even refer to eggs as safe because more than a hundred thousand Americans are food poisoned by Salmonella from eggs every year.
The egg board’s response to this egg-borne epidemic is that Salmonella is a naturally occurring bacterium. An internal egg industry memo didn’t think that should necessarily be the key message, fearing that “it may be counterproductive by implying there is no avoiding Salmonella in eggs aside from avoiding eggs altogether.”
The food poisoning risk is why the American Egg Board can’t even mention anything but eggs cooked hard and dry. No soft-boiled, no over-easy, no sunny-side up—because of the Salmonella risk. The American Egg Board’s own research showed that the sunny-side up cooking method should be considered “unsafe.”
In light of bird flu viruses, both the white and yolk must be cooked firm. The VP of marketing for the Egg Board complained to the USDA saying they’d “really like to not have to dictate that the yolks are firm,” and cites a Washington Post article saying runny yolks may be safe for everyone except pregnant women, infants, elderly, or those with chronic disease. It turns out it was a misquote—eggs can’t be considered safe for anyone.
Instead of safe, they can call eggs “fresh,” the USDA marketing service helpfully suggests. But they can’t call eggs safe, and they can’t say eggs are “safe to eat.” They can’t even mention safety at all.
Wait a second, not only can eggs not be called healthy they can’t even be called safe? Says who? Says the United States Department of Agriculture."
Lungs
Food Efficiency & Resources
Feed VS The Environment
Deforestation
You may already be aware that hamburgers currently cause 5 times more deforestation than any other industry or food as forests are being destroyed to make way for both grazing land and major livestock feeds. Soy is the next biggest culprit, with more than 3/4ths of all the soy we grow becoming animal feed, with chickens eating about 37% of all soy, the greatest percentage of any sector.
Resource Use: Feed Conversion Ratio
While it is true that "cows are far more inefficient than chickens in terms of feed ratios. Unfortunately, (spoiler alert) chickens are still very inefficient in that they consume more than twice as many calories and protein than they produce." - A Well Fed World: Feed Ratios
Raising Chickens Increases Food Insecurity
Humans only eat around 20% of all soy, with 2.6% becoming tofu, and 2.1% becoming soymilk. This means that if we stopped eating animals, and just grew soy to feed ourselves, we could probably end or even reverse deforestation caused by this industry, while finally meeting all our nutritional needs instead of causing hunger through our current inefficiencies.
In fact a growing number of organizations have been trying to get the word out that going vegan could help end world hunger. If you like reading scientific papers, this is one of my favorite papers explaining the inefficiency of feeding livestock, and how switching to plant-based alternatives would produce enough food to feed an additional 350 million people with the same resources we're currently wasting.
Water Use & Contamination
Backyard Chicken Impacts
I live in a place with frequent droughts, and I had a veggie patch before we got chickens. I installed rain barrels, and can usually keep all my plants alive with just collected rain from the barrels, but when we got chickens, I'd run out of rain barrel water usually within a week.
On top of being thirsty animals, heat waves make chickens drink far more, but they are also messy animals who would frequently topple the waterer and spill the water everywhere. I basically had to pick between keeping the birds alive and keeping my plants, which meant our yard turned into a dustbowl, especially as the girls loved pulling up anything I tried to plant for shade, they scratched up any seeds when I tried to re-grass the area or plant new veggies (even if I tried to fence them out, they'd crawl under, through, or jump over the fence anyway). This meant when it rained there were no roots to help the water penetrate the soil, creating a muddy lake.
After a few years I was reading about cat and dog poop washing into waterways from gardens and parks, how this was spreading diseases to wildlife, or even getting into people's drinking water. After a bit of digging into how this translates to chickens I found that yes, factory farms are also a big problem. Even with laws and preventative practice in place, they can still kill off entire rivers or lakes, but they were at least regulated and could be fined for breaking the law. On the other hand, communities have been suffering from rising bacteria counts in their local waterways because of the growing fad of backyard chickens. People don't go around picking up the waste from their birds, so when the rain comes, the poop washes into these bodies of water, increasing the risk of salmonella outbreaks and other dangerous microbes. This isn't specifically a danger to the chickens, but it does effect everyone (person or animal) who relies on clean water resources.
Bedding
Chickens require clean bedding to reduce the risk of disease and infections. Bedding can include sawdust which relies on the wood industry and can increase deforestation, or it might include straw which requires vast acres to grow as well as irrigation water.
Chicken Intelligence & Emotions
Birdbrains? Hardly: Baby Chicks Know How to Count (Article, 2015)
Chickens Worry about The Future (Article, 2005) "Chickens don't just live in the present, but can anticipate the future and demonstrate self-control, something previously attributed only to humans and other primates, according to a recent study."
Egg Laying vs Bird Health
Wild VS Laying Hens
In the wild chickens generally lay between 10-15 eggs per year, thought some rare breeds/show breeds might only lay 1-2 eggs per year. Meanwhile the birds that the public and factory farms buy for egg laying have been bred to produce 250-300 eggs per year (or one every 25 hours).
Calcium from Bones
This takes a massive toll on their bodies because it requires large amounts of calcium and protein. Calcium is taken from their bones when they don't have enough supplemented in their feed (or even with supplementation - see personal note on the left).
Modern chickens have high rates of broken bones and fractures in part because we've been breeding them to grow too fast for their bodies to keep up which routines results in lameness (remember that these are genetically the same as factory farm birds, whether we as customers want that or not) as well as from nutrient deficiencies caused by overproduction of eggs.
Laying Complications - "Egg-Bound"
Laying hens have the added danger of becoming "egg-bound", which if left untreated can quickly become deadly, plus other egg-related complications.
Backyard Birds - Personal Experience Note
Even with "layer feed" specifically designed for them, I started to notice paper-thin egg shells after a few years.
This was even with us supplementing their diets with kitchen scraps that included egg shells, as well as letting them forage for bugs or whatever.
Chick Breeders & Sellers
I used to own chickens, and thought I'd done a lot of research ahead to make sure I was being as humane as possible. I tried to adopt ex-battery or ex-bat hens (that's ex-factory farm for anyone who doesn't know the term), but there were none in my area. All the adoptable poultry at our local animal rescues were roosters (which is a growing problem thanks to the rise in popularity of backyard chickens).
The following are things I've learned from research and personal experiences.
Backyard & Industrial Breeders
While investigating factory vs backyard breeders for chickens, I learned that the same companies selling chicks to major meat and egg producers also sell to feed shops and to the public vs websites and catalogs.
This means the parents are kept in cruel conditions like other factory farm animals, and that male chicks are routinely crushed, gassed or suffocated because of the comparatively small market for male birds, vs their sisters.
While trying to find more humane breeders, I realized that many of the backyard facilities were as bad if not worse than the factory farms. The examples I found included cages and chicken runs that were too small, unclean environments, and dirty water. Many of the parent birds had feathers missing and other signs of harm or distress. Many enclosures included rusty metal and other physical dangers, but unlike industrial facilities, backyard breeders or hobbyists don't have to submit to safety or welfare inspections.
Feed Store Chicks
I ended up buying some from our local feed shop. Little did I know back then that the chick suppliers for those places are the exact same factory-style farms who supply meat and egg birds to factory farms, otherwise I think I wouldn't have bought them.
Since then I've had multiple encounters where I've seen dead chicks in the cages at feed stores (including that one) and once I jumped into an enclose to rescue a drowning chick, because the store staff had no idea that adult feeders are too dangerous for chicks. When I complained, the staff seemed more upset that I'd saved the bird, and made no effort to make the enclosure safer.
Rescue Chickens
If possible it's always best to obtain rescue animals, however there is a massive shortage of rescue hens, and growing number of roosters who are overwhelming rescue organizations.
Industrial Chicken Farming
State of The Industry (Written, imagery, and videos) Mentions broken legs and heart attacks from unnaturally fast growth rates.
Harmful Practices - Body Modification
Body modification happens throughout the livestock industry from dehorning cattle to tail docking pigs, cows, and sheep. These practices generally happen in stressful environments without anesthetic or other medical interventions.
For chickens, common body modifications include:
Beak Trimming This painful process can result in mutilation including cutting off the tip of the tongue or accidentally removing too much beak. Birds explore the world with their beaks, which are sensitive, so birds can develop depression, anxiety, and even infections after these beak mutilations. When too much of the upper or lower beak are removed, birds may simply starve on the factory farm floor. This practice is indented to stop cannibalism and bullying, but providing birds with adequate room could prevent the "need" for this practice.
Toe Trimming This is another painful type of mutilation intended to prevent birds from hurting one another, that could be replaced with adequate space and enrichment. The practice can cause serious pain, infections, and mobility issues, especially when more than just the claws are removed.
Wing Clipping This simply involved the painless removal of flight feathers along one wing, and is usually used for free-range birds to prevent them from flying over fences. The worst part of the procedure is the stress of being caught and handled (some birds don't mind, while others hate the process), as feathers don't have nerves, so they can't feel anything being removed.
For more information check out the following resources:
Chicken Myth Busting
Free-Range Poultry
Solutions
Chicken Alternatives
Consumers & Food Planners
Consumers, chefs, and others who cook or buy food can help the planet by exploring alternatives to chicken and egg products. There are plenty of healthy, tasty, and planet-friendly alternatives which we've collected information about in the pages listed beneath.
Farmers & Producers
Farmers tend more land and water than any other group of people on the planet. Most of this land is currently used for livestock, so one of the most impactful choices a farmer can make is to switch from high-intensity production, to a more eco-friendly alternative.
We've found a large selection of small- to large-scale changes that are recommended by scientists and environmentalists, but have also been tried out by farmers around the world. Explore our growing selection of Farmer Actions (like installing solar or changing soil care practices) as well as our list of Alternatives to Livestock ranging from transforming livestock barns for new uses, various forms of tourism or simply switching to carbon- and nitrogen-sequestering crops.
Spread the Word!
Help educate others so that they can also make Earth-friendly food choices.
Support Animal Rescues
Emotionally Supportive for Livestock Farmers
It's hard for a normal person not to get attached to animals, so it can be very hard for a farmer or backyard hen enthusiast to give up their birds, especially if they don't know they can find a good home. For many farmers this is a sticking point on the path to environmental sustainability. In order to help those who currently have livestock to make the shift, it can be helpful to know their animals (if the farmer can afford the financial sacrifice) can go to a loving sanctuary.
Animal Ambassadors
While one might argue that letting these animal live means more resources wasted, there is an educational benefit in having special havens where they are allowed to live comfortably and enjoy natural behaviors.
Many of us grew up with pictures of smiling animals on meat packets, but few know how bad most livestock farms actually are. Most people also have no clue how emotional and intelligent animals can be. While some chickens might be very skittish and shy or even aggressive little bullies, others are super curious and intelligent or are so docile that they love nothing more than to sit on someone's lap for some petting or wattle stroking.
When kids or adults meet farm animals for the first time, see them playing or relaxing with friends, even asking for human affection it can be a very impactful experiences. Interacting with or supporting these animals can boost emotional wellbeing for humans while encouraging our sense of empathy. Learning about the horrible places these animals have often escaped or been saved from can help shape people's perception of the livestock industries and breeding facilities. These experiences can even help inspire people to make positive changes in their own lives.
Maps
North America
USA
Slaughterhouse Map Use this map to see where major slaughterhouses, what watersheds they affect, and statistics such as which animals they process, how many, and the volume of pollutants released into waster ways from these facilities.