Chickens are truly remarkable creatures. But like all creatures they are flawed, and in this case they have a pretty big flaw. Chickens are very easily prone to cannibalistic tenancies. How do I know? I raise chickens, a flock of 20 or so beautiful birds. Now, since I have a very small flock I don't need to cut their beaks or file their nails, but I do need to clip some of their wings. Especially the better fliers like my orpington or golden laced wynadotte. But many factory farms do clip beaks as well and for good reason. When left to their own devices out of boredom they will start to peck each other or worse themselves. I had an injured chicken and had to separate her for a while and put her in a cage by herself. A few days later we noticed that she was missing many of her chest feathers and later found that the was pulling them out and eating it. This habit stopped as soon as we reunited her with the flock.
Sorry PETA but you can't have it both ways. Here are your options
1 You free range the chickens allowing them to peck each other. Also making the eggs get laid in unsanitary conditions. This also increases human contact with the animal.
2 You can free range them and clip their beaks. Reduces cannibalism but still unsanitary. The eggs and meat of these birds will cost significantly more.
3 You can put them in cages, usually with four or five birds. With or without clipped wings there birds will still form and inner hierarchy or pecking order.
4 You can keep each chicken in it's own cage making it incredibly bored and prone to self harm. But have sanitary product.
I personally prefer the second, but I know that this is not possible on a large scale. If you expect the agricultural industry to continue to feed such a massive population and continue to keep the prices relatively low, large scale conventional farming methods are the only answer.
Sorry PETA but you can't have it both ways. Here are your options
1 You free range the chickens allowing them to peck each other. Also making the eggs get laid in unsanitary conditions. This also increases human contact with the animal.
2 You can free range them and clip their beaks. Reduces cannibalism but still unsanitary. The eggs and meat of these birds will cost significantly more.
3 You can put them in cages, usually with four or five birds. With or without clipped wings there birds will still form and inner hierarchy or pecking order.
4 You can keep each chicken in it's own cage making it incredibly bored and prone to self harm. But have sanitary product.
I personally prefer the second, but I know that this is not possible on a large scale. If you expect the agricultural industry to continue to feed such a massive population and continue to keep the prices relatively low, large scale conventional farming methods are the only answer.
