Is it Ethical to Raise Livestock in a Factory Farm Essay...

When we mention about farm, most of us have this image of a vast green pasture where farmers spend most of their time herding livestock but that idyllic picture is just a thing from the past. Since the 1930s in America, small farms started to wither away, made way to bigger and highly mechanized factory farms. It all traced back to McDonalds and the booming of fast food restaurants (Food, Inc 2008). Fast food restaurants had become successful because they could produce tasty food with cheaper cost. Their franchises eventually made them a multi-million-dollars industry. Big business required big suppliers. Small rural farms cannot meet the demand for supply and they quickly fade away. Farmers were being replaced by corporations in†¦show more content†¦There are two categories for these birds. Chickens raised for eggs are called â€Å"Layers† and those raised for meat are called â€Å"Broilers.† A chicken’s fate has a lot to do with its gender. Male chicks have no economic use since they cannot lay eggs and not genetically bred for meat. They are basically waste products and must be removed. â€Å"They are crushed, gassed, or discarded in trash bags to suffocate, or simply piled one on top of another, to die from dehydration or asphyxiation† (Compassion Over Killing, 2011). According to People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), more than 100 million of male chicks are killed every year.† (PETA 2011). Layers practically spent their youth to maturity confined in cages no bigger than their bodies. The cages are densely packed next and on top of one another. Laying hens are frequently starved to maximize their eggs production. The goal is to maximize production with amount of effort. The way I see it: It is like life in prison for those hens. They cannot move and even flap their wings. Living in overcrowded area, it is a natural tendency for the birds to peck at each other. To solve that problem, new born chicks will get part of their top beaks cut off without any painkillers. Many chicks experience pain and unable eat for days. When hens can no longer produce eggs, they are killed and sent elsewhere. Why would one kill those hens? Can we still use them forShow MoreRelatedCompanies Are Treating The Animals We Will Ultimately Consume1701 Words   |  7 Pagesquick and easy food options. Without prior knowledge, an individual could be consuming contaminated meat products that were pro duced on a factory farm. Since the 1960’s, factory farming has accounted for over 99% of the meat sold in the United States (Zacharias, 2011). The move towards large, factory farms saves meat industry millions of dollars a day. These farms pose a huge risk to public health and environmental safety. Currently, four major companies produce 85% of all the beef in the United StatesRead MoreCattle Farming Safe For All Humanity1306 Words   |  6 Pagesdifferent. 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