The Truth about Chickens Raised as a Source of Food
Have you ever given some thought into the way animals, such as chickens, are raised for human consumption? Chickens that are raised for human consumption aren’t treated very well. In fact, if you think about it, just the thought of raising an animal for the primary purpose of being slaughtered and eaten is rather unsettling. Still, many people seem to remain oblivious to the inhumane way in which chickens are treated. If only more people will take into consideration such truths, then there would probably be more people on vegetarian diets. Read on to learn more about how chickens are raised for human consumption.
Living conditions
Chickens that are raised for human consumption have rather poor living conditions. In many farms, up to six chickens are stuffed into a single cage. As a result, each chicken gets less than 70 square inches of space throughout their entire lifetime. Seventy square inches is practically nothing compared to the large fields that wild chickens are used to. Furthermore, chickens are often treated with little care or sensitivity, probably because of the fact that they are just being raised as a source of food. Chickens are usually grabbed by the neck and thrown into their cages, cages that aren’t exactly the cleanest or most sanitary places to live in.
Hormones and antibiotics
Aside from the poor living conditions that chickens are often raised in, they are also treated with hormones and antibiotics to speed up the growth process and increase their resistance to diseases. Chickens are often pumped full of such hormones and antibiotics to the point that they no longer have a taste. Only chickens that are organic, natural, or free-range raised aren’t given hormones and antibiotics. If you think about it, the recommendations for handling, cleaning, and cooking poultry are quite strict. You usually have to clean your hands well after handling poultry, and any of the surfaces that have had chicken on them have to be cleaned very well to avoid a transfer of bacteria. So, why would you want to have something so dirty in your mouth and in your body? With the way chickens are treated and raised, it’s a wonder why more people aren’t on vegetarian diets. Vegetarian diet foods are much cleaner and healthier than chickens and other forms of meat. So before you bite into that fried chicken or baked turkey, put some thought into what you are putting into your body and how these animals are treated.
Photo Credit : -MVI-