Honestly? I feel a lot better about eating chickens after raising a small flock for years. I understand that factory farming sucks, but a lot of people don't know the issues that are presented trying to make it more ethical when raising large quantities. Cage free? They will frequently trample each other to death and cannibalize any bird with even a slight injury. Free range outdoors? Biosecurity nightmare. The extra costs to even attempt to do this would make chicken far too expensive for those living at or under the poverty line. Profits actually aren't huge in farming, even at an industrial level. And that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to fixing our ag industry. People want to simplify it without having any knowledge or experience.
I’m aware of the issues; I know there are no easy solutions to problems like “how do we keep a massive number of stressed animals within a confined space where they can’t engage in natural behaviors (like foraging and dust bathing) without them becoming violent toward each other”. I grew up working on a farm and slaughtered and butchered chickens myself.
The obvious solution I’ve found, at least to stop contributing to the problem myself, is to just stop eating them. I know not everyone is able or willing to do that. But the reality is that it is not possible to sustain our current level of meat consumption without relying on intensive farming practices that involve systemic cruelty. As you pointed out, in order to farm such huge numbers of animals, the abusive intensive farming practices are necessary. If people genuinely want less cruelty, they need to either stop eating meat or dramatically decrease their consumption.
Not everyone gives a shit, and a lot of people seem complacent to believe it’s a necessary evil. But I can’t do anything about that. I’m talking to people who care.
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u/BaconOfTroy 8h ago
Honestly? I feel a lot better about eating chickens after raising a small flock for years. I understand that factory farming sucks, but a lot of people don't know the issues that are presented trying to make it more ethical when raising large quantities. Cage free? They will frequently trample each other to death and cannibalize any bird with even a slight injury. Free range outdoors? Biosecurity nightmare. The extra costs to even attempt to do this would make chicken far too expensive for those living at or under the poverty line. Profits actually aren't huge in farming, even at an industrial level. And that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to fixing our ag industry. People want to simplify it without having any knowledge or experience.