Hidden horror of egg industry
I AM sure readers will be horrified to hear that healthy baby animals are being killed in their millions, just so we can eat eggs.
Viva! recently filmed inside two UK hatcheries.
It is horrifying that 30-40 million infant males are killed each year in Britain.
In one hatchery we filmed little fluffy yellow male chicks dropping into a massive gas chamber where thousands can be killed in an hour.
In the other the male chicks are taken by the handful and dropped alive into an electric mincer.
It is horrifying, but perfectly legal.
These uncomprehending young animals – some with eyes barely open – are shunted on conveyor belts to their fate.
The females have the tips of their beaks cut off.
This is to stop them attacking – and even eating – each other, a problem on intensive farms.
Many hens are killed at just 72 weeks, as soon as their productivity drops, despite a natural lifespan of 6-7 years.
They do this because chickens raised for meat have been selectively bred to be at adult weight by the time they are killed at six weeks old. Egg-laying chickens are a different breed and do not put on weight as quickly.
This means that there is no commercial use for them.
It doesn't matter what type of welfare system you buy from – free range, organic or intensive – none of them have any use for males.
The only way that you can stop being a part of this unimaginable waste is to not buy eggs, or products with eggs in them.
JUSTIN KERSWELL
Viva! campaigns manager
York Court
Wilder St
Bristol
2 Comments
by Mr. Sensible, The Real World
Tuesday, November 30 2010, 3:40PM
“Fully agree with that, VOTP.”
by Voice of the People, Everywhere!
Tuesday, November 30 2010, 11:16AM
“The human race is inherently cruel when judged on its treatment of other animals, but then that's why we are where we are; we're an apex predator species. I'm sure if horses had evolved first, it might be baby humans being dropped into mincing machines, who's to say?
That's not to excuse or justify it, of course. There's a very big argument for everyone to cut back on animal product consumption. Not totally, but enough to allow the easing off of the industrialised meat machine, so animals can live nice, long and healthy lives while producing goods for us. This would allow more land to be used for healthier organic crops, but still provide just enough meat and meat products to keep everyone happy.”