Chicken factory farming in Texas is not at all what it is cracked up to be.
Consumers uneasily listen to horror stories about how birds suffer acute and chronic pain and are confined in unsanitary, disease-ridden chicken factory farms in Texas and other states, where they frequently succumb to heat prostration, infectious diseases and cancer.
These wild-eye claims remind me of an old saying from former president and Texas native Lyndon B. Johnson: "Boys, I may not know much, but I know chicken poop from chicken salad.”
Let me tell you this: You aren’t being fed chicken salad by these Chicken Little’s of the world. Those making outrageous claims are mostly vegan-based groups who use a “sky is falling” mentality of animal rights as a strategy in their laser-guided vision of a world without meat—chicken, beef, pork or otherwise.
Reality check: the people who grow chickens are individuals like you and me. For the most part they have families, responsibilities, bills, and yes, they buy their food—including chicken—at the grocery store. The difference is they are family farmers who make their living raising chickens for you to eat.
They grow chickens—mostly under contract to suppliers such as Pilgrim’s Pride or Sanderson Farms—to make money. To make money they have to raise chickens efficiently to produce pounds of meat. Taking shortcuts doesn’t work. Mistreated chickens don’t gain weight. Chickens raised in unsanitary conditions aren’t healthy. Disease-ridden chickens die long before they’re ready for market. It’s as simple as that. There’s nothing to hide.
According to the National Chicken Council, 50 years ago the average broiler chicken came to market 63 days after hatch and weighed 3.35 pounds. The chicken ate 2.5 pounds of feed for each pound gained.
In 2010, the average broiler chicken comes to market 47 days after hatch weighing 5.6 pounds. It eats 1.9 pounds of feed for each pound of weight gained.
Do the math. The average chicken today is about 67 percent bigger than the chicken of 50 years ago. It comes to market in three-fourths of the time, which means the animal is younger and more tender. The chicken eats less feed and comes from a flock with better overall health.
Today’s chicken is larger because of emphasis in breeding for a meatier bird; and is healthier, due to science-based advances which have changed and improved the production of chickens.
As a result, consumers have something to crow about—a safe and nutritious source of meat that is a true bargain—produced humanely by family farmers who care.
And that’s the hard-boiled truth.
Author Resource:
Mike Barnett is the Publications Director for the Texas Farm Bureau , the voice for Texas ranchers and farmers. Read about chicken factory farming in Texas on the Texas Ag Talks blog.
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