Chickens...
are capable of feeling empathy, scientists believe
Domestic chickens display signs of empathy, the ability to ''feel another's pain''
that is at the heart of compassion, a study has found
that is at the heart of compassion, a study has found
The discovery has important implications for the welfare of farm and laboratory animals, say researchers.
Empathy, long thought to be a defining human trait, causes one individual to be affected by the emotional state of another. Feelings are ''mirrored'' in the observer, leading to a shared experience of being happy, sad or distressed. The research demonstrated that hens possess a fundamental capacity to empathise, at least with their own chicks.
Scientists chose hens and chicks for the study because it is thought empathy probably evolved to aid parental care. A number of controlled procedures were carried out which involved ruffling the feathers of chicks and mother hens with an air puff.
When chicks were exposed to puffs of air, they showed signs of distress that were mirrored by their mothers. The hens' heart rate increased, their eye temperature lowered - a recognised stress sign - and they became increasingly alert. Levels of preening were reduced, and the hens made more clucking noises directed at their chicks.
Researcher Jo Edgar, from the School of Veterinary Sciences at the University of Bristol, said: ''The extent to which animals are affected by the distress of others is of high relevance to the welfare of farm and laboratory animals.
''Our research has addressed the fundamental question of whether birds have the capacity to show empathic responses.
''We found that adult female birds possess at least one of the essential underpinning attributes of 'empathy', the ability to be affected by, and share, the emotional state of another.''
The findings were reported online today in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Under commercial conditions, chickens regularly encounter other birds showing signs of pain and distress ''owing to routine husbandry practices or because of the high prevalence of conditions such as bone fractures or leg disorders'', said the researchers.
The study was funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Research Council's Animal Welfare Initiative.
related article: Chicken is T rex's closes living relative
Source Telegraph
Empathy, long thought to be a defining human trait, causes one individual to be affected by the emotional state of another. Feelings are ''mirrored'' in the observer, leading to a shared experience of being happy, sad or distressed. The research demonstrated that hens possess a fundamental capacity to empathise, at least with their own chicks.
Scientists chose hens and chicks for the study because it is thought empathy probably evolved to aid parental care. A number of controlled procedures were carried out which involved ruffling the feathers of chicks and mother hens with an air puff.
When chicks were exposed to puffs of air, they showed signs of distress that were mirrored by their mothers. The hens' heart rate increased, their eye temperature lowered - a recognised stress sign - and they became increasingly alert. Levels of preening were reduced, and the hens made more clucking noises directed at their chicks.
Researcher Jo Edgar, from the School of Veterinary Sciences at the University of Bristol, said: ''The extent to which animals are affected by the distress of others is of high relevance to the welfare of farm and laboratory animals.
''Our research has addressed the fundamental question of whether birds have the capacity to show empathic responses.
''We found that adult female birds possess at least one of the essential underpinning attributes of 'empathy', the ability to be affected by, and share, the emotional state of another.''
The findings were reported online today in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
Under commercial conditions, chickens regularly encounter other birds showing signs of pain and distress ''owing to routine husbandry practices or because of the high prevalence of conditions such as bone fractures or leg disorders'', said the researchers.
The study was funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Research Council's Animal Welfare Initiative.
related article: Chicken is T rex's closes living relative
Source Telegraph
The mental and emotional capacity of birds,
in particular, have been severely underestimated
The complexity of their intellect and social structure have gone unnoticed by the general public, thereby making it easier to accept the idea that it is "okay" to eat chickens, turkeys, eggs, etc...
All birds are actually very social, loving and highly intelligent creatures. Dr. Lesley Rogers, Professor of Zoology at University of New England, Australia, who conducted studies on the "bird brain" and social behavior, reported that "It is now clear that birds have cognitive capacities equivalent to those of mammals, even primates.”
From the January 12, 2003 article, “If Chickens Are So Smart, Why Aren’t They Eating Us?” in the New York Times, Dr. Chris Evans, Professor of Psychology at Macquarie University, Australia, stated "Chickens exist in stable social groups. They can recognize each other by their facial features. They have 24 distinct cries that communicate a wealth of information to one other, including separate alarm calls depending on whether a predator is traveling by land or sea. They are good at solving problems. ‘As a trick at conferences I sometimes list these attributes, without mentioning chickens, and people think I’m talking about monkeys. Perhaps most persuasive is the chicken’s intriguing ability to understand that an object, when taken away and hidden, nevertheless continues to exist. This is beyond the capacity of small children.”
The work that Dr. Irene Pepperberg has compiled through the Alex Foundation for over 30 years in regard to the study of "bird brain" is some of the most telling research ever performed concerning the mental capacity of birds. Dr. Pepperberg's studies on African Grey parrots are to determine the cognitive and communicative abilities of the birds, as well as to compare their abilities with those of great apes, marine mammals, and young children.
It has been an ongoing Harvard study of the mechanisms of bird learning capacities. Thus far, Dr. Pepperberg's work has concluded that the term "bird brain" does indeed, need to be redefined as the intelligence of an African Grey parrot, rivals that of the dolphin and is well more advanced than small human children, as well as other primates.
Dr. Christine Nicol, Professor of Veterinary Science at Bristol University, England, reinforces with a statement made to the British Association Festival of Science at Leicester University: “‘They may be 'bird brains', but we need to redefine what we mean by 'bird brains'. Chickens have shown us they can do things people didn’t think they could do. There are hidden depths to chickens, definitely.”
Perhaps I do take seriously and most personally, the dismissal of bird intelligence as an excuse to exploit or eat them. Having Gizmo as a "bird member" in my family has taught me a great deal in regard to the "bird brain". They are extremely emotional, loving and intelligent beings, capable of much more than humans take the time to notice.
From the January 12, 2003 article, “If Chickens Are So Smart, Why Aren’t They Eating Us?” in the New York Times, Dr. Chris Evans, Professor of Psychology at Macquarie University, Australia, stated "Chickens exist in stable social groups. They can recognize each other by their facial features. They have 24 distinct cries that communicate a wealth of information to one other, including separate alarm calls depending on whether a predator is traveling by land or sea. They are good at solving problems. ‘As a trick at conferences I sometimes list these attributes, without mentioning chickens, and people think I’m talking about monkeys. Perhaps most persuasive is the chicken’s intriguing ability to understand that an object, when taken away and hidden, nevertheless continues to exist. This is beyond the capacity of small children.”
The work that Dr. Irene Pepperberg has compiled through the Alex Foundation for over 30 years in regard to the study of "bird brain" is some of the most telling research ever performed concerning the mental capacity of birds. Dr. Pepperberg's studies on African Grey parrots are to determine the cognitive and communicative abilities of the birds, as well as to compare their abilities with those of great apes, marine mammals, and young children.
It has been an ongoing Harvard study of the mechanisms of bird learning capacities. Thus far, Dr. Pepperberg's work has concluded that the term "bird brain" does indeed, need to be redefined as the intelligence of an African Grey parrot, rivals that of the dolphin and is well more advanced than small human children, as well as other primates.
Dr. Christine Nicol, Professor of Veterinary Science at Bristol University, England, reinforces with a statement made to the British Association Festival of Science at Leicester University: “‘They may be 'bird brains', but we need to redefine what we mean by 'bird brains'. Chickens have shown us they can do things people didn’t think they could do. There are hidden depths to chickens, definitely.”
Perhaps I do take seriously and most personally, the dismissal of bird intelligence as an excuse to exploit or eat them. Having Gizmo as a "bird member" in my family has taught me a great deal in regard to the "bird brain". They are extremely emotional, loving and intelligent beings, capable of much more than humans take the time to notice.
Poultry farming is the practice of raising poultry, such as chickens, turkeys, ducks, and geese, as a subcategory of animal husbandry, for the purpose of farming meat or eggs for food.
More than 50 billion chickens are reared annually as a source of food, for both their meat and their eggs. Chickens farmed for meat are called broilers, whilst those farmed for eggs are called egg-laying hens. In total, the UK alone consumes over 29 million eggs per day. Some hens can produce over 300 eggs a year. Chickens will naturally live for 6 or more years. After 12 months, the hen's productivity will start to decline. This is when most commercial laying hens are slaughtered.
The majority of poultry are raised using intensive farming techniques. According to the Worldwatch Institute, 74 percent of the world's poultry meat, and 68 percent of eggs are produced this way. One alternative to intensive poultry farming is free range farming.
Friction between these two main methods has led to long term issues of ethical consumerism. Opponents of intensive farming argue that it harms the environment and creates health risks, as well as abusing the animals themselves. Advocates of intensive farming say that their highly efficient systems save land and food resources due to increased productivity, stating that the animals are looked after in state-of-the-art environmentally controlled facilities. A few countries have banned cage system housing, including Sweden and Switzerland. Consumers can still purchase lower cost eggs from other countries' intensive poultry farms.
Animal welfare groups have frequently criticized the poultry industry for engaging in practices which they believe to be inhumane. Many animal rights advocates object to killing chickens for food, the "factory farm conditions" under which they are raised, methods of transport, and slaughter. Compassion Over Killing and other groups have repeatedly conducted undercover investigations at chicken farms and slaughterhouses which they allege confirm their claims of cruelty.
Conditions in intensive chicken farms may be unsanitary, allowing the proliferation of diseases such as salmonella and E coli. Chickens may be raised in total darkness; hens are most often kept in crowded wire battery cages with space less than that of a sheet of paper per hen, as opposed to cage-free or free range. Rough handling and crowded transport during various weather conditions and the failure of existing stunning systems to render the birds unconscious before slaughter have also been cited as welfare concerns.
Another animal welfare concern is the use of selective breeding to create heavy, large-breasted birds, which can lead to crippling leg disorders and heart failure for some of the birds. Concerns have been raised that companies growing single varieties of birds for eggs or meat are increasing their susceptibility to disease.
A common practice among hatcheries is the culling of newly born male chicks of egg laying breeds, since they don't lay eggs, and do not grow fast enough to be profitable for meat.
There is also a risk that crowded conditions in chicken farms will allow avian influenza (bird flu) to spread quickly. A United Nations press release states: "Governments, local authorities and international agencies need to take a greatly increased role in combating the role of factory-farming, commerce in live poultry, and wildlife markets which provide ideal conditions for the virus to spread and mutate into a more dangerous form..."
More than 50 billion chickens are reared annually as a source of food, for both their meat and their eggs. Chickens farmed for meat are called broilers, whilst those farmed for eggs are called egg-laying hens. In total, the UK alone consumes over 29 million eggs per day. Some hens can produce over 300 eggs a year. Chickens will naturally live for 6 or more years. After 12 months, the hen's productivity will start to decline. This is when most commercial laying hens are slaughtered.
The majority of poultry are raised using intensive farming techniques. According to the Worldwatch Institute, 74 percent of the world's poultry meat, and 68 percent of eggs are produced this way. One alternative to intensive poultry farming is free range farming.
Friction between these two main methods has led to long term issues of ethical consumerism. Opponents of intensive farming argue that it harms the environment and creates health risks, as well as abusing the animals themselves. Advocates of intensive farming say that their highly efficient systems save land and food resources due to increased productivity, stating that the animals are looked after in state-of-the-art environmentally controlled facilities. A few countries have banned cage system housing, including Sweden and Switzerland. Consumers can still purchase lower cost eggs from other countries' intensive poultry farms.
Animal welfare groups have frequently criticized the poultry industry for engaging in practices which they believe to be inhumane. Many animal rights advocates object to killing chickens for food, the "factory farm conditions" under which they are raised, methods of transport, and slaughter. Compassion Over Killing and other groups have repeatedly conducted undercover investigations at chicken farms and slaughterhouses which they allege confirm their claims of cruelty.
Conditions in intensive chicken farms may be unsanitary, allowing the proliferation of diseases such as salmonella and E coli. Chickens may be raised in total darkness; hens are most often kept in crowded wire battery cages with space less than that of a sheet of paper per hen, as opposed to cage-free or free range. Rough handling and crowded transport during various weather conditions and the failure of existing stunning systems to render the birds unconscious before slaughter have also been cited as welfare concerns.
Another animal welfare concern is the use of selective breeding to create heavy, large-breasted birds, which can lead to crippling leg disorders and heart failure for some of the birds. Concerns have been raised that companies growing single varieties of birds for eggs or meat are increasing their susceptibility to disease.
A common practice among hatcheries is the culling of newly born male chicks of egg laying breeds, since they don't lay eggs, and do not grow fast enough to be profitable for meat.
There is also a risk that crowded conditions in chicken farms will allow avian influenza (bird flu) to spread quickly. A United Nations press release states: "Governments, local authorities and international agencies need to take a greatly increased role in combating the role of factory-farming, commerce in live poultry, and wildlife markets which provide ideal conditions for the virus to spread and mutate into a more dangerous form..."
Chickens...
are the most abused animals on the planet
Ninety-nine percent of these animals spend their lives in total confinement—from the moment they hatch until the day they are killed.
Chickens raised on factory farms never have the chance to do anything that is natural or important to them. A baby chick on a factory farm will never be allowed contact with his or her parents, let alone be raised by them.
These chickens are deprived of the chance to take dust baths, feel the sun on their backs, breathe fresh air, roost in trees, or build nests.
Chickens raised for their flesh, called "broilers" by the chicken industry, spend their entire lives in filthy sheds with tens of thousands of other birds, where intense crowding and confinement lead to outbreaks of disease. They are bred and drugged to grow so large so quickly that their legs and organs can't keep up, making heart attacks, organ failure, and crippling leg deformities common. Many become crippled under their own weight and eventually die because they can't reach the water nozzles.
When they are only 6 or 7 weeks old, they are crammed into cages and trucked to slaughter.
Birds exploited for their eggs, called "laying hens" by the industry, are crammed together in wire cages where they don't even have enough room to spread their wings. Because the hens are crammed so closely together, these normally clean animals are forced to urinate and defecate on one another. The birds have part of their sensitive beaks cut off so that they won't peck each other out of frustration created by the unnatural confinement. After their bodies are exhausted and their production drops, they are shipped to slaughter, generally to be turned into chicken soup or cat or dog food because their flesh is too bruised and battered to be used for much else.
Chickens are slammed into small crates and trucked to the slaughterhouse through all weather extremes. Hundreds of millions suffer broken wings and legs from rough handling, and millions die from the stress of the journey.
At the slaughterhouse, their legs are forced into shackles, their throats are cut, and they are immersed in scalding-hot water to remove their feathers.
Almost all chickens are still conscious when their throats are cut, and many are literally scalded to death in the feather-removal tanks after missing the throat cutter.
Employee describes deliberate torture of chickens at Tyson Slaughter Plant
"I was responsible for trying to slit the throats of the chickens the machine missed on the nights I worked the killing room. Our line runs 182 shackles per minute. It is physically impossible to check them all. Therefore, they are scalded alive. When this happens, the chickens flop, scream, kick, and their eyeballs pop out of their heads. They often come out of the other end with broken bones and disfigured and missing body parts because they've struggled so much in the tank. Sometimes, when we had a line broken down, they would be left hanging upside down in the stunner in the water to drown. In the stunner, the water is cold and salted to better conduct the electricity. I have personally seen them hang in this position for hours."
This video shows the life and death of a broiler chicken, the chickens you get chicken meat from.
These chickens grow in shed filled with thousands of chickens and usually only get less than a half a square foot of living space.
They're given steroids to grow bigger than their ancestors so they can be slaughtered sooner.
Many develop crippling leg disorder because thier legs cannot support their abnormally large bodies and die of dehydration in the shed before they are slaughtered.
Some are burned by ammonia gases and the sheds are dirty and disease-ridden.
What happens to male chickens?
Because the male chicks of egg-laying breeder hens are unable to lay eggs and are not bred to produce excessive flesh for the meat industry, they are killed.
These young birds are ground up alive or tossed into bags to suffocate.
Watch and see!
These young birds are ground up alive or tossed into bags to suffocate.
Watch and see!
Thrown, dropped, mutilated, and ground-up alive. This is the disturbing reality faced by hundreds of thousands of chicks each day at the world's largest egg-laying breed hatchery Hy-Line International in Spencer, Iowa.
New hidden camera footage obtained at this facility during a MercyForAnimals.org undercover investigation gives a disturbing glimpse into the cruel and industrialized reality of modern hatcheries.
The warm, comforting, and protective wings of these newly hatched chicks' mothers have been replaced with massive machines, quickly moving conveyor belts, harsh handling, and distressing noise. These young animals are sorted, discarded, and handled like mere cogs in a machine.
For the nearly 150,000 male chicks who hatch every 24 hours at this Hy-Line facility, their lives begin and end the same day. Grabbed by their fragile wings by workers known as "sexers," who separate males from females, these young animals are callously thrown into chutes and hauled away to their deaths. They are destined to die on day one because they cannot produce eggs and do not grow large or fast enough to be raised profitably for meat. Their lives are cut short when they are dropped into a grinding machine tossed around by a spinning auger before being torn to pieces by a high-pressure macerator.
Over 21 million male chicks meet their fate this way each year at this facility.
For the surviving females, this is the beginning of a life of cruelty and confinement at the hands of the egg industry. Before even leaving the hatchery they will be snapped by their heads into a spinning debeaker a portion of their sensitive beaks removed by a laser.
Workers toss and rummage through them before they are placed 100 per crowded box and shipped across the country.
The callous disregard for animal welfare at this facility is not isolated. In fact, the conditions documented during this investigation are completely standard and acceptable within the commercial egg industry. Referred to by Hy-Line corporate leaders as mere "genetic products," these chicks are treated just as they are viewed as inanimate objects, rather than the sentient creatures they are.
Driven by consumer demand, the egg industry will continue to exploit, abuse, and kill day-old animals as long as doing so remains profitable. Empowered consumers can put their ethics on the table by choosing kindness over cruelty at each meal by adopting an animal-friendly vegan diet.
New hidden camera footage obtained at this facility during a MercyForAnimals.org undercover investigation gives a disturbing glimpse into the cruel and industrialized reality of modern hatcheries.
The warm, comforting, and protective wings of these newly hatched chicks' mothers have been replaced with massive machines, quickly moving conveyor belts, harsh handling, and distressing noise. These young animals are sorted, discarded, and handled like mere cogs in a machine.
For the nearly 150,000 male chicks who hatch every 24 hours at this Hy-Line facility, their lives begin and end the same day. Grabbed by their fragile wings by workers known as "sexers," who separate males from females, these young animals are callously thrown into chutes and hauled away to their deaths. They are destined to die on day one because they cannot produce eggs and do not grow large or fast enough to be raised profitably for meat. Their lives are cut short when they are dropped into a grinding machine tossed around by a spinning auger before being torn to pieces by a high-pressure macerator.
Over 21 million male chicks meet their fate this way each year at this facility.
For the surviving females, this is the beginning of a life of cruelty and confinement at the hands of the egg industry. Before even leaving the hatchery they will be snapped by their heads into a spinning debeaker a portion of their sensitive beaks removed by a laser.
Workers toss and rummage through them before they are placed 100 per crowded box and shipped across the country.
The callous disregard for animal welfare at this facility is not isolated. In fact, the conditions documented during this investigation are completely standard and acceptable within the commercial egg industry. Referred to by Hy-Line corporate leaders as mere "genetic products," these chicks are treated just as they are viewed as inanimate objects, rather than the sentient creatures they are.
Driven by consumer demand, the egg industry will continue to exploit, abuse, and kill day-old animals as long as doing so remains profitable. Empowered consumers can put their ethics on the table by choosing kindness over cruelty at each meal by adopting an animal-friendly vegan diet.
This is a male baby chick, in his last moment on earth. Below him is a giant grinder into which he will fall alive because he hatched male, and is therefore useless to the egg industry. His fate is shared by 200 million baby male chicks every year.
He lived only for a moment, but he wasn't trash. He was someone.
Virtually all chickens raised for their flesh (or “broiler chickens” as they are referred to by the meat industry), spend their lives crammed into massive, windowless sheds that typically hold as many as 40,000 birds each.
Chickens can function well in groups of up to about 90, a number low enough to allow each bird to find his or her spot in the pecking order. In crowded groups of thousands, however, no such social order is possible, and in their frustration, they relentlessly peck at each other, causing injury and death.
The intense confinement and extreme crowding on factory farms also results in unimaginable filth and disease. A Washington Post writer who visited a chicken shed said that the "dust, feathers and ammonia choke the air in the chicken house and fans turn it into airborne sandpaper, rubbing skin raw."
Michael Specter, a longtime staff writer for The New Yorker, also visited a chicken shed and wrote, "I was almost knocked to the ground by the overpowering smell of feces and ammonia. My eyes burned and so did my lungs, and I could neither see nor breathe …. There must have been 30,000 chickens sitting silently on the floor in front of me. They didn't move, didn't cluck. They were almost like statues of chickens, living in nearly total darkness, and they would spend every minute of their six-week lives that way."
These journalists could leave, but chickens are forced to breathe ammonia and particulate matter from feces and feathers all day long. Many suffer from chronic respiratory diseases, weakened immune systems, bronchitis, and "ammonia burn," a painful eye condition.
A 2006 study by Consumer Reports found that a staggering 83 percent of grocery market chickens it tested were infected with either campylobacter or salmonella bacteria or both.The extremely high prevalence of dangerous contaminants in chicken flesh is due largely to the filthy conditions in the sheds where they are raised. On factory farms, they are fed large quantities of powerful antibiotics to keep them alive in conditions that would otherwise kill them: Chickens are given nearly four times the amount of antibiotics as human beings or cattle in the United States.
Chickens are also genetically manipulated and regularly dosed with drugs to make them grow faster and larger. The average breast of an 8-week-old chicken is seven times heavier today than it was 25 years ago. Because of this unnaturally accelerated weight gain, these very young birds frequently die of heart attacks and lung collapse, something that would almost never happen in nature. According to Feedstuffs, a meat-industry magazine, "Broilers now grow so rapidly that the heart and lungs are not developed well enough to support the remainder of the body, resulting in congestive heart failure and tremendous death losses."
In addition, chickens on today's factory farms almost always become crippled because their legs cannot support the weight of their bodies. In fact, by the age of 6 weeks, 90 percent of broiler chickens are so obese that they can no longer walk. Many crippled chickens on factory farms die when they can no longer reach the water nozzles.
Text: Peta
Chickens can function well in groups of up to about 90, a number low enough to allow each bird to find his or her spot in the pecking order. In crowded groups of thousands, however, no such social order is possible, and in their frustration, they relentlessly peck at each other, causing injury and death.
The intense confinement and extreme crowding on factory farms also results in unimaginable filth and disease. A Washington Post writer who visited a chicken shed said that the "dust, feathers and ammonia choke the air in the chicken house and fans turn it into airborne sandpaper, rubbing skin raw."
Michael Specter, a longtime staff writer for The New Yorker, also visited a chicken shed and wrote, "I was almost knocked to the ground by the overpowering smell of feces and ammonia. My eyes burned and so did my lungs, and I could neither see nor breathe …. There must have been 30,000 chickens sitting silently on the floor in front of me. They didn't move, didn't cluck. They were almost like statues of chickens, living in nearly total darkness, and they would spend every minute of their six-week lives that way."
These journalists could leave, but chickens are forced to breathe ammonia and particulate matter from feces and feathers all day long. Many suffer from chronic respiratory diseases, weakened immune systems, bronchitis, and "ammonia burn," a painful eye condition.
A 2006 study by Consumer Reports found that a staggering 83 percent of grocery market chickens it tested were infected with either campylobacter or salmonella bacteria or both.The extremely high prevalence of dangerous contaminants in chicken flesh is due largely to the filthy conditions in the sheds where they are raised. On factory farms, they are fed large quantities of powerful antibiotics to keep them alive in conditions that would otherwise kill them: Chickens are given nearly four times the amount of antibiotics as human beings or cattle in the United States.
Chickens are also genetically manipulated and regularly dosed with drugs to make them grow faster and larger. The average breast of an 8-week-old chicken is seven times heavier today than it was 25 years ago. Because of this unnaturally accelerated weight gain, these very young birds frequently die of heart attacks and lung collapse, something that would almost never happen in nature. According to Feedstuffs, a meat-industry magazine, "Broilers now grow so rapidly that the heart and lungs are not developed well enough to support the remainder of the body, resulting in congestive heart failure and tremendous death losses."
In addition, chickens on today's factory farms almost always become crippled because their legs cannot support the weight of their bodies. In fact, by the age of 6 weeks, 90 percent of broiler chickens are so obese that they can no longer walk. Many crippled chickens on factory farms die when they can no longer reach the water nozzles.
Text: Peta
Baby chick growth cycle
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