If meat lovers knew how the chicken on their plate was raised, they would probably never eat meat. They would all turn to total vegans. But due to the delicacy we all find in meat, only a few of us would ever turn to vegans. So why don’t we strive to raise the chicken properly?
How would you feel if you were stuffed in a cage? A cage too small to move your limbs or even exercise. Being fed abnormally without considering your well being? You would definitely be amused. These are some of the situations these beautiful creatures called chickens that are raised in factory farming have to endure.
Cages the size of A4 Paper
Due to the increasing population, the demand for food is growing. Farmers have opted to factory farming where they rear chickens intensively, in cages, the size of an A4 paper.
Chickens raised for meat are selectively bred to grow to ‘market weight’ at a very alarming rate, for quick sale and high returns.
Farmers overfeeding the chickens
These chickens are overfed with feeds mixed with antibiotics which are believed to prevent diseases, to avoid their death before they reach maturity age, making the farmer incur huge losses.
Broiler chickens are the most affected. Due to the overfeeding, the chickens develop difficulties in walking, because their skeleton bones cannot support their giant weight they have rapidly gained over a very short period of time.
Animal welfare organization point of view
World Animal Protection, an organization that protects the freedoms of animals is against the practice of factory farming.
According to them, this is cruelty to the animals as confining them in small cages limits their freedom to express natural behavior.
They have an ongoing petition push where they are urging supporters to join their course by signing the KFC petition https://www.worldanimalprotection.or.ke/ that urges KFC to:
- Use chicken breeds that grow at a slower, more natural rate
- Allow more living space for chickens
- Provide more things for chickens to engage with and explore, such as perches and hay bales
- Introduce natural light in chicken sheds
KFC is one of the World’s largest fast food retailers and the petition aims to urge them to improve the welfare of the billions of chickens in their supply chain.
