[iandwk]

Originally Posted by K9-Lovers

The reason the chickens do not leave their dark prison, is because that is all they know and that is what they are used to. Reminds me of these abused women that stay with their abusers.

Chickens that have been "rescued" from breeding facilities like Tyson's and have been released to enjoy grass, dirt, sunlight, and dustbaths are fearful and cower in their chicken house hiding their heads in the corner. I've seen this same behavior from dogs that I've rescued from puppy mills. It comes from extreme psychological damage from being in an environment that is not normal for that species. Some dogs (and some of those chickens) never normalize. I had a dog that was fearful of grass and never learned to eat from a dog food bowl, and ran around in tight circles rather than walking straight because she was in a small cage since birth. That behavior never went away in SIX YEARS. So, I'm not surprised that your chickens did not leave their house.

Did your henhouse have windows? Did the chickens see daylight at all? From my understanding, Tyson contracts require that the chickens be raised in darkness. If the house has/had windows, then Tyson required that black plastic be placed over the windows to eliminate sunlight.

How many chickens were raised per square foot of building space?

What hormones and other supplements were used to make them grow so fast and so big that they cannot even support their giant bodies on their legs?

How many dead chickens did you have to throw out everyday due to overcrowding and disease?

How many chickens did not even grow feathers because of the filthy living conditions on top of their own feces? How many were sick and diseased?

Although you raised chickens that are eaten, rather than those that lay eggs, why didn't you talk about the male chicks that are ground up in machines while still ALIVE simply because they cannot lay eggs?

And, why not discuss poultry that have their beaks broken off so that feeders can be hooked up? Or have their beaks sheared off so they won't hurt each other due to the overcrowded conditions?

There are lots of other questions that I could ask; there are lots of details that you glossed over. Probably a normal defense mechanism in our own human psyche -- it is hard to admit to even yourself that you were behaving abhorently.

It would not have been necessary for me to post this response, if you had not posted yours. I would be content if some people would just have simply watched the movie and made their own decisions.

All of you reading this -- do yourself a favor and educate yourselves. Watch the movie, which is NOT all about chickens, or animal rights. It is also about the food prep workers, and it is about the food we eat here in the U.S. and will help you make wise choices when you shop in the grocery store.

And, don't be gullible and believe everything you heard from me or from the above Food Factory Farmer . . . find out for yourself!

Yes, please find out for yourselves. I never asked anyone to take my word for it, but it is open to investigation. I knew someone would attack me for what I wrote, and that's ok. You have your opinion and you are welcome to it.

I will not try to address all of your inflammatory questions. It will only give you more fodder. I will address a couple, though, that prove that everything you read and hear is not always true.

You cannot raise a chicken in the dark. Birds are birds. They roost at night. They (the integrator) pick them up at night because the chickens are sitting and not running around. It causes less stress and damage to the chickens that way. I know you will probably jump on this and make something of it, but that's ok. Also, I have given several chickens that were left behind at the end of the growout to friends. They did fine. They went and behaved just like a chicken, strutting around and eating anything small enough that moved. I can have them call you to confirm this, but you wouldn't believe it.

Male chickens are not ground up alive. How ridiculous! Did you also believe that Wendy's hamburgers were made with worms? Why would a company destroy a profitable item like a rooster. It costs the integrator about 15 cents to hatch an egg. Assuming 50% are male and I grew about a million pullets a year, look how much they would waste by killing the males on my farm alone. Male chickens are grown for consumption, just like females. They are not grown together because they grow at different rates and the processing plant can't easily process different sizes together. Look at those huge leg/thigh combinations that you find on sale occasionally. The breasts are used for restaurants or some sort of further processing and the legs and thigh are often sold this way. They are most likely roosters. But you probably won't believe that, either. I know it is true because when I first started, I grew roosters only for the first couple of years.

As far as sick and diseased, I never personally knew of any that were never sick and diseased. Diseases do happen, but they happen in the wild also They are grown on litter that is partly their own feces. It would be impossible to do otherwise. It is not the wet slimy mess you make it out to be. everything is the house is dry because of the air circulation. You probably won't believe that, either, because you already believe the worst about it.

I make no apologies for being a farmer nor do I apologize for eating meat. I believe what God said about eating meat and the use of animals. Genesis 9:2 and 3: "And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moves upon the earth, and upon all the fish of the sea; into your hand are they delivered. Every moving thing that lives shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things." Now you have something else to attack me for.

I do feel sorry for someone who spews venom such as this without having ever been to a poultry operation to see for themselves if everything they hear is true. Is it a clean, pristine operation? Of course not. It is a livestock operation. Feces happens. Death happens. It wasn't unusual for a flock to suffer 1-2% mortality which is probably lower than humans. If you don't want to be hypocritical, don't eat animals. Eat vegetables. Oh, wait. A lot of vegetables are grown in Georgia and a lot of those growers bought the litter from my and other people's chicken houses to use as fertilizer for their vegetables. This probably happens in a lot of other states, also. I don't think you can escape it without growing everything yourself. I can give you a list of frozen food manufacturers that are in the same county as my old farm. I bet if you saw the way vegetables are grown and handled, you'd rant about that, too.

I never mentioned the movie, either. If you will notice I apologized and admitted this was off topic.

Thanks for the attack, btw. You made my day. It reminds me of the man who wanted to shut down all farming in our area because farms stink. He wrote an editorial in the local paper saying he wanted to be able to go out into the country and smell the wild honeysuckle. The only problem is that you can't feed a nation of people on wild honeysuckle. Someone has to grow your food.

Let the attacks begin. I'm done with this topic, personally. I know all I have done is give you more to rant about, but have at it. Quote pages from books, quote what you heard and saw in a movie. Just remember, you haven't been there and seen it. I will enjoy reading your rants and will make no further comments, so tear me up. I find it rather amusing.

Signed, Mr. Ab Horrent.