TIL about forced molting where chickens are intentionally starved for 7-14 days to increase their rate of egg production afterwards

And, again, it is a common practice in the US, being banned in the EU.

Fuck US business practices.

Don't worry they instead slaughter them even younger when their egg production falls :(

This means that in many countries, by approximately 72 weeks of age, flocks are considered economically unviable and are slaughtered after approximately 12 months of egg production,[3] although chickens will naturally live for 6 or more years

Animal agriculture is still horrifying around the world. It's at best marginally better in some places like the EU, but it is not just a US issue at all
- I live in a area with some egg farms and I know the flocks are refreshed continuously and renewed en masse every two and a half to three years, with the farms always giving the option for locals to go there and buy as many chickens as they want.
  
  Egg laying chickens are not very appreciated as meat birds as the animals have aged beyond the usual point regular meat birds are culled and the average person doesn't appreciate (nor knows how to prepare) the much more denser flesh.
  
  One change I've been seeing is the move towards abandoning cages and adopting a bird on the soil system (also produces a good deal of almost ready to use manure, as the floor is constantly covered with sawdust or straw, which is sellable or can be used to produce methane) and more farms opting to move towards the free range approach, with the birds being allowed to move outside and graze.
  
  It's a tentative move but it is a start.
Regardless, we don't have workers from our own country willing to work in places like this. Instead we get people from Uzbekistan who spend all their life savings for a better life here only to quit on day 1 and try to go back home after witnessing the horrors of poultry farming.

Banned practices or not, factory farming, resulting from the demand to eat meat daily, is simply cruel, unsustainable, and oftentimes sadistic (to the animals AND workers)

There are a LOT of cruel practices in the farm industry, for every type of animal.

Their objective is quite literally to do whatever it takes, no matter how cruel and inhumane, just to squeeze more profit out of the animals.

It's best to simply stop supporting these industries, because their business model is planned cruelty.

Factory farms are just horror shows

.

Farm animals don't need humane treatment if it doesn't affect the quality of the end product. They're not humans.

I think it's worth reflecting on why being human should even be a relevant metric here. That they are not human doesn't change what they feel. If they can suffer, as chickens and other farm animals very much can, why shouldn't we aim to prevent suffering?

Don't feel like you have to respond to this. I really just want you to reflect on that idea and think about it for yourself
- You see, they don’t have souls bestowed upon them by the sky daddy, so they don’t count. You fool. You absolute buffoon. /s
- This person has clearly never interacted with a bird before. These dinosaurs are clearly capable of thinking, feeling, and voicing their opinions. Of course, the same applies to farm mammals. Just because we're... More resourceful doesn't mean we have to subjugate everything that's "inferior" to us. That sounds like 'ye olde "they don't need equal rights because they're just savages".
- Humans are a unique and important species, and as the only ones to ever create the concept of rights we are the only ones who inherently deserve them. Giving them to other species should only be done if there are positive effects on us (banning cruelty against animals commonly kept as pets and preserving wild biodiversity are ideas I agree with)
  
  If you believe all living things are equally deserving you better stop killing bugs. Sentience is not rigorously defined.
The fact people like you exist puts a permanent dread in the back of my mind.
- The fact that people like that exist is why I'm often glad humanity is probably on the way out.
  
  Edit: Bravo! Dogpile downvotes for disliking the same person everyone else dislikes but in a different way. Careful, your Reddit is showing.
I have no doubt that future generations (if we get there) will look back at our factory farming practices with revulsion and disgust.

At the end of the day, these are still living beings and we have no real understanding of the agony that our practices are truly inflicting upon them.
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