Factory Farming - What is It?

factory farming noun

a system of rearing livestock using highly intensive methods, by which poultry, pigs, or cattle are confined indoors under strictly controlled conditions.

Factory farmers don’t want you to know what factory farming is and factory farmers don’t want you to know that most eggs, chicken and pork products come from factory farms. You see they realise that the products that they produce wouldn’t sell if people were told exactly where they came from and what the animals go through to make these products.

If only the happiness of farm animals was as important as that of our pets

Most factory farms are run by big companies that want to spend as little money as possible while making as much money as they can. The companies that run the factory farms have found that they can make more money by squeezing as many animals as possible into tiny spaces, even though many of the animals die from disease or infection.

Animals on factory farms live in cramped conditions

On today’s factory farms, animals have to live in cold, dirty cages and metal crates. They will never get to have a family, root around in the soil, build nests, or do anything that is natural, important or fun to them. Most will never enjoy fresh air or sunshine and they don’t go outside until it’s time to travel to the slaughter house. Animals on factory farms don’t get to be happy. They’re often given so little space that they can’t even turn around or lie down comfortably. Egg-laying hens are kept in small cages, chickens and pigs are kept in jam-packed sheds, and cows are kept on crowded feedlots. Antibiotics are used to make animals grow faster and to keep them alive in the dirty conditions. Also most factory-farmed animals have been genetically changed to grow larger or to produce more milk or eggs than they naturally would. Some chickens grow so unnaturally large that their legs cannot support their bigger bodies. This means that some of them will suffer from starvation or dehydration because they can’t walk to reach food and water. Aside from the harm to the animals factory farms aren’t good for people as they use more food then they produce. It takes a huge amount of food, grass and, grain to raise an animal, far more than it takes to feed a person. If all of the food that is fed to animals to make meat were fed to people there would be enough food for everyone on the planet.

Female chicks are kept so that they can lay eggs, male chicks aren't so valuable

It seems that every animal should be cared for and respected, unless it’s a farm animal. For farm animals the rules are different. For example, if you were to grab your cat and chop off its tail the RSPCA and the police would get involved and you’d be arrested because to do this to a cat is against the law. But with pigs it is normal. When pigs are born the farmers will take the piglets and chop their tails off to stop their brothers and sister from chewing on them. They don’t take them to an operating room, they don’t clean the animals before or after and there’s no treatment for pain. It’s not fair.

Have you ever tried to explain what factory farming is to someone? Did they believe you or did they think that you were telling tales? Let me know in the comments below.