Chickens 1. ‘Bird Brain’ Is a Compliment Several recent studies have shown that chickens are bright animals, able to solve complex problems, demonstrate self-control, and worry about the future. Chickens are smarter than cats or dogs and even do some things that have not yet been seen in mammals other than primates. Dr. Chris Evans, who studies animal behavior and communication at Macquarie University in Australia, says, “As a trick at conferences, I sometimes list these attributes, without mentioning chickens, and people think I’m talking about monkeys.” Dr. John Webster of Bristol University found that chickens are capable of understanding cause and effect and that when chickens learn something new, they pass on that knowledge (i.e., they have what scientists call “culture”). How does your IQ compare to that of a chicken?
2. All Drugged Up Quite simply, chickens are the most abused animals on the planet. Chickens raised for their flesh are packed by the thousands into massive sheds. They are fed large amounts of antibiotics and drugs to keep them alive in conditions that would otherwise kill them. The antibiotics make chickens grow so large, so fast that they often become crippled under their own weight. This reckless use of antibiotics also makes drugs less effective for treating humans by speeding up the development of drug-resistant bacteria. Learn more about the overuse of antibiotics in chickens.
3. Scalded to Death Only seven weeks after they are born, chickens are crowded onto trucks that transport them to the slaughterhouse. Tens of millions of chickens have their wings and legs broken in the process every year. They are trucked through all weather extremes, sometimes over hundreds of miles, without any food or water. At slaughter, chickens are hung upside-down and have their throats slit, and they are often scalded to death in defeathering tanks. Watch undercover footage of chickens who are mutilated and scalded to death at a Tyson slaughterhouse.
4. They Don’t Even Get a Lawyer The billions of chickens killed each year are not protected by a single federal law—the “Humane Slaughter Act” exempts birds, even though there are more than 55 times as many chickens slaughtered each year as pigs and cows combined! Chickens raised for their flesh have their sensitive beaks cut off with a hot blade without any painkillers. These intelligent animals spend their entire lives in filthy sheds with tens of thousands of other birds, each getting about as much space as a sheet of paper, where intense crowding and confinement lead to outbreaks of disease. If factory-farm owners treated cats and dogs like they treat chickens, they would go to jail for cruelty to animals. Learn more about the routine abuse of chickens in factory farms.
5. Do You Want Poop With That? A USDA study found that more than 99 percent of broiler chicken carcasses sold in stores had detectable levels of E. coli, indicating fecal contamination. In other words, if you’re eating chicken flesh, you’re almost certainly eating poop. Consumer Reports states there are “1.1 million or more Americans sickened each year by undercooked, tainted chicken.” Chicken flesh is also loaded with dangerous levels of arsenic, which can cause cancer, dementia, neurological problems, and other ailments in humans. Men’s Health magazine recently ranked supermarket chicken number one in their list of the “10 Dirtiest Foods” because of the high rate of bacterial contamination. Learn more about how eating chicken and meat puts your health at risk.
6. Lose the Fat, Avoid the Flu Both the Center for Disease Control and the World Health Organization say that if the avian flu virus spreads to the United States, it could be caught simply by eating undercooked chicken flesh or eggs, eating food prepared on the same cutting board as infected meat or eggs, or even touching eggshells contaminated with the disease. Chicken flesh and eggs are packed with cholesterol—a 3-ounce piece of skinless chicken breast meat has as much cholesterol as beef, and just one egg has nearly three times as much! This cholesterol, along with a high intake of animal fats, blocks arteries and causes heart disease. Vegan foods, on the other hand, are all cholesterol-free and much lower in fat!
7. The Most Dangerous Factory Job in America According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, slaughterhouse workers are more than three times more likely to suffer injuries while working than workers in other manufacturing jobs, and they suffer a rate of repetitive stress injury that is 35 times higher than that in other manufacturing jobs. The industry refuses to make working conditions safer by slowing line speeds or buying appropriate safety gear, which amounts to what Human Rights Watch calls “systematic human rights violations embedded in meat and poultry industry employment.” Big chicken companies such as Tyson and Perdue also exploit contract factory-farm operators, whom Auburn University economist Robert Taylor calls “serfs with a mortgage.” Contract factory farmers are forced to foot the bill for building and maintaining massive factory farms, which puts them deeply into debt and can drive them to financial ruin if their company cancels future contracts with them. Learn why Human Rights Watch calls meat-packing “the most dangerous factory job in America.”
8. Motherly Love In a natural setting, a hen will cluck to her chicks before they even hatch while she sits on the eggs in her nest. They peep back to her and to each other through their shells. In factory farms, eggs are taken from the mother as soon as they are laid and put in large incubators—a chick will never meet his or her parents. Hens prefer to have private nests hidden from predators and will often go without food or water in order to obtain a private nest. This demonstrates the fact that hens will sacrifice their own comfort if it means protecting their chicks. Learn more about the personalities of these interesting animals.
9. Chicken Sh*t Raising 9 billion chickens in factory farms each year produces enormous amounts of excrement. Oregon State University agriculture professor Peter Cheeke says that factory farming amounts to “a frontal assault on the environment,” which leads to widespread fecal ground and water pollution. Because chickens are fed massive amounts of drugs, hormones, and pesticides, these chemicals are also found in high concentrations in their feces, which means that fecal pollution from chicken farms is especially disastrous for the environment. In West Virginia and Maryland, for example, scientists have recently discovered that male fish are growing ovaries, and they suspect that this freakish deformity is the result of factory-farm runoff from drug-laden chicken feces. Learn more about factory farming’s toll on the Earth.
10. Better Than the Original Do you like the taste of chicken flesh but don’t like the suffering? No problem—try some of the fantastic alternatives now available, such as Boca Chik’n Nuggets, Gardenburger’s Meatless Buffalo Chicken Wings, and Yves Veggie Chicken Burgers. These super-tasty foods are high in protein, cruelty- and cholesterol- free, and available at your local supermarket. Instead of eggs, try tofu scramble, whip up some vegan French toast, or check out our egg-free baking tips.
Posted by lemonspice (Member # 5667) on :
quote:Originally posted by lemonspice: Chickens 1. ‘Bird Brain’ Is a Compliment
chicken are the stupidest animals on this planet by far, they deserve their miserable fate because of the reverse evolutionary path they took (they had wings and apparently could fly but they chose to be earth bound.. how stupid!).
that's why i will continue to eat them stupid chicken.
Posted by germanjulia (Member # 8781) on :
LOL.
one could make up hundreds of threads now, saying "10 reasons not to eat beef" (remember, they get shot in the head before slaughtered!), "10 reasons not to eat pork" (for westeners it would be because of the hormones too...!), "10 reasons not to eat lamp" (probably transported in some mean way too!!)...
even more: "10 reasons not to eat strawberries" (cos of fertiliser), "10 reasons not to eat cauliflower" (who knows what they are doing with it!), and to sum it up, "10 reasons not to eat anything at all"!!!
i think i will always eat it. of course it's extremely important to cook it properly.
Posted by Melati (Member # 9610) on :
chicken are the stupidest animals on this planet by far, they deserve their miserable fate because of the reverse evolutionary path they took (they had wings and apparently could fly but they chose to be earth bound.. how stupid!).
that's why i will continue to eat them stupid chicken. by Misfit -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LOL LOL Emus are flightless too-but they can run pretty fast!!!
Posted by Charm El Feikh? (Member # 10243) on :
misfit you make me laugh.
julia... 10 reasons not to eat lamp..... only 10? he he
Posted by misfit (Member # 8880) on :
quote:Originally posted by Melati: LOL LOL Emus are flightless too-but they can run pretty fast!!!
at least they can do something.. chickens are totally helpless!
Posted by Charm El Feikh? (Member # 10243) on :
not so.... apparently they can kill us all with their flu!!!
chicken pox is nasty too!!!!!
Posted by germanjulia (Member # 8781) on :
quote:Originally posted by Charm El Feikh?: julia... 10 reasons not to eat lamp..... only 10? he he
what'd wrong with lamp? if my memory serves me right it has something to do with cholesterol, or not?
nevertheless i find it very tasty. i'd like to try it with mint. have you ever tried that?
Posted by Melati (Member # 9610) on :
lamp =licht!
Posted by germanjulia (Member # 8781) on :
quote:Originally posted by Melati: lamp =licht!
LOOOL ROLF!
you know what i mean. Posted by germanjulia (Member # 8781) on :
quote:Originally posted by germanjulia: what'd wrong with lamp? if my memory serves me right it has something to do with cholesterol, or not?
nevertheless i find it very tasty. i'd like to try it with mint. have you ever tried that?
aaahaaaaaahahahaah! now tears are rolling out of laughter...! Posted by Melati (Member # 9610) on :
LOL! Its ok..we knew what you meant! But thats extreme veganism no?
Posted by germanjulia (Member # 8781) on :
please call me julia the lamp from now on. or german -"lamp" -julia.
Posted by germanjulia (Member # 8781) on :
quote:Originally posted by Melati: But thats extreme veganism no?
very extreme
by the way melati, thanks for making me realise my mistake!
Posted by Charm El Feikh? (Member # 10243) on :
he he... sorry julia, just thought it was so funny.... i cracked up when i read your reply too!!! try it with mint... ha ha hehehe!!!
Posted by germanjulia (Member # 8781) on :
quote:Originally posted by Charm El Feikh?: he he... sorry julia, just thought it was so funny.... i cracked up when i read your reply too!!! try it with mint... ha ha hehehe!!!
yeah, that part is just too funny!
"i think lamp is very tasteful, although it's bad for cholesterol. i'd like to try it with mint."
heheheheeheheee! no need for any apology, i'm still laughing myself.
Posted by minry80 (Member # 8287) on :
quote:Originally posted by misfit:
quote:Originally posted by lemonspice: Chickens 1. ‘Bird Brain’ Is a Compliment
chicken are the stupidest animals on this planet by far, they deserve their miserable fate because of the reverse evolutionary path they took (they had wings and apparently could fly but they chose to be earth bound.. how stupid!).
that's why i will continue to eat them stupid chicken.
Ok guys, this is a topic close to my heart. When I was growing up I had a pet chicken. I loved that thing. It would jump on my lap when I came home from school. Chickens are not stupid!
Posted by Charm El Feikh? (Member # 10243) on :
hi minry... ive just finished posting about my dream last night... it had you in it!!!!??????
i would love to keep chickens and i really want a duck. and a parrot!!!
Posted by minry80 (Member # 8287) on :
What was I doing in your dream???
Oh man. We had hedgehogs, chickens, a little potbellied pig, goats, horses, chinchillas, ducks, rabbits...anyway my mom likes animals Posted by Charm El Feikh? (Member # 10243) on :
ive got a mental collie called Trigger. hes soooo clever... he knows so many tricks. he will give you his left or right paw... do left spin or right spin etc. he will open the door or play the piano on command. he will speak which is hysterical, he makes a weird talking sound. he will bark on command and will sing (kind of howls) which is funny when you tell him to 'lay the piano and sing me a song' has guests in fits. he can count too. any number you say he will bark it (its a trick but its good) i train him every day, we can predict eachothers moves. its his 2nd birthday on tuesday!!! god i love that dog!!!!
help... i think i need a man!!!
Posted by poopiepants (Member # 10601) on :
I want a pet elephant
Posted by Capri Sun (Member # 10600) on :
i want to eat some chicken now more then before
Posted by poopiepants (Member # 10601) on :
I want to eat an Elephant now more than ever
Posted by QueenBee (Member # 9378) on :
[QUOTE]Originally posted by poopiepants:
That's an intersting name....
One thing that is odd about hens is that they mate, lay eggs, and go to the bathroom from the same place. They only have one hole.
Posted by *Tigerlily* (Member # 3567) on :
No more chicken dishes for me ........ I am really hooked now on fishy meals. Posted by lemonspice (Member # 5667) on :
It seems like everyone here is trying to give reasons why they COULD eat chickens, and encouraging each other. This is definitely the easiest way to convince oneself that it's alright and to feel better/ less guilty. It doesn't change the face that chickens were not made to be on our plates.
Posted by mac0623 (Member # 10529) on :
ERRRRRRRRR WAT WAS THEY MADE FOR IF MADE IS THE WORD
Posted by Charm El Feikh? (Member # 10243) on :
if god didnt want me to eat chickens he wouldnt have made them out of meat!!!!!!!!
Posted by Learner (Member # 9153) on :
quote:Originally posted by Charm El Feikh?: if god didnt want me to eat chickens he wouldnt have made them out of meat!!!!!!!!
Posted by poopiepants (Member # 10601) on :
what is the difference between eating a fish and a chicken ,they both have a face
Posted by QueenBee (Member # 9378) on :
well, one has a face that doesn't talk back.
Also, in regards to the original post, most fish have a pretty free life. They are not abused in the way factory-farmed animals are, and don't suffer the same restrictions to the natural life. The un-farmed fish have a great diet and good exercise; they aren't fed antibiotics, they get to swim around and do their thing until BAM, someone catches them and kills them. And hopefully delivers a strong blow to the head to knock them out.
Posted by Dalia_06 (Member # 10593) on :
quote:Originally posted by Charm El Feikh?: if god didnt want me to eat chickens he wouldnt have made them out of meat!!!!!!!!
Humans are also made out of meat ... Posted by Charm El Feikh? (Member # 10243) on :
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