When I think of free range chickens I conjure up the thought of animals frolicking about the way nature intended. Scurrying after grasshoppers on a wind swept hillside, drawing a deep draught from a gurgling brook, or simply lazing away the day under the cool shade of a willow. Regretfully, most of this is delusion on my part. There are no legal or commercial definitions governing the term or the claim “range” or similar advertisements on egg cartons, such as “free running,” “free roaming,” or “free walking.” Birds raised for meat may be considered “free-range” if they have U.S. Department of Agriculture-certified access to the outdoors. The irony here is that the USDA relies upon producer testimonials to support the accuracy of these claims.

No other criteria of environmental quality, the size of the outdoor area, the number of birds confined in a single shed, or the indoor or outdoor space allotted per animal-are considered in applying the label. As with free-range laying hens, many “free-range” broilers live in a facility with only one small opening at the end of a large shed, permitting only a few birds to go outside at any given time. The term “free-range” “doesn’t really tell you anything about the animal’s quality of life, nor does it even assure that the animal actually goes outdoors. The final insult to free range hens is that they too have their beaks clipped to reduce the risk of injury related to being pecked by their neighbor.

Tomorrow: Do we need any animal products, including dairy, to sustain and nourish us?

I have not visited a chicken slaughter house, but evidently it is not a pretty sight. At most slaughterhouses, chickens are hung upside-down and attached by their feet to a moving line while still conscious. The birds’ heads and upper bodies are dragged through an electrified water bath, which immobilizes the birds to reduce their struggling and paralyzes their follicles to facilitate feather removal.

After immobilization, the birds have their necks cut by a machine blade or by a human hand before proceeding to a scalding tank. Birds who are missed by the mechanical blade or who have only one jugular vein severed may retain consciousness while entering the tank, where they are boiled alive. In Fiscal Year 1993, of the 7.08 billion total poultry slaughtered in USDA facilities, 3.12 million birds were reported to have entered scalding tanks while still alive.

My daughter Paige performed today at Disneyland as part of a flute ensemble. After her Anaheim gigs, we have a custom of dining at Bucca Di Beppo, a pleasant family oriented Italian restaurant. As fate would have it, one of Paige’s friends ordered the chicken parmesan, which on any other evening would have mildly interested me. That temptation is a thing of the past.

Tomorrow: What are free range products?

As I ponder my post challenge life (a mere week away), I am reconsidering my secret goal of becoming a lacto-ovo vegetarian. Newly acquired knowledge of the life of a laying hen in an industrial egg operation, and the demise of her male offspring, has left me traumatized.

In factory egg farms, laying hens are housed in facilities where up to 100,000 birds are stacked in rows of bare wire cells called “battery cages”. Four to six laying hens are placed into each cage where they are unable to stretch their wings or move about freely. To reduce stress-induced pecking and fighting, the hens’ beaks are severed at the tip using a hot knife or a guillotine-like device. A 10% mortality rate is reportedly common in the egg laying shed from this and the stress of over crowding. To aggravate matters, hens are evidently “force molted” by removing nourishment and light, which stimulates egg production.

I am saddened to report another problem inherent with egg production which involves the disposal of unwanted male chicks. Because males don’t lay eggs and egg-type strains of chickens don’t grow fast enough to be raised profitably for meat, the male chicks are discarded shortly after hatching. Hence, male chicks are dispatched by the least expensive and efficient method available. Unbelievably, this may include live maceration (i.e., grinding).

How can I practice Lacto-Ovo vegetariansim and be complict with anything remotely related to the above?

Tomorrow: A broiler meats its end

This article, “The 247 lb. Vegan”, was in today’s Wall Street Journal. Thanks to Rita from ASPH for the heads-up.

Dave