By Kochava London
Today, over 99% of farm animals live on factory farms, also known as concentrated-animal feeding operations (CAFOs)....
...According to Ben Carlson, a former employee at Rose Acre Farms, the second largest egg producer in the U.S., “If you haven’t been in a hen plant, you don’t know what hell is,” he says. “This gust of ammonia and urine stench hits you when you open the door, there’s chicken [feces] piled up six feet high before they tractor it out with Bobcats, and your nose and lungs burn like you took a torch to ’em.”...
...Between 1957 and 2005, chicken growth increased by more than 400% (Zuidhof, et al., 2014). Because of the excess weight, it is almost impossible for chickens to walk more than a few feet without dropping. Osteoporosis, heart and lung disease, broken bones, and other skeletal problems are now common in chickens. Professor John Webster of the University of Bristol’s School of Veterinary Science says that broilers are the only livestock that live in chronic pain for the duration of their lives. They don’t move around because it hurts their joints so much.
According to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), dairy cows and hens are genetically bred to produce more milk and eggs than they naturally would. For example, cows on factory farms produce 12 times more milk than necessary to feed their calves, and a single cow today can produce a whopping 20,000 pounds of milk in a single year.
The inhumane living conditions on factory farms dramatically reduce the lifespan of the animals. Chickens can live up to eight years, but on a factory farm they typically die by age two....
...Factory farming is also detrimental to the environment. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States (FAO), animal agriculture accounts for 18% of greenhouse gases and 65% of nitrous oxide emissions, which contribute to global warming and air pollution. The 500 million tons of animal waste generated each year leaches into our food and water supplies, contaminating what we eat and drink....
