Chicken Factory Farming In Texas: The Hard-boiled Truth

Chicken factory farming in Texas is not at all what it is cracked up to be.

Consumers uneasily listen to horror stories about how birds suffer acute and chronic pain and are confined in unsanitary, disease-ridden chicken factory farms in Texas and other states, where they frequently succumb to heat prostration, infectious diseases and cancer.

These wild-eye claims remind me of an old saying from former president and Texas native Lyndon B. Johnson: “Boys, I may not know much, but I know chicken poop from chicken salad.

Let me tell you this: You arent being fed chicken salad by these Chicken Littles of the world. Those making outrageous claims are mostly vegan-based groups who use a sky is falling mentality of animal rights as a strategy in their laser-guided vision of a world without meatchicken, beef, pork or otherwise.

Reality check: the people who grow chickens are individuals like you and me. For the most part they have families, responsibilities, bills, and yes, they buy their foodincluding chickenat the grocery store. The difference is they are family farmers who make their living raising chickens for you to eat.

They grow chickensmostly under contract to suppliers such as Pilgrims Pride or Sanderson Farmsto make money. To make money they have to raise chickens efficiently to produce pounds of meat. Taking shortcuts doesnt work. Mistreated chickens dont gain weight. Chickens raised in unsanitary conditions arent healthy. Disease-ridden chickens die long before theyre ready for market. Its as simple as that. Theres nothing to hide.

According to the National Chicken Council, 50 years ago the average broiler chicken came to market 63 days after hatch and weighed 3.35 pounds. The chicken ate 2.5 pounds of feed for each pound gained.

In 2010, the average broiler chicken comes to market 47 days after hatch weighing 5.6 pounds. It eats 1.9 pounds of feed for each pound of weight gained.

Do the math. The average chicken today is about 67 percent bigger than the chicken of 50 years ago. It comes to market in three-fourths of the time, which means the animal is younger and more tender. The chicken eats less feed and comes from a flock with better overall health.

Todays chicken is larger because of emphasis in breeding for a meatier bird; and is healthier, due to science-based advances which have changed and improved the production of chickens.

As a result, consumers have something to crow abouta safe and nutritious source of meat that is a true bargainproduced humanely by family farmers who care.

And thats the hard-boiled truth.

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