How the USDA and Big Food Keep the Public in the Dark
Weekend Edition January 23-25, 2015
In the Pocket of Big Meat
How the USDA and Big Food Keep the Public in the Dark
by MARTHA ROSENBERG
January brought implementation of the California law mandating more room for egg laying chickens. But larger cages do nothing for the suffering of hatchery chickens which are ground up alive at birth. Yes, you read that right. Until the egg industry ceases to buy its layers from hatcheries which the industry admits kills “200 million male chicks” a year, there is no such thing as an ethical egg. Hatcheries also risk human health by injecting the eggs of future egg layers with antibiotics. Yum.
Earlier this month, video obtained from a Whole Foods egg supplier, Petaluma Farms in Petaluma, CA, shows just how bad the situation is on commercial egg farms. Hens are depicted in disturbing states of sickness and suffering, despite the operation hewing to Humane Farm Animal Care standards, reports the New York Times.
While the U.S.D.A. is in charge of farm regulation– it recently announced new standards to reduce bacteria in poultry including better inspections–it shamelessly plays both sides of the food “street.” According to an expose recent in the New York Times, it uses tax dollars to help private industry develop more “profitable” animals in a semi-clandestine operation called the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center. The experiments often cause the death of mothers and offspring, reports the Times and veterinarians have objected for years.
The U.S. government’s allegiance to the meat industry at the price of consumers is also seen in its handling of “mad cow” scares. Four “mad cows” have been found in the United States in the last ten years and the government protected the identities of the Alabama and Texas ranches that produced two of them.
More:
http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/01/23/how-the-usda-and-big-food-keep-public-in-the-dark/
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of our esteemed politicians.
Hi Judi. 
Hello, hiya SamKnause! 
We keep 8 - 10 hens for eggs.
We love our birds, and Free Range them. They seem to enjoy it here,and we enjoy their antics and the company.
Truth is, if you raise chickens, and hatch them out naturally,
you will get about 50% roosters (cockerels).
If you are living close to the edge like we are, it is a waste of feed to care for the cockerels, and they disrupt the tranquility of the flock once they start to mature,
and egg production drops. They are trouble, constantly challenging the dominant rooster for fights, and it is difficult to watch your back with more than one belligerent mature rooster with 3" spurs. A good rooster can easily put you in the hospital, especially if he feels threatened by other roosters in the yard,
A healthy, happy chicken flock is built around ONE rooster, and he can put you in the hospital if you don't constantly watch him. Two would be impossible to watch while around the hens. One WILL get behind you.
There really is only one thing to do with them once they start showing their sex (aggression and disruption). It is not a happy thing, but something that must be done for the welfare of the coop.
NOBODY in this rural area will take (adopt) a young rooster. Anybody who raises chickens already has more than enough roosters/cockerels. We've tried to give them away, and get laughed at.
The meat is tough, but not bad if it is pressure cooked down for Chicken & Dumplings.
