The transformation of the family farm into the factory farm has led to some pretty disturbing new trends in how meat animals are raised and treated. Take chick shredding, for example, a practice that will now be phased out and replaced in Germany.
Each year in the United States alone, more than 100 million newly hatched male chicks are either ground up alive, gassed, or suffocated in plastic bags because they will not lay eggs,but now a new technology developed in Germany may stop this heartless practice.
Chick shredding is not something that you’ll find publicized by the chicken industry, but for egg producers it is a common practice. Male chicks are considered a ‘waste product’, and disturbing as it is, they are disposed of using brutal and heartless methods because they are not commercially viable. In addition to not being able to lay eggs, chickens bred for egg production are not considered suitable to be raised for meat because the industry has created a separate hybrid breed for meat production, and consumer preferences are now biased.
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