Battery vs Free-Range vs Pastured chickens
BATTERY CHICKENS
It's all about the MONEY!!!! Apart from this, there is NO other benefits to this kind of "farming". From the info below, you will agree that this whole practice is disgusting and inhumane and should consumers start to say NO to these products. If nobody buy these products, there will be no market/demand for it and will this practice thus cease to exist.
We as the people have the power in our hands to STOP this cruelty to animals!!!
The LAYING HEN is typically confined in a cage half a metre square (500mm x 500mm) which it shares with three to six other birds. It stays put in that cage for its entire productive life of 1 or 2 years. There is barely enough room for the birds to turn around. Laying hens stand on wire mesh all day and night so their feet are often calloused and sore and should any of these birds die, they are NOT removed from the cage -- they purely stay put until they are fully decomposed and their entire bodies trampled through the mesh by their other "cell mates".
These chickens also have no stimulation other than the other birds in their cage and therefore hen-pecking and aggression are common. De-beaking and toe trimming are therefore routinely practised. These procedures cause pain and stress and lead to infections. And to stop the spread of disease from overcrowding and insanitary conditions, antibiotics are routinely supplied with feed.BROILER CHICKENS are chickens reared specifically for their meat. Broiler chickens are placed in severely inhumane conditions and suffer a range of health problems due to the poultry industries emphasis on profit. Thousands of birds are crammed together into a confined space and farmers attempt to gain the birds maximum weight as soon as possible to keep costs down and profits up. This results in the lights being kept on for up to 23hrs per day to encourage over eating. An artificial night of about 1hr is 
kept to ensure that the chickens do not panic in the event of a power failure. These unnatural conditions mean that the chickens are ready for the slaughter in six to seven weeks.
The sheds that these chickens are confined to are only cleaned after they are taken to the slaughter, resulting in the chickens having to live in their own excrement. This results in a number of the chickens gaining a variety of health defects including painful burns and ulcers to their breasts, legs and feet. Diseases thus spread rapidly, requiring antibiotics & vaccines to be added to their feed and in many cases they also bleach them with chlorine before sending them to the market to make them look "attractive" and "healthy".
Now you must ask yourselve the question : "How can "food" being produced as above be "good" and "healthy" for me???" And I think you already know the answer to this question!!!!
kept to ensure that the chickens do not panic in the event of a power failure. These unnatural conditions mean that the chickens are ready for the slaughter in six to seven weeks.The sheds that these chickens are confined to are only cleaned after they are taken to the slaughter, resulting in the chickens having to live in their own excrement. This results in a number of the chickens gaining a variety of health defects including painful burns and ulcers to their breasts, legs and feet. Diseases thus spread rapidly, requiring antibiotics & vaccines to be added to their feed and in many cases they also bleach them with chlorine before sending them to the market to make them look "attractive" and "healthy".
Now you must ask yourselve the question : "How can "food" being produced as above be "good" and "healthy" for me???" And I think you already know the answer to this question!!!!
Take a look at the shocking short video below ("Meat Video") about the methods being practised in the broader meat producing industry. Although this video promotes becoming vegetarian, I believe it's possible to continue to consume meat that was produced in a humane, ethical & natural way.
(CAUTION : VERY GRAPHIC AND NOT SUITABLE FOR VIEWING BY SENSITIVE VIEWERS!!!)
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FREE RANGE CHICKENS
In many of your local grocery stores you are likely to find "free range" chickens/eggs for sale. But what does this term really mean?? In many cases there may be very little difference between those "free range" chickens and those commercially raised in batteries. Why?? Because "free range" only means that the chickens aren't kept in tiny cages and must have some access to the outside - typically through a small chicken door. It therefore only means that those chickens has access to the outdoors .... it doesn't mean that they actually went outside!!! And since chickens are timid, clubbish kind of critters, it's only the rare chicken that would actually push through that door and venture out alone. The term "free range" can thus be very misleading. Thus : Before buying "free range" products again, do your homework first and make sure that the products you buy are from a credible company/farmer where the chicks are TRULY free!!! To eliminate any confusion, truly free range chickens should actually be labeled as pastured chickens.
PASTURED CHICKENS
The term "pastured" means "to put in pasture to graze" and can there thus be no confusion as to the true meaning thereof. Pastured chickens spend their life entirely outside in movable pens and they are moved frequently to an area with fresh grass. They breath fresh air while scratching and pecking the way they were created to do. Pastured chickens are raised on grass that is never treated with pesticides or fertilizers and their diet are supplemented with a small ration of maintenance feed. And since their diet mainly consist of eating grass & insects, they just taste better!! Because they get a lot of exercise, the fat and calories of these chickens are about half of that of their commercially raised counterparts and the eggs contain 2 times more omega 3's.
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