The terminus “ factory farm ” and “ manufacturing plant agriculture ” get cast around enough these twenty-four hours — and often in a negative luminosity . For those not familiar with different model of agriculture , it may leave you asking , “ What is a factory farm , anyway ? ”
What Is A Factory Farm?
A factory farm is an agricultural theoretical account in which the production of farm animal is made to fit into a manufactory - like system , often intemperately populated and indoors . Industrial stock production can stimulate knockout issues :
Some animals even receive physical alterations , such as the docking of pig tails or the debeaking of poultry , to better fit into the factory - like atmosphere . According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals , 99 percent of the livestock raised in the United States come from factory farms .
The Effect Of Factory Farms On Animals
Because manufactory farms seek to bundle as many animals into a space as possible , the creature can suffer greatly in the close quarter , often without access to unused air , grass or fair weather . Disease , mental torture and premature death are common in these intensive farming operations .
Chickens and Other Fowl
fowl — from crybaby to duck to turkeys — find some of the worst abuse in confinement . With laying fowl , it starts with the manlike birds , which do n’t lie eggs or produce quality core , being pluck through gassing , asphyxiation or even hold out grind . Debeaking , a procedure that itself claims the lives of many animals , is often employed to protect against cannibalism .
Once in confinement , the birds rarely leave their cages and are often feast regular doses of antibiotics to promote growth and combat the disease this confinement encourages . Without room to practice , laying fowl may suffer from osteoporosis and other related to disease . lay hens are on a regular basis force to shed — a cycle in which laying naturally ceases for several calendar week and an uneconomic occurrent for a manufacturing plant farm — through extreme and nerve-racking alteration in diet and light exposure , contribute to the death of thousands of hens per year .
Beef Cattle
Although primarily raised outdoors , industrial beef kine production is just as gruelling on the stock as any other type of factory confinement . Often forced to spend their entire life history articulatio humeri - to - articulatio humeri in muddy feedlot , the cattle hurt from many issues ranging from disease to mental stress . These animals may also be surgically manipulated to remove cornet .
Dairy Cattle
Dairy kine , which are often continue indoors , abide from many issuance bear on to poor air timbre , low utilisation and overcrowding . contagion of the utter is common , and as with the meat breeds , dairy kine ’ horn and bum often surgically removed . virile dairy farm cattle are either send to feedlot or processed for veal ( calf kernel ) , which involves ablactate the calfskin from the mothers very betimes , then tethering or tightly cage in the youthful animals to promote a more tender product .
Pigs
Because pigs are such intelligent creatures — even smarter , in some cases , than canine tooth or chimp — their mental suffering in confinement can be quite tragical . Their physical woe — including respiratory issues from ammonia inhalation , bone issues and poor cardiovascular health from lack of exercise — only exacerbates their mental torment . pig crates are tight spaces built to permit for very little movement of the sow as she nurses her piglets , though these are blackball in many country . Gestation crates , which are equally small , have been recognise to restrict exercise to the point in which crated sow are allege to have two - third the bone tightness of non - crated sows , lead to crushed bones , infections , terrible social movement and death .
Aquaculture
We lean to neglect Pisces the Fishes when discussing industrial stock product , but nearly half of the fish we consume come from factory farms . Like all factory - farmed brute , they are confined to tight space and abuse , lead in significant deaths in the fish universe . Disease is rampant in Pisces production , as is animal ruthlessness . The processing of these animals is often excruciatingly painful and mishandled , perhaps more for fish than any of the above animals .
Factory Farming Concerns
Animal Welfare
In most case , factory farm neglect the health and welfare of the livestock they utilize by send profit and productivity over the penury of the animal . In some typesetter’s case , like chickens , very few laws are in place to protect them from inhumane treatment .
Environmental Impact
The tightness of animals conduce to a concentration of waste . When improperly pull off , the permissive waste attain its way into our waterway and breeze . Methane , a hefty pollutant , is emitted at levels so high that industrial agribusiness now raise one - third of our greenhouse gases .
Effects on Human Health
The excessive use antibiotics in mill land is a main contributor to the increased prevalence of the dangerous drug - resistant bacteria , dub “ superbugs . ” We also ingest these antibiotics in our body of water and through these meats , which has been said to contribute to fleshiness . Beyond the antibiotics , factory - farm - leaven meat also have been known to contain faecal matter , pus , hormone and fewer nutrient .
Laws Surrounding Factory Farms
Federal Laws
allot to the Humane Society and the Animal Legal Defense Fund , there are no federal law of nature regulate the conditions in which produce creature are raised . In fact , there are often laws being put to the legislature that seek to fix the amount of restrictions that can be placed on factory farms — so call “ ag laugh ” laws , which seek to illegalize investigating into these farms ’ practices .
State Laws
There are state animal cruelty laws , which may pretend the operations at manufactory farms , but these laws are rarely enforced “ due to broker like determine investigating resources , and the fact that most abuse come behind closed in door and at windowless adroitness , ” concord the Animal Legal Defense Fund .
What You Can Do About Factory Farms
To use the words of many great author and thinkers before me , “ Vote with your meals . ” manufactory farms will only exist if there is a demand for them . Eat only grassfed or graze inwardness from a swear source — preferably a nearby granger . Also , get involve with animals right organization or a local groups in your domain to aid on the ground level . Otherwise , look to vegetable and mushroom for the majority of your protein . Not create demand is the most unmediated impact you’re able to make .
