In 2022 alone, global poultry production is estimated to be “about 136 million metric tons, up from about 115 million metric tons in 2016” (Shahbandeh, 2022).
In addition, poultry has become the most produced type of meat worldwide, surpassing pork. In recent decades, global chicken production has increased significantly, reaching “about 33 billion chickens globally from almost 11 billion in 1990” (Shahbandeh, 2022). In 2019, Romania slaughtered almost 300 million poultry. According to data from the National Institute of Statistics (NIS), in 2019, Romania produced 672,312 metric tons (MT) live weight of poultry meat, of which 95% chicken meat (70% broiler and 25% hens) (Dobrescu, 2020).
The European Chicken Commitment represents the efforts of dozens of animal rights and animal welfare organisations to help the 7.2 billion chickens that are slaughtered in Europe every year (Albert Schweitzer Foundation, n.d.). This commitment, created to raise the minimum welfare standards for chickens, includes specific criteria to significantly reduce suffering in the chicken farming industry and are aimed at companies in the food industry. The criteria have been developed in a cooperative manner by animal rights organisations in Europe following scientific documentation outlining the current distressing conditions and how these can be changed to reduce the suffering of chickens.
Conventional chickens are among the most exploited animals in the world, yet their suffering is largely hidden from the general public. On factory farms, broiler chickens lead short, often painful lives. The most widely used breed in all Member States is the Ross, which accounts for at least 70% of all broilers slaughtered in the EU, while the Hubbard and Cobb breeds are less widely used. A big problem for broiler chickens is poor foot health. Due to obesity caused by genetic selection of the breed to grow extremely fast, the large muscle mass of the broilers is on an immature skeleton. It has been shown that broiler chickens that have a moderate lameness suffer from pain caused by their inability to walk normally. Some health problems suffered by broiler chickens include osteomyelitis, femoral head necrosis, tibial dyschondroplasia and arthritis. Other animal welfare problems include inability to access food and water, lack of space and natural light. They also suffer due to the inability to display their natural habits of pecking, scratching, wing flapping, and perching (The Human League, 2020).
Considering the growing concerns about viral and bacterial outbreaks on factory farms, modern industrial agriculture researchers have increasingly focused on the dangers posed by the so-called “excess of life” (Beldo, 2017, p. 108). In recent years, scientists have emphasised concerns about the negative effects of increased levels of intensive productivity on livestock. One observable effect is the emerging disease threats (Beldo, 2017). However, the livestock industry’s response to disease threats has been to “[double] efforts to exert complete control over animal biology, imposing strict isolation practices and the unrestricted use of vaccines and antibiotics” (Beldo, 2017, p. 109).
Beldo (2017) describes the livestock industry as converting the chicken “into a highly efficient machine” for converting grain into protein, while simultaneously confronting the emergence of new pathogens (p. 109). In this context, the role of biotechnology firms is to manipulate the biological processes of the chicken for the benefit of capital. The result is a situation where resistance, disruption and death become the only forms of action available to animals in the livestock industry (Beldo, 2017).
References
- Albert Schweitzer Foundation. (n.d.). European Chicken Commitment. https://albertschweitzerfoundation.org/campaigns/european-chicken-commitment
- Beldo, L. (2017). Metabolic labor: Broiler chickens and the exploitation of vitality. Environmental Humanities, 9(1), 108-128.
- Dobrescu, M. (2020, December 3). Romania: Challenging Prospects for Romania’s Poultry Industry. USDA Foreign Agricultural Service. https://www.fas.usda.gov/data/romania-challenging-prospects-romanias-poultry-industry
- The Humane League. (2020, December 24). WHAT ARE BROILER CHICKENS AND HOW LONG DO THEY LIVE? https://thehumaneleague.org/article/broiler-chickens
- Shahbandeh, M. (2022, January 21). Global number of chickens 1990–2020. Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/263962/number-of-chickens-worldwide-since-1990/