{"id":4770,"date":"2023-04-10T16:41:07","date_gmt":"2023-04-10T20:41:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/?page_id=4770"},"modified":"2023-04-10T16:45:49","modified_gmt":"2023-04-10T20:45:49","slug":"farmed-animals","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.farmforward.com\/issues\/animal-welfare\/farmed-animals\/","title":{"rendered":"Farmed animals: How does factory farming affect animals?"},"content":{"rendered":"\t
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Meat and other animal products play a central role in the standard American diet. This diet means high demand for farmed animals, a demand that is met by factory farms. The sad reality for the animals raised within these production systems is widespread and continuous suffering due to both their housing conditions and overall health. Farmed animals are not the only ones who are harmed by our modern food system, however. Humans and wild animals also face threats caused by factory farms.<\/p>\n

What is the meaning of \u201cfarm animals\u201d?<\/h2>\n

The term \u201cfarm animals\u201d is used to describe any animals that are raised on a farm for the purposes of producing food or fiber for consumption. The term elicits visions of small family farms with rolling hills dotted by fluffy white sheep or happy black and white cows. This is exactly the image that those involved in the production of animal products want to propagate through their use of language and other humanewashing<\/a> tactics. The ideas encouraged by the term \u201cfarm animals\u201d are factually inaccurate and a far cry from the reality for animals raised as part of the modern, industrial food production system.<\/p>\n

Instead of using \u201cfarm animals\u201d to refer to the living and feeling beings who have been genetically manipulated over generations to serve our purposes, and who suffer immensely as a result, we use the term \u201cfarmed animals.\u201d Though this may seem a matter of semantics to some, \u201cfarmed animals\u201d recognizes the significance of the animals themselves and highlights the fact that they are being farmed. The term \u201cfarm animals” on the other hand implies that there is a certain class of animals that belong on farms, whose natural purpose is to produce for human consumption. The reality is that no animal belongs within a system of production that causes such great suffering<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What are farmed animals called?<\/h2>\n

The terms \u201clivestock\u201d and \u201cfarm animals\u201d are two frequently used names for commonly farmed species and breeds of animals. Both of these terms alienate animals from the actual process of being farmed. The first is a sterile and businesslike term that reduces those animals used to make food to goods or products: \u201clive stock.\u201d The term \u201cfarm animals,\u201d on the other hand, implies that the animals belong on the farm and have no other purpose.<\/p>\n

Which animals are factory farmed?<\/h2>\n

If we eat them, then the chances are that they are factory farmed. Some of the most well-known victims of factory farming are cows, pigs, chickens, fish, goats, sheep, and turkeys. However, there are also a number of other species that are also raised on factory farms for human consumption. Examples of animals that are factory farmed but on a smaller scale include rabbits, geese, and ducks. Some creatures are raised on factory farms not for their food but for some other reason, such as minks and other animals farmed for their coats. Though a smaller number of these animals are killed every year for production, they endure horrendous suffering.<\/p>\n

Chickens<\/h3>\n

Chickens have been genetically modified through generations of breeding in order to make them more economically advantageous to the industry. Two different types of chickens<\/a> have resulted from this intensive breeding: those who lay a large number of eggs, who are called \u201clayers,\u201d and those who grow very large very quickly, called \u201cbroilers.\u201d Though the experience of living on a farm differs for each type of bird, all of them suffer immensely.<\/p>\n

Most laying hens spend their lives in battery cages where\u2014for almost their entire lives\u2014they have less space than a standard sheet of printer paper to stand and move around. Some companies are paying attention to consumer demands and slowly starting to <\/a>shift away from battery cages, but regardless of the housing system in which they are raised, laying hens suffer from physical trauma, such as bone fractures, related to the sheer number of eggs they are genetically modified<\/a> to produce.1<\/a><\/p>\n

Chickens raised for their meat endure a different type of suffering, due to their swift growth rate. Because they grow so quickly, these chickens often experience lameness that renders them unable to walk, and heart problems such as ascites and sudden death syndrome<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Cows<\/h3>\n

Cattle are raised on factory farms for two reasons: to be slaughtered for beef, and for milk production. As is the case with chickens, the majority of cattle slaughtered for meat are from different breeds from those raised to produce milk. However, when a dairy cow stops producing enough milk to be considered profitable she is likely to be slaughtered for her body to be processed into ground beef and other meat products. In 2019, about 21 percent of U.S. beef came from dairy cattle, who are typically slaughtered at between four and five years of age unless they are killed earlier due to illness or low production. Breeds of cattle typically raised for beef are usually slaughtered between 7 and 12 years of age.2<\/a><\/p>\n

Fish<\/h3>\n

Fish can often be overlooked, but they possess the ability to suffer<\/a> and experience every excruciating moment of life on a factory farm. The scale of fish production is such that they are typically counted by weight and not by individual. In 2018, approximately 81 million tons of fish and other aquatic species were farmed around the world.3<\/a><\/p>\n

Goats and sheep<\/h3>\n

In the United States, goats and sheep are slaughtered on a smaller scale than many other types of farmed animal. However, the number killed is still staggering. In just April 2022, 197,500 sheep<\/a> were slaughtered in the U.S. Despite being raised and slaughtered on a smaller scale than other farmed animals, goats and sheep still suffer while alive. For example, goats raised for milk production have been found to be suffering from claw overgrowth, poor hygiene, and skin lesions.4<\/a><\/p>\n

Pigs<\/h3>\n

The intelligence of pigs is greater than that of dogs, and yet the conditions<\/a> in which they are kept and raised on factory farms are abysmal. Often mother pigs are confined to small cages<\/a> and are unable to even turn around as they give birth to litter after litter of piglets who will be mutilated at a young age by being neutered and having their tails docked, only to be slaughtered for meat a few short months later.<\/p>\n

Turkeys<\/h3>\n

At the end of every year a large part of every grocery store\u2019s coolers are inevitably cleared, to be filled with the plastic-wrapped bodies of turkeys. Before they are slaughtered, when they are still young birds being raised within the confines of a factory farm, these birds suffer from head, tail, and wing wounds, immobility, and lameness, and they can often be found in a dirty, featherless, and sick state.5<\/a><\/p>\n

How many farmed animals are there?<\/h2>\n

Many billions of animals endure life in a factory farm every single year. In 2021, 9.3 billion chickens, 33.9 million cows, 391,300 calves, 129 million pigs, and 2.26 million sheep and lambs were slaughtered<\/a> in just the United States.<\/p>\n

What animal is farmed the most?<\/h3>\n

Chickens are the most heavily farmed species of land animal. In 2021 a total of 9.3 billion<\/a> chickens were slaughtered in the United States alone. The other animals found in factory farms in the largest numbers are fish and other marine life. In 2019, 170 million tons<\/a> of fish were raised on farms.<\/p>\n

What animals are protected by law?<\/h2>\n

In the United States, there are only a handful of laws that protect farmed animals, and oftentimes these laws fail to prevent suffering. The Animal Welfare Act<\/a>, which is the primary law federally protecting the rights of animals in the United States, excludes animals used for the production of food or fiber from the definition of \u201canimal\u201d\u2014meaning that farmed animals are not protected under the law. Some states do offer additional protections to farmed animals.<\/p>\n

Which laws protect farmed animals?<\/h3>\n

The two federal laws that aim to protect farmed animals are:<\/p>\n