Factory farm chicken horror as animals bred to full size in 35 days - ‘not worth living’

British shoppers are being warned against eating factory farm chicken after the animals were found to be bred to become full size in just 35 days.

Factory farm chicken horror as animals bred to full size in 35 days - ‘not worth living’

British shoppers are being warned against eating factory farm chicken after the animals were found to be bred to become full size in just 35 days.

By GRACE MACRAE

PUBLISHED: 05:45, Mon, Mar 2, 2020 | UPDATED: 06:11, Mon, Mar 2, 2020

Millions of chickens are being bred to grow at an unnaturally fast rate on factory farms, the RSPCA claims.The charity says the majority of the billion birds reared each year are suffering from shocking cruelty with accelerated growth affecting their internal organs.

The RSPCA says many of the birds endure a life “not worth living.”

The charity is calling on supermarkets and caterers to support a switch to slower growing breeds, which are stronger and healthier to eat.

Companies such as KFC, Marks & Spencer and Waitrose, have already taken a lead in the switch.

According to the RSPCA, chicks grow from chicks to adult slaughter weight in just 35 days in UK factory farms.

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Global data resource shows genetic diversity of chickens

JUNE 20, 2019

by University of Göttingen

A total of 174 chicken breeds are described in a publicly accessible database which scientists from the University of Göttingen and the Friedrich Loeffler Institute in Neustadt-Mariensee have built up in recent years with numerous international partners. This database, the Synbreed Chicken Diversity Panel (SCDP), includes information about a large proportion of the available chicken species and their diversity. In the accompanying scientific study, the researchers genotyped 3,235 animals for nearly 600,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). SNPs are variations in separate genetic building blocks at specific regions of the genome that vary between individual animals. The researchers created a family tree of exceptional completeness and detail. The results have been published in the journal BMC Genomics.

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Chickens 'gang up' to kill intruder fox on French farm

Chickens in a school farm in north-western France are believed to have grouped and killed a juvenile fox.

The unusual incident in Brittany took place after the fox entered the coop with 3,000 hens through an automatic hatch door which closed immediately.

"There was a herd instinct and they attacked him with their beaks," said Pascal Daniel, head of farming at the agricultural school Gros-Chêne.

The body of the small fox was found the following day in a corner of the coop.

"It had blows to its neck, blows from beaks," Mr Daniel told AFP news agency.

The farm is home to up to 6,000 free-range chickens who are kept in a five-acre site.

The coop is kept open during day and most of the hens spend the daytime outside, AFP adds.

When the automatic door closed, the fox - thought to be around five or six months old - became trapped inside.

"A whole mass of hens can arrive together and the fox may have panicked in the face of such a big number", Mr Daniel told the regional newspaper Ouest France (in French).

"They can be quite tenacious when they are in a pack".

Source

'Planet of the chickens': How the bird took over the world

By Helen Briggs BBC News

12 December 2018

A study of chicken bones dug up at London archaeological sites shows how the bird we know today has altered beyond recognition from its ancestors.

With around 23 billion chickens on the planet at any one time, the bird is a symbol of the way we are shaping the environment, say scientists.

Evolution usually takes place over a timescale of millions of years, but the chicken has changed much more rapidly.

The rise of the supermarket chicken mirrors the decline in wild birds.

"The sheer number of chickens is an order of magnitude higher than any other bird species that's alive today," said Dr Carys Bennett, a geologist at the University of Leicester, who led the study.

"You could say we are living in the planet of the chickens."

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Flockmate or loner? Identifying the genes behind sociality in chickens

Date:  May 3, 2018

Source:  Linköping University

Five genes that affect sociality-related behaviour in chickens have been identified by researchers at Linköping University in Sweden. Several of the genes have been previously linked to nervous system function or behaviour. The new study, which is published in Genetics, is the first that assigns these genes a role in sociality.

Sociality and social behaviour covers a wide range of behaviours. Dogs seeking human contact and honeybees using complex waggle dances to exchange information on where to find good food sources are two examples from the animal world. But what actually governs social behaviour?

"By identifying the genes responsible for the variation in such sociality we can understand how sociality is formed and how social behaviour is controlled at a genetic level. Why some people or animals are more gregarious by nature and others more independent is just one such example," says Dominic Wright, senior lecturer at the Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology (IFM), who has led the study.

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'Optimism' remains in chickens in enriched environments despite exposure to stress

Date:  April 6, 2018

Source:  Linköping University

Summary:

Chickens that grow up in an environment that they perceive as more diverse and manageable, retain an 'optimistic' view of life and cope with stress better than individuals that grow up in more sterile surroundings, according to a new study published in Scientific Reports. A team of researchers in Sweden measured how optimism in chickens is affected by stress.

     

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Breeding resistant chickens for improved food safety

October 31, 2017 by Jan Suszkiw

A new test developed by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists in College Station, Texas, could make it easier to breed pathogen-resistant chickens.

The test identifies roosters whose blood contains naturally high levels of two key chemicals, cytokines and chemokines. These chemicals mobilize the birds' innate immune response, according to ARS microbiologist Christi Swaggerty, in ARS's Food and Feed Safety Research Unit.

Using the new test, commercial poultry breeders can single out roosters that have a strong immune response and use them to selectively breed a more robust flock. Such resistance, especially during the birds' first week of life, may lower costs related to animal well-being and food safety.

Protecting chickens from pathogens involves sanitation, vaccination, biosecurity and use of antibiotics and other medications. But some chickens have an especially robust and efficient immune response and can resist pathogens, notes Swaggerty.

The researchers used the test to select roosters for breeding a line of resistant broilers. They then exposed the resistant broilers to several pathogens. They compared the resistant group to a group of susceptible broilers bred from roosters with low cytokine and chemokine levels.

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170 Devon chickens need homes to avoid slaughter this weekend

Around 170 ex-battery hens in Devon - who have never seen daylight before - will be slaughtered this weekend, unless homes can be found for them.

The British Hen Welfare Trust (BHWT), based at Rose Ash in North Devon, are looking to rehome the birds on Sunday at two locations in the county - but say they cannot save the hens if they do not have homes to go to.

The charity is appealing to anyone who has a bit of space in their back garden to consider giving a home to some ex-bats.

A BHWT spokesman said: "The hens are around 18 months old when they are sent to slaughter because their egg laying has slowed down, and whilst they don't come with guarantees, they are generally happy to offer a tasty reward to someone offering to save their lives.

"Furthermore they will guarantee to any would-be adopter fun and affection. These little hens are seriously good at worming their way into hearts."

The rehoming sessions in Devon are among several taking place across the country this coming weekend.

The Devon sessions take place on Sunday, August 6 at Rose Ash - where 60 chickens need to be rehomed - and Okehampton - where 110 are without homes.

All the hens have been working hard for 18 months, laying eggs to be sold in supermarkets or go into processed foods. They have never seen daylight, stood on soft grass nor scratched for bugs and slugs.

Gaynor Davies, the charity's Head of Operations, said: "There is no better feeling than watching these girls flourish after they emerge from the commercial system.

"They have a full bill of health and will soon become much-loved pets. With a bit of TLC they become incredibly tame, and they're often described as cats and dogs with feathers.

"If you've ever considered giving some ex-bats a home my only advice would be to do it. You won't regret it."

Here are the details of the other sessions across the UK:

Saturday, 5 August

Rotherham (Letwell): 300 hens in total, 100 without homes

Cambridge (Godmanchester): 300 hens in total, 200 without homes

Nottinghamshire (Newark): 400 hens in total, 200 without homes

Lincolnshire (Stamford): 300 hens in total, 190 without homes

Norfolk (Kings Lynn): 230 hens in total, 80 without homes

Sunday, 6 August

Dorset (Bourton): 200 hens in total, 60 without homes

Sussex (Arundel): 240 hens in total, 115 without homes

Cornwall (Liskeard): 150 hens in total, 115 without homes

Cornwall (Redruth): 150 hens in total, 100 without homes

Devon (Rose Ash): 150 hens in total, 60 without homes

Devon (Okehampton): 150 hens in total, 110 without homes

If you're interested in re-homing some hens, simply register your details on our website at www.bhwt.org.uk or call 01884 860084 for more information.

Source

Using rooster testes to learn how the body fights viruses

Date: April 27, 2017

Source: University of Rochester Medical Center

Our bodies are constantly under siege by foreign invaders; viruses, bacteria and parasites that want to infiltrate our cells. A new study in the journal eLife sheds light on how germ cells -- sperm and egg -- protect themselves from these attackers so that they can pass accurate genetic information to the next generation.

Researchers from the University of Rochester Center for RNA Biology: From Genome to Therapeutics examined the role of piRNA in safeguarding the integrity of the genetic information in germ cells. It's known that piRNA -- a type of ribonucleic acid (RNA) that's found most readily in the testes and ovaries -- shields germ cells by silencing the genetic sequences of viral intruders. It's also known that defects or mutations in piRNA lead to infertility in humans and other animals. What's not known is how piRNAs are generated in the first place.

A team led by Xin Li, Ph.D., assistant professor in the departments of Biochemistry and Biophysics and Urology at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, analyzed rooster testes to find out.

Chickens acquire and harbor a wide variety of viruses. When a virus infects a host, like a chicken, it does everything it can to survive. One method of survival is inserting its genetic material into the chicken's genome. Over generations, the inserted virus accumulates mutations and eventually becomes harmless to the animal, but it's still a part of the chicken's genetic material.

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Turning chicken feces, weeds into biofuel

Date: May 3, 2017

Source: American Chemical Society

Chicken is a favorite, inexpensive meat across the globe. But the bird's popularity results in a lot of waste that can pollute soil and water. One strategy for dealing with poultry poop is to turn it into biofuel, and now scientists have developed a way to do this by mixing the waste with another environmental scourge, an invasive weed that is affecting agriculture in Africa. They report their approach in ACS' journal Energy & Fuels.

Poultry sludge is sometimes turned into fertilizer, but recent trends in industrialized chicken farming have led to an increase in waste mismanagement and negative environmental impacts, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. Droppings can contain nutrients, hormones, antibiotics and heavy metals and can wash into the soil and surface water. To deal with this problem, scientists have been working on ways to convert the waste into fuel. 

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