The Pasture Stand vs Industrial Poultry
Tyson, the largest chicken producer in the world, feeds chicken guts to their chickens.
They even claim it on their website stating that they’re recycling a waste stream and humanely giving the chickens an omnivorous diet. Cannibal chickens are just one of many major issues with the industrial (or “conventional”) poultry industry.
The reason for bringing this up is because while I was writing the website’s “About Us” page, I started going back over all my food industry research - specifically in regards to poultry (chicken, turkey, and eggs).
Since there is a plethora of information scattered around online about the topic, some of it accurate and some of it not, I thought it would be helpful to compile my research in one place, record my sources, and put it out on our website for everyone to read.
I think it's also important to share this information because industrial practices can't go on forever. And if there's a good alternative for providing healthier, cleaner, and safer foods, we need to talk about it.
So instead of just listing off a bunch of facts about industrial poultry practices, I contrasted this with all the positives we're seeing with pasture-raised, regenerative poultry practices that our farm follows.
Check out the comparison if you'd like to learn more!
Note, there is a ton of online information regarding this topic. Some of it is excellent reporting. Some of it tends to be more exaggerated or even false due to ever-changing legislation or because people have really strong feelings on how their food is raised. These strong feelings and industry distrust originate from a long history of large agricultural corporations breaking the rules and getting away with it (eg. calling tiny screened-in, roofed porches “outdoor access” in organic poultry houses. Source: Chicago Tribune). I tried to stay away from data points like this wherever possible because, even though it’s eye-opening and often even backed up by several independent reports, the pure facts alone are insane enough without dipping our toes into journalism. With that said, I limited my sources to known-legitimate entities such as the USDA, FDA, CDC, and direct corporate and farmer statements. Lastly, I’ll also do my best to keep this information up-to-date with relevant links and new material. If you see something incorrect, please let me know.
Our poultry lives outside on pasture 24/7. Here’s our turkeys in their true-free-range system.
One of the more humane industry-style poultry houses. (Source: USDA; image is public domain)
Antibiotics
The Pasture Stand: Never receive antibiotics or medications.
Industry: Given constant antibiotics and medications which are mixed right into the feed and water. You could go to any feed store right now and ask to buy their medicated poultry feed.
“Antibiotic free” labeling doesn’t necessarily mean the poultry never received antibiotics. In this case, the USDA still allows producers to inject antibiotics in vivo (embryos still developing inside the egg). The only exception to this is if the label says both “Organic” AND “Antibiotic Free”.
(Source: USDA)
Diet
The Pasture Stand: Pasture-based diet full of plants, insects, and worms. Supplemental feed ration is a custom, farm-designed recipe using locally sourced and certified organic ingredients. Because of this our chickens grow at a more natural (slower) rate thereby causing almost no heart or joint-related issues.
Industry: Often fed “vegetarian diets” even though chickens and turkeys are omnivores who need to eat animals, insects, and worms to maintain proper digestion and overall health. When chickens are not fed vegetarian diets, their feed often contains chicken guts and fat obtained from slaughtering previous batches. Tyson even admits this on their website, bragging that they’re recycling a waste product!
(Source: Tyson)
(Note: The last time agriculture enacted widespread cannibalism, mother nature pushed back with Mad Cow Disease.)
Up until 2016, huge percentages of poultry were fed drugs containing arsenic (which also acts as an appetite stimulant). The manufacturer of one drug, Zoetis, voluntarily removed the drug from the market after the FDA found elevated levels of arsenic in the chickens’ organs. With that said, the FDA still has not banned arsenic as a poultry food additive. This means drug producers are welcome to create new arsenic-containing drugs without breaking the law.
Processing Waste Stream
The Pasture Stand: All waste from processing is hot-composted, aged, and used on gardens around the farm.
Industry: After slaughtering, chicken guts and fat are processed and fed back to new batches of chickens.
(Source: see “Tyson” above)
Shelter
The Pasture Stand: All chicks start out living in a brooder on a clean, compost bedding system (while they need supplemental heat to survive). After week 1 we start teaching them to eat clover, dandelion, grass, worms, etc. At 3 weeks of age for chickens (or 6-8 weeks for turkeys) the bird’s protective feathers have grown in so they go outside on pasture for the remainder of their life. (Meat chickens go in a portable, bottomless 120 sq-ft shelter because they’re especially vulnerable to predators while egg layers and turkeys go into a true-free-range system outside protected by electric net fencing).
All our poultry lives outside giving them constant fresh air, and a choice to sit in the sun or shade. They follow natural sleep cycles and circadian rhythms. Lastly, the meat chicken shelters are moved by hand to fresh pasture 2x per day while the turkeys and egg layers large fencing perimeter is moved every 2-3 days. This provides new pasture to forage and hunt, and consistent fresh bedding.
(Note: Why use shelters at all? Meat chickens easily fall prey to coyote, fox, raccoon, possum, hawks, and eagles. We’ve had a couple instances where a bird got loose at night and nearly every time, they are eaten by one of the above predators. The shelter also provides a roof to keep the chickens warm and dry during bad storms and a safe place to roost at night).
Industry: Entire life is spent cramped into loud warehouses without windows, on dirt floors covered in a shallow mix of manure-caked wood shavings, under constant fluorescent lighting. Ventilation systems with huge fans move air through the warehouse and propane gas heaters provide heat. These warehouses, or poultry houses, are also referred to as CAFOs – Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations.
(Source: I’ve personally seen this)
Stocking Density
The Pasture Stand: Stocking density is 1.6 sq-ft/bird or better for our meat birds – twice as much as the industrial average. In addition, the shelters are located outside and moved to fresh pastures 2x per day, essentially doubling the square footage again. Our square footage for turkeys and egg layers is about 32 sq-ft/bird because they are in open, true-free-range systems (see “Shelter” section above).
Industry: The average industry stocking density is 0.84 sq-ft/bird. That is about the size of one adult chicken, meaning the birds are crammed together with barely any space to move, stretch, or establish normal social behaviors.
(Source: USDA)
Manure Handling
The Pasture Stand: Portable shelters are moved 2x/day, uniformly spreading the chicken manure on pasture where weather and insect/fungal life rapidly incorporate it back into the soil for use as plant nutrients. Pastures are given ample rest periods (typically 40-60 days depending on weather and the time of year) before re-grazing.
Industry: Bedding builds up with manure and creates toxic ammonia vapors which ravages the chicken’s respiratory mucous membranes and causes eye problems.
(Note: If you’ve never smelled ammonia, it physically hurts - burning your nasal passages and eyes. I don’t recommend it.)
Chicken manure (often disguised as “broiler litter”) is processed and fed to beef cattle. The FDA temporarily banned this practice when Mad Cow Disease (BSE) was discovered in the US in 2003. The reason? Chickens are fed cow guts (often disguised as “ruminant protein”). If those guts are contaminated with BSE and the resultant chicken manure is in turn fed back to new cows, BSE is at risk of spreading. Guidelines were put into place to process the manure before its use (via composting or spraying with acid) and the ban was lifted in 2005.
(Source: University of Missouri Extension)
(Source: University of Arkansas Extension)
(Note: BSE is transmissible to humans and is 100% fatal. The disease is called, “variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease” or vCJD.)
(Source: CDC)
Natural Behavior Expression
The Pasture Stand: Beaks are kept intact to allow for foraging, hunting, and grooming. Our birds are stress free and bullying in our flocks is just not a problem. Our birds can stretch out, nap quietly, and have their own space.
Industry: Half of the beak is cut off as a chick to prevent stress-induced bullying and cannibalism in the poultry houses. “However, a chicken’s beak is a complex, functional organ with an extensive nerve supply. Following beak trimming, several anatomical, physiological, and biochemical changes occur in cut peripheral nerves and damaged tissues.”
(Source: USDA)
The Farmer’s Quality of Life I
The Pasture Stand: Farmers own the entire process from start to finish: growing, processing, packaging, and selling direct-to-consumer.
Industry: Huge corporations hire farmers as “contract growers” who get paid poor wages and are forced into taking out massive loans to self-finance all infrastructure development. The contracts are often compared to “serfdom” because the corporation (a) determines the farmer’s wages, (b) forces farmer-financed infrastructure updates (hence the loans), and (c) has a track record of suing anyone who speaks out against the poor living conditions in the poultry houses.
(Source: Food Inc. farmer interviews)
The Farmer’s Quality of Life II
The Pasture Stand: Pasture-raised animals don’t smell and have nearly no disease issues because animal densities are low, they aren’t stressed, and they have constant clean bedding. Our days are spent taking care of the animals, not burying them. And while we do have a policy for dealing with dead animals, the cause is usually from a fox trying to get clever and pull a chicken out of the shelter.
Industry: Poultry houses smell from ammonia and manure dust particles in the air. Many farmers wear masks upon entering the poultry house.
Anytime you concentrate a bunch of animals (especially of a single species) into poor, stressful conditions, a single sick animal can infect and kill the whole flock. This leaves the farmer without a paycheck and desperate to find a way to properly dispose of many thousands of dead animals.
(Source: Food Inc. farmer interviews)
Farm Transparency
The Pasture Stand: As a direct-to-consumer business, we are customer inspected. You can get a tour of our farm anytime – in fact it’s our favorite part of the job.
Industry: Corporate and government inspected facilities where the bottom line takes precedent. Poultry houses are boarded up and closed off to consumers who want to see how their food is being grown.
(Source: Food Inc. farmer interviews)
Energy Consumption
The Pasture Stand: Electricity is used to power energy-efficient brooder heating pads for the first 2-3 weeks of life before the birds go out on pasture. (Chicks need to be kept between 90-95F their first week of life.) After that, the only energy inputs are physical labor to deliver feed/water and move the shelters around the pasture.
Industry: Huge poultry houses require electricity to run automated waterers, feeders, ventilation systems, and lights. Heating systems typically use vast amount of propane gas.
(Source: n/a)
Thank you for reading and thank you for all your support so far. We hope to continue to earn that support as we move ahead. If you have any questions, concerns, or ideas on how we could improve the farm please don't hesitate to reach out.
Kevin Smith
Copyright 2019, The Pasture Stand, LLC