Today, approximately eight billion chickens spend their short lives on factory farms, living in their own waste, contracting respiratory ailments, suffering crippling leg injuries, and even becoming victims of abuse before being trucked off to slaughter. Not only are these chickens handed a death sentence as soon as they’re hatched, but the short time they are alive is filled with physical and emotional pain and trauma. Because chicken farming has become a massive industry, competition has risen to create the biggest chickens possible through selective breeding for size. According to an anonymous poultry farmer, “We’ve successfully bred most of the chicken out of the chicken.” In 1984, if you wanted to raise a chicken to reach a weight of five pounds, it would take you about 85 days. Today, that same process is achieved in approximately half the time. If humans grew at a similar rate, we’d weigh about 660 lbs by the time we turned two months old. 

Through factory farming, humans have recklessly toyed with the natural development and evolution of chickens. The reality is that chickens inherently lead complex, multifaceted and connected lives with an established pecking order. Even while still inside the egg, a chick is able to communicate with her mother. Once born, chicks are able to recognize their mothers voice. 

Unfortunately, animal agriculture doesn't allow a mother and child the chance to fully bond with one another. Despite the “bird brain” misconception, chickens are smarter than a four year old human when it comes to skills involving math, self control and logic. They are also able to reason through deduction, a skill not found in humans until the age of seven. These intelligent animals are social creatures and can remember the faces of more than 100 other birds. Unfortunately, many of these amazing traits are never able to come to fruition due to the short life span of a factory farmed chicken. If we can put an end to factory farming, we can let these amazing animals return to the lives that they deserve to live. 

You can make a difference to suffering factory farmed chickens by pledging to choose plant-based eating for one month.  We have coupons for you to make it easier than ever to try delicious plant-based alternatives. 

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