Animal Protection Group Claims Victory After Wayne Farms Becomes the Third Major Poultry Company to End Cruel Practice in Chicken Breeding

September 21, 2016 — Following campaign efforts by Compassion Over Killing (COK), Wayne Farms, the nation’s sixth largest poultry producer, has stated that it will end the brutal practice of stabbing a dull plastic “bone” through the sensitive nostrils of young male breeder chickens.

The painful practice, commonly known as “boning,” is done to severely restrict the food intake of the male birds, and it was documented for the first time on hidden camera earlier this year by a COK investigator who worked inside broiler breeder factory farms contracted by Tyson Foods.

After viewing COK’s investigative footage, Tyson stated it would immediately end the practice companywide. Urged by COK to follow suit, earlier this month Perdue announced that it will phase out “boning” in all its male breeder bird flocks by January 1, 2017.

In response to COK’s inquiry about “boning,” Wayne Farms stated on Sept. 21, 2016: “We have now terminated the practice completely.”

“Compassion Over Killing is encouraged by this decision to eliminate the use of nose ‘bones,’ which is an important step in the right direction. However, we hope that Wayne Farms will take the next step and eliminate the underlying issue: breeder chickens are perpetually starved, in part by using these nasal ‘bones,’ in order to curb health defects caused by unnaturally fast growth,” said Erica Meier, Executive Director of Compassion Over Killing.

Based in Oakwood, Georgia, Wayne Farms is a supplier of ConAgra Foods, Nestlé, Campbell Soup, Healthy Choice and restaurant chains Chick-fil-A, Jack in the Box and Applebee’s.

For background information, please visit: https://cok.net/inv/Tyson/ and https://cok.net/Perdue/. 

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Compassion Over Killing (COK) is a nonprofit animal protection organization working to end the abuse of farmed animals through undercover investigations, litigation, corporate outreach, public education, and other advocacy programs. https://cok.net