First time I've been in 40 years. My how things have changed. There is no longer an acre of new farm machinery, just a few ATV and lawnmower displays. When i was exhibiting 50 years ago the cattle barn had 200+ head each of dairy and beef. This year there were maybe 50 total. Same with the hog and sheep shows.
Then I came to the poultry barn. I was interested because I started raising chickens this year. There were several pens of sick looking birds that had me wondering why the hell they were on display at the fair. Came home and did some research.
I may never eat chicken again.
These were meat-type birds (broilers) called Corning Cross that are especially bred to grow muscle at an incredible rate. Their muscle mass out grows their organs and bones by the age of 14 days. They can hardly stand, don't get up to crap, so they are filthy, feathers don't grow right so they are ugly - but that's just aesthetics.
They are unhealthy and live on high levels of drugs to keep their mortality rate down. Undrugged they have mortality rates of up to 30%. The truly disgusting part is they are in pain because of their deformed bodies. People think hunting is cruel, but farmers grow these by the tens of thousands, knowing they will live their short lives in pain. Some farmers add pain killer to their feed, not so they won't hurt, but so they will eat more and grow faster. When they get to McDonalds or your table the meat full of drugs and pain killers.
I will never knowingly eat one of these. I'm looking for a source of heirloom chicken, and may grow my own next year.
Breeding for increased breast muscle means that the broilers’ centre of gravity has moved forward and their breasts are broader compared with their ancestors, which affects the way they walk and puts additional stresses on their hips and legs.[21] There is a high frequency of skeletal problems in broilers, mainly in the locomotory system, including varus and valgus deformities, osteodystrophy, dyschondroplasia and femoral head necrosis.[30] These leg abnormalities impair the locomotor abilities of the birds, and lame birds spend more time lying and sleeping.[33] The behavioural activities of broilers decrease rapidly from 14 days of age onwards.[34] Reduced locomotion also decreases ossification of the bones and results in skeletal abnormalities; these are reduced when broilers have been exercised under experimental conditions.[30]
Most broilers find walking painful, as indicated by studies using analgesic and anti-inflammatory drugs. In one experiment, healthy birds took 11 seconds to negotiate an obstacle course, whereas lame birds took 34 seconds. After the birds had been treated with carprofen, there was no effect on the speed of the healthy birds, however, the lame birds now took only 18 seconds to negotiate the course, indicating that the pain of lameness is relieved by the drug.[35] In self-selection experiments, lame birds select more drugged feed than non-lame birds[36] leading to the suggestion that leg problems in broilers are painful.
