news Tyson Employee: “Free-range” Chickens Don’t Actually Go Outside

[GraceRandolph]

https://twitter.com/voxdotcom/status/1658870958252228613

 

 

Last fall, an undercover investigator worked for two months at a Virginia farm outside Richmond that raises chickens on contract for Tyson Foods, America’s largest chicken-killing company. During their short stint on behalf of the Washington, DC-based animal rights group Animal Outlook, the investigator documented hours upon hours of the typical horrors found on chicken factory farms: tens of thousands of birds stuffed into dark warehouse-sized barns, many of them severely injured with gruesome lesions, injuries, and deformities. At more than one point, birds are deprived of feed or water, and there was also a rat infestation and footage of bugs crawling in the chickens’ feed. 

The conditions are visibly at odds with Tyson’s advertising claims that it treats animals humanely and raises “happy” and “healthy” chickens.

“It’s just a living nightmare,” the investigator, who requested anonymity due to the covert nature of undercover investigations, told Vox. “A video just does not do it any justice.” 

“We were disturbed by what we saw in the video,” Tyson Foods spokesperson Kelsie Gibbs wrote to Vox over email. “Since January 2023, no Tyson Foods birds have been placed on this farm and the farmer no longer has a contract to grow for Tyson Foods.” (In March, Tyson Foods announcedit was shutting down operations in the area.)

When reached by phone, farm owner Amir Saeed declined to comment on the record.

Despite the horrific findings, they’re not all that different from the conditions documented at other farms that raise chickens for Tyson and Tyson’s competitors. But the investigation’s most revealing finding had nothing to do with the conditions of the estimated 750,000 chickens raised annually at the Jetersville, Virginia, facility. Instead, it emerged from a surprisingly candid conversation the investigator secretly recorded between the farm manager and a Tyson Foods “broiler technician advisor,” who worked with Tyson chicken farms in the area. In the video recording, the technician freely acknowledged that the chicken industry’s “free-range” labels were essentially meaningless — a rare instance of an industry insider saying the quiet part out loud.

Bringing up a Tyson competitor, the farm manager wonders how other poultry companies handle supposedly free-range-raised chickens. The short answer: They don’t, really. 

“Those birds don’t go outside — you know that,” the technician replies. “They don’t all go out … Look that up online.”

The manager chimes in: “It’s not like they make it like all of ’em come out and enjoy the sun.”

“That is strictly for commercial [advertising] purposes,” the technician says. “They pick the prettiest birds [for commercials] and they toss ’em out in the grass.”

[stoopidjenna]

In order to use the “free-range” label, all a farm needs to do is provide some type of opening for the chickens that leads outside, even if it’s tiny and never actually gets used.  I don’t even think it has to be kept open all the time.

[GraceRandolph]

1 minute ago, stoopidjenna said:

In order to use the “free-range” label, all a farm needs to do is provide some type of opening for the chickens that leads outside, even if it’s tiny and never actually gets used.  I don’t even think it has to be kept open all the time.

The article points out the absurdity of it all: “The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) says chicken producers using the label “free-range” must provide birds “continuous, free access to the outside” for over 51 percent of their 6.5-week lives. But there are no USDA auditors who come out to inspect the farm, nor are there specific requirements for how much time the birds spend outside or the quality and size of the outdoor area. In fact, having “access” to the outdoors doesn’t guarantee that “free-range” chickens will go outdoors at all.“

[Aren]

Abolish the animal-industrial complex.

[GraceRandolph]

4 minutes ago, Aren said:

Abolish the animal-industrial complex.

It sucks. These companies are fooling people into believing they are helping animals and doing the “humane” thing when the conditions are still abhorrent. 

[Laura Palmer]

Not the rangeless free-range 

[Moloko Plus]

Half the produce that’s labeled as organic in the grocery store is a lie as well. America is truly the pits

[magazine]

No chicken is happy about dying 

[GraceRandolph]

2 minutes ago, magazine said:

No chicken is happy about dying 

Right? They should have to prove their chickens are as happy as the ones living on animal sanctuaries to use the term “happy” in their marketing material and press releases. 

[ninasayers]

Sometimes I can't even bear to read stuff like this. The cruelty that animals endure... there truly is no viable future where veganism isn't the norm. 

[wehan6]

if you've watched videos about the horrors of factory farming and still continue to consume meat you're honestly a psychopath  

[Sergi91]

Free the chicken! 

[Sergi91]

Speaking of chicken, what happened to @LuLuDrops ? I miss seeing their chicken avi 

Edited June 6, 2023 by Sergi91

[spree]

Tyson and Smithfield are the worst of the worst.  Would never buy from them.

[Proseductice]

It’s getting sad to realize that the only way to consume safe food is to farm it yourself. You can’t trust any marketing at all anymore. Even the ones that claim they’re ethical and organic. 

 

Food in America is just poison. It’s depressing. I hate it. It could be so much better. 

Edited June 6, 2023 by Proseductice

[FOCK]

You know those discoloured or dark spots you find on chicken meat? That’s an infectious & painful burn, commonly called hock burn, caused by lesions developed due to them being forced to sit around & walk in their own faeces. 
 

Baby male chicks are ground up alive, at birth, as they’re useless to the industry. 
 

Chickens are slaughtered at just a few months old & the chickens consumed today are quite literally, Frankenstein monstrosities. There is nothing natural about their rapid rate of growth, which often has them unable to support themselves and collapse under their own weight, at just 6 weeks old. It’s common for birds to live among their dead friends or those gasping for air on a dirty barn floor. 
 

Frequently, they have the tips of their beaks seared or cut off without any painkiller & the industry standard for space allocated to one chicken for their entire miserable existence, is as big as an A4 paper… and even that is rarely checked or honoured. 
 

The way we house chickens is prime estate for a pandemic to develop, and bird flu is STILL a massive issue in the industry that’s underreported in media. 
 

Chickens are sentient, emotional, observant, curious & social living beings that develop bonds, have unique personalities, likes & dislikes, & the ability to feel.