Poultry farming in the United States
[3] Cross-breeding between English and Asian birds created new breeds still common today, like the Barred Plymouth Rock.
For example, Herbert Hoover's campaign used the slogan "A chicken in every pot" during the 1928 United States presidential election, appealing to a middle-class sense of affluence in the Post WWI years.
Two kinds of poultry were generally offered: broilers or "spring chickens", young male chickens, a byproduct of the egg industry, which were sold when still young and tender (generally under 3 pounds live weight); and "fowls" or "stewing hens", also a byproduct of the egg industry, which were old hens past their prime for laying.
The major milestone in 20th century poultry production was the discovery of vitamin D (named in 1922),[18] which made it possible to keep chickens in confinement year-round.
[19] Chickens could be sent to slaughterhouses for butchering and processing into prepackaged commercial products to be frozen or shipped fresh to markets or wholesalers.
Meat-type chickens currently grow to market weight in six to seven weeks whereas only fifty years ago it took three times as long.
In addition, it is a common practice to induce molting through manipulation of light and the amount of food they receive in order to further increase egg size and production.
This had the undesirable side effect of turning the chicken manure from a valuable fertilizer that could be used profitably on local farms to an unwanted byproduct.
On many farms, the flock was the most important source of income, though this was often not appreciated by the farmers, since the money arrived in many small payments.
[29] The American Veterinary Medical Association recommends cervical dislocation and asphyxiation by carbon dioxide as the best options, but has recently amended their guidelines to include maceration, putting non-anesthetized chicks through a grinder.
[30] The 2005–2006 American Veterinary Medical Association Executive Board held its final meeting July 13 in Honolulu, prior to the 2006 session of the House of Delegates and the AVMA Annual Convention.
It proposed a policy change, which was recommended by the Animal Welfare Committee on disposal of unwanted chicks, poults, and pipped eggs.
The new policy states, in part, "Unwanted chicks, poults, and pipped eggs should be killed by an acceptable humane method, such as use of a commercially designed macerator that results in instantaneous death.
[32] In a report by Oxfam America, slaughterhouse workers were observed not be allowed breaks, were often required to wear diapers, and were paid below minimum wage.
[33] Slaughterhouses in the United States commonly illegally employed and exploited underage workers and undocumented immigrants.
[37] On average, one employee of Tyson Foods, the largest meat producer in America, is injured and amputates a finger or limb per month.
[52] The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service performs frequent checks on production facilities to ensure poultry is safe, wholesome and correctly labelled.
[53] According to ProPublica, the food safety system for poultry in the United States is "ill-equipped to protect consumers or rebuff industry influence."
[54] In the United States it is common practice for chicken carcasses to be washed with antimicrobial rinses in order to remove harmful bacteria.
[55] These rinses, containing chlorine dioxide solution, acidified sodium chlorite, trisodium phosphate or peroxyacids, are often referred to as Pathogen Reduction Treatments.
[citation needed] The Illinois River, which flows between Arkansas and Oklahoma, has had a high level of pollution due to water runoff contaminated with chicken manure.
[57] The incineration of poultry wastes has been shown to have dangerous levels of a number of airborne pollutants, including heavy metals, arsenic, and halogens such as chlorine.
