Why Chickens At Your Local Supermarket Are So Cheap



Efficiency.  Efficiency.  From birth to death, modern farming techniques crowd animals
together, feed and fatten them as fast as possible.  Massive amounts of antibiotics are
mixed in with the feed to lesson the inevitable mortality from the spread of disease that
will result under these conditions -- a paradise for bacteria.



A view from below a crowded chicken coop.  Coop = as in uncomfortable confined
space.  Excess antibiotics are mixed in with the chicken manure.  Natural selection will
take place with a battle between the antibiotics and the massive amounts of bacteria
breeding in the manure.



Inevitably, some of this manure, along with the antibiotics, will run-off into streams
and rivers.



All the antibiotics in the world will not save this many chickens raised in such a
cramped environment.


Images for Children.  Chickens are not
raised like this.

For similar treatment in pigs, see a picture of a gestation crate.  The Union of Concerned scientists has estimated that 10 million pounds of antibiotics are used by the hog industry per year in the United States.