Agriculture in the United States is in a state of crisis. Problems with modern farming in this day of time is animal welfare where animals are left in factory farms which equals terrible living conditions for the animal. Animals experience needless mutations; cramped living conditions which equal injury and diseases. Most Of the animals that are kept in factory farms receive antibiotics to be kept alive. If problems in factory farms do not change, health problems could spread throughout the animals sold. Three of the gravest agricultural issues today are treatment of cows, treatment of pigs, and treatment of chickens.
Males at factory farms are castrated and sent to feedlots. Some cows are dehorned, and teats are removed also fed milk replacer but cows that are fed milk replacer can lead to having mad cow diseases. Some cows get tail docked known as cutting of half or more of the cow’s tail. Cows in factory farms also get disease of foot and udder caused by manure exposure; tick bites, cuts and 400 cows are slaughtered/hour. Some are stunned or hung while conscious.
More than 90 percent of pigs in the U.S. today are raised on factory farms. These pigs spend their lifetime crammed in a filthy warehouse. Pigs get their teeth snipped off with pliers and tails clipped to prevent the pigs from biting tails this only happens at factory farms. Mother pigs are impregnated again and again until they give out and their bodies and then sent to slaughter. Factory farm pigs also live on small concrete floors that cause deformities and aggression. When pigs are ready for slaughter there forced into transport trucks that go miles through different weather extremes. Many of the pigs don’t make it being either frozen to the inside of the truck or just dying from the heat. 1 million pigs die in transport each year and 420,000 are crippled by the time they arrive at the slaughterhouse.
Every year in the United States, 9 billion chickens raised for their flesh and 245 million chickens raised for their eggs. Hormones are fed to chickens, which cause fast muscle growth but make the chickens can’t walk. More chickens are raised and killed for food than all other land animals combined. Chickens raised for their flesh are called broilers by industry. Layers starved, produce more eggs & 98% live in paper sized cages. Hens are crammed so closely together that these normally clean animals are forced to pee and poop on one another. Chickens also get their beaks cut off so they won’t peck each other out of frustration. Male chicks that are not able to lay eggs and are not used for their excessive flesh, they are killed. Every year chickens are slammed into small crates and trucked to the slaughterhouse through all weather extremes. Hundred of millions of chickens suffer broken wings and legs, while millions die from the stress of the journey.
Treatment of cows, Treatment of pigs, and treatment of chickens are the three grave problems in modern farming. Now that these problems have been identified, solutions must follow. One thing you can do is buy local and help small-scale farmers or just go vegetarian. The government should make sure these problems are fixed. If problems are not fixed their will could be a lot food born illness and more people sicken.
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