Can factory chicken really help save the climate?

Years ago, I was on holiday in Bali. The chicken served in the hotel was superb. It took me back to my childhood. My grandfather kept chickens in his orchard. Then, walking around the grounds of the hotel, I noticed the chooks wandering around, eating whatever it is that chooks eat, clucking away happily.

Compare that to the chickens in the photo above, with not even space to walk in, eating who knows what kind of chemical concoction laden with antibiotics, designed to fatten them up in the shortest possible time.

No wonder fast food chicken tastes like expanded polystyrene!

Battery chicken meat doesn't taste of anything, we pay for better quality chickens that have been allowed to forage outside. It's sold in supermarkets under the right to roam welfare process. Any old chicken meat is good enough for fast food restaurants as its the batter that gives the taste,

Correction-chickens can live up to 10 years. And we off them at 45 days for something as useless as nuggets.

I wish nuggets had not been invented.

. By the time they are slaughtered at 45 days, they will weigh over three kilos.

I find that very depressing. A 45 day lifespan. A chicken can have a lifespan up to 4 years, on average.

Free range only for me... I always check packaging and never buy factory bred chicken meat if I can... and I certainly don't buy the 'washed' chicken from America. I don't mind paying a little more for more ethcially raised birds

"Even better, keep, kill, and eat your own chickens -"

I agree with that part. It's how I grew up! And so, I'm appreciative of meat on my plate. It's city folk who don't appreciate where their food (meat & veggies) come from that lack understanding and try to impose their dietary restrictions on others.

I grow as many of my own veggies as possible on my small lot of land, but can not raise my own chickens or other meats, nor can go hunting as I did much of my life. So, I deeply appreciate the lovely, marbled steak! That, along with the various veggies makes a wonderful meal.

The 90,000 "broilers" -- chickens bred for their meat -- flapping around inside his three sheds..

The world produces more than ample vegetarian food, there is no need to kill and eat anyone..

Chicken farming seems like a dumb cluck idea

Even better, keep, kill, and eat your own chickens - then the process of raising an animal and developing empathy for it, only to face killing it, will make your appetite for meat go away entirely.

For me that may be partially true. I like goats and rabbits so I won't eat them. Goat cheese is fine but goat meat is off the table. However chickens and I have an adversarial relationship going back a long time so for me the best chicken is a dead one on the dinner plate. Nuggets? Oh you betcha ! Smothered in BBQ sauce. And pigs will kill the farmer given a chance and do so from time to time so eating pork doesn't bother me the least.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/oct/02/oregon-farmer-eaten-by-pigs

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/polish-pig-farmer-eaten-by-animals-lubin-a9289961.html

I feel like this article appeared a few weeks back.

If we think only in terms of CO2 emissions per kilo of meat, we'd all start eating insects. Hell, we already eat masses of farmed shrimps and prawns. There is not much difference.

Intensive chicken farms in the UK have caused extensive river pollution. That's from the nutrition in the waste.

Whatever antibiotics and the like the chickens are given is probably a problem too if anyone is measuring it. There is no need to measure nutrition problems from runoff, because they can be visibly confirmed as algae blooms and dead fish, and smelt.

Factory farming chickens is animal abuse, pure and simple, just so people can eat cheap crappy fast food that is bad for their health and has no nutritional value.

Want to save even more CO2 and save animals from this horror? Become vegetarian, or at least cut back on meat significantly. Even better, keep, kill, and eat your own chickens - then the process of raising an animal and developing empathy for it, only to face killing it, will make your appetite for meat go away entirely.

Desert TortoiseToday 07:08 am JST

For me that may be partially true. I like goats and rabbits so I won't eat them. Goat cheese is fine but goat meat is off the table. However chickens and I have an adversarial relationship going back a long time so for me the best chicken is a dead one on the dinner plate. Nuggets? Oh you betcha ! Smothered in BBQ sauce.

It's interesting how people can feel differently about eating meat depending on their relationship with the animal, isn't it. Personally, I hate goats, we had them on our farm and all they ever did was butt, kick, bite, and pee on us, and they have mean little eyes! But I still wouldn't eat them; I'm fully vegetarian. However, I will say this: if I were stuck on a desert island populated by goats, it'd be goat kebab for dinner, no regrets!

And pigs will kill the farmer given a chance and do so from time to time so eating pork doesn't bother me the least.

Oh yeah, I'm well aware of how vicious hogs can be. Go ahead and have your pork chops, Vincent, hahaha ...