The quality of air
It occurred to me yesterday, those of us who rescue ex-battery hens often talk of how they can then enjoy sky, sun, weather, worms, and so on… But we never make mention of the air.
Whether we keep chickens in towns and cities or the countryside, the air quality they take into their lungs from the moment they get out of the cages and out of the sheds in which those cages are kept, is massively improved over what they became used to from the moment they were hatched and carried on conveyor belts to be sorted, the poorly and disabled ones, and the males, removed like weeds.
The stench of ammonia in the hell-sheds is said to be overpowering and ever-present. The closest we must ever get, especially men, is whenever we are unfortunate enough to visit poorly-maintained public conveniences in pubs and clubs and railway stations. Or on Virgin trains. But imagine those experiences times a hundred, and then some.
It’s one factor in why nobody can determine how long ex-bats can live in your care. Who knows what damage is done to their lungs? The same applies to broiler hens raised for meat. A confined small space containing lots of animals… And, sometimes, dead birds in cages aren’t discovered for weeks.
These horrors of thickly-oppressive and hazardous air and ever-present death are just two reasons why intensively farmed animals are supplied with antibiotics and vaccinations in their drinking water all the time. And that, in turn, leads to antibiotics losing their sting against germs for all of us as time goes by.
I don’t believe comparisons to Auschwitz and Belsen, to name but two infamously evil Nazi concentration camps, are in any way overplaying the situation. Not one bit.
We take air for granted, yet it is vital to our health that we get the cleanest air possible. In the modern world, that isn’t easy. But for chickens and other animals reared intensively, they can’t choose to move from one place to another.
And when they complain, as they must do every waking moment, nobody listens and nobody shows any sign of caring. Yet we have the power to bite into the intensive farming industry profit margins, and all it takes is for us to open our eyes and spend our money more wisely, more ethically and with animal welfare coming before price. Some us, of course, can even choose to give a home to some of the animals at the end of their commercially viable lives. We don’t only help the animals in doing these things, we help ourselves by getting healthier food and a more viable and sustainable world as well.
tags: air quality, ammonia, animal cruelty, animals, battery hens, broiler hens, intensive farming, livestock
have your say
You must be logged in to post a comment. Registration is quick and easy. Just click here to get yourself a free account.