In the Time It Takes to Read This, Over 35,000 Chickens Will Be Slaughtered in the United States

Yes, you read that right. In the two minutes or so it will take you to read the rest of this blog, over 35,000 chickens will be killed in the United States for food. So let’s dive into what life is like for chickens raised and killed on today’s farms.

At factory farms chickens raised for meat, also known as “broilers, are crammed by the tens of thousands into filthy, windowless sheds. To maximize profits, farmers breed the chickens to grow so quickly that they often become immobilized under their own weight. This abuse results in debilitating pain, heart attacks, organ failure, and other severe health problems. Because they’re too large to stand or walk, the birds are forced to sit in their own waste. This turns factory farms into breeding grounds for disease.

The deplorable conditions of factory farms and slaughterhouses result in meat contaminated with deadly pathogens. In fact, the USDA estimates that around 25 percent of cut-up chicken meat and about 50 percent of all ground chicken is contaminated with salmonella. Additionally, a USDA report revealed that 90 percent of defects discovered in chicken carcasses at slaughter plants involved “visible fecal contamination that was missed by company employees.”

At slaughter, chickens are violently shackled upside down, painfully shocked with electricity, and cut open at the throat—often while still conscious and able to feel pain.

While all farmed animals experience tremendous suffering, chickens lead some of the most miserable lives of all farmed animals and make up 95 percent of the animals raised and killed for food in the United States.

To make matters worse, not a single federal law provides protection to animals during their lives at factory farms. What’s more, the law that’s supposed to protect animals at slaughterhouses, the Humane Slaughter Act, doesn’t extend to birds, leaving chickens with virtually no protection from abuse.

Mercy For Animals has conducted multiple undercover investigations into the world’s largest chicken producer, Tyson Foods. MFA’s most recent Tyson investigation at a farm in Tennessee shows thousands of birds living in unconscionable conditions and being thrown around and beaten.

See for yourself.


Chickens are incredibly intelligent creatures, with the same capacity to feel pain and suffering as the dogs and cats with whom we share our homes. Although some might not consider them as cute and cuddly as other farmed animals, they are individuals with needs and desires that shouldn’t be disregarded.

Fortunately, we can take a stand for all animals subjected to cruel factory farm conditions by switching to a compassionate vegan diet. Click here to get started!

Click here for a list of delicious vegan chicken substitutes.