ONLINE VIDEO: Hatchery Horrors: The Egg Industry's Tiniest Victims
O.pearl
Thrown, dropped, mutilated, and ground-up alive. This is the shocking
reality faced by hundreds of thousands of chicks each day at the
world's largest egg-laying breed hatchery - Hy-Line International in
Spencer, Iowa.
New hidden camera footage obtained at this facility during a Mercy
For Animals undercover investigation gives a disturbing glimpse into
the cruel and industrialized reality of modern hatcheries.
The warm, comforting, and protective wings of these newly hatched
chicks' mothers have been replaced with massive machines, quickly
moving conveyor belts, harsh handling, and distressing noise. These
young animals are sorted, discarded, and handled like mere cogs in a
machine.
For the nearly 150,000 male chicks who hatch every 24 hours at this
Hy-Line facility, their lives begin and end the same day. Grabbed by their
fragile wings by workers known as "sexers," who separate males from
females, these young animals are callously thrown into chutes and hauled
away to their deaths. They are destined to die on day one because they
cannot produce eggs and do not grow large or fast enough to be raised
profitably for meat. Their lives are cut short when they are dropped into
a grinding machine - tossed around by a spinning auger before being torn
to pieces by a high-pressure macerator.
Over 30 million male chicks meet their fate this way each year at this facility.
For the surviving females, this is the beginning of a life of cruelty and
confinement at the hands of the egg industry. Before even leaving the
hatchery they will be snapped by their heads into a spinning debeaker - a
portion of their sensitive beaks removed by a laser. Workers toss and
rummage through them before they are placed 100 per crowded box and
shipped across the country.
The callous disregard for animal welfare at this facility is not isolated. In fact,
the conditions documented during this investigation are completely standard
and acceptable within the commercial egg industry. Referred to by Hy-Line
corporate leaders as mere "genetic products," these chicks are treated just
as they are viewed - as inanimate objects, rather than the sentient creatures
they are.
Egg producers have gone to great lengths to hide their cruel practices from
consumers. Grocery aisles from coast-to-coast are stocked with egg cartons
featuring idyllic images of free-roaming hens and crowing roosters. These
deceptive marketing gimmicks conceal the cruel and violent nature of
industrial hatcheries and egg factory farms.
Consumers have a right to know the truth behind egg production.
Citing the troubling findings of this investigation, Mercy For Animals is calling
on the nation's 50 largest grocery chains to require that all eggs sold in their
stores bear a label reading, "Warning: Male chicks are ground-up alive by
the egg industry."
Hopefully, armed with the sobering truth, consumers nationwide will be able
to make informed and compassionate food choices.
Driven by consumer demand, the egg industry will continue to exploit, abuse,
and kill day-old animals as long as doing so remains profitable. Empowered
consumers can put their ethics on the table by choosing kindness over cruelty
at each meal by adopting an animal-friendly vegan diet.