Undercover Investigation at Hy-Line Hatchery

September 4, 2009 1:18 PM

The price of eggs and poultry in the US. Hy-Line Hatchery in Iowa was secretly filmed by an animal rights group and the footage is pretty graphic. Since male chicks cannot lay eggs and aren't wanted for their meat, they are sent through the grinder alive. It's called instantaneous euthanasia and supposedly supported by veterinarians, the scientific communities, and farmers. I don't know that I think we all need to become vegans as the Mercy For Animals group would like, but the practice does make me want to buy eggs only from farms locally that I know are more animal friendly even if I do have to pay more for my eggs.
posted by garnetgirl (10 comments total)

This post is not wanted for its meat and will soon be sent through the grinder alive.
posted by atrazine at 1:20 PM on September 4, 2009

GYOFB?
posted by Perplexity at 1:20 PM on September 4, 2009

Point 1) Ease up on the editorializing. We can all reasonably come to the same conclusion that male chicks shouldn't be ground up alive.

Point 2) It's so easy to purchase and consume locally produced eggs from chickens treated humanely that I really don't understand why anyone purchases anything else. Yes, it's often an extra $1 per dozen eggs. So don't buy a Pepsi and get the good eggs. Better for you, tastier, and supportive of good environmental and labor practices.
posted by billysumday at 1:22 PM on September 4, 2009

Which came first: the accusation of axe-grinding or the information about chick-grinding? Stay tuned.
posted by joe lisboa at 1:22 PM on September 4, 2009

GRINDIN'
posted by ND¢ at 1:23 PM on September 4, 2009

this kinda dovetails with the BIG EGG VIDEO in that it makes me want to raise a chicken.
posted by boo_radley at 1:24 PM on September 4, 2009

Yeah, this veers pretty sharply off into axe-grindy agenda territory because of the language and interjected personal opinion.
posted by empyrean at 1:24 PM on September 4, 2009

I'm not advocating the wood chipper here, but I'd like to hear alternative solutions that are instantaneous and don't leave us with billions of roosters. How do they sort out and dispatch the baby roosters at the small producers?
posted by Pollomacho at 1:25 PM on September 4, 2009

Hmm, I did a YouTube search for "chicks grinding" but saw nothing related to your article.
posted by aheckler at 1:26 PM on September 4, 2009 [1 favorite]

I saw a chick grind an axe once.
posted by ardgedee at 1:27 PM on September 4, 2009