Life on Germany’s Chicken Farms: 42 Days in Hell

These chickens are lucky.
They don't realize that at this very
moment, 60 billion chickens suffer and
die behind closed doors on factory farms
all around the world.
A new investigation by Animal Equality
exposes the cruel chicken meat industry
in Germany.
During their short lives, these
intelligent birds experience nothing but
pain, violence, and death.
Animal Equality's investigators
documented the horrific conditions
inside Germany's two largest chicken
meat suppliers.
Soon after birth, terrified chicks are
treated like cargo and carelessly thrown
into giant sheds. This filthy place will
be their home from now on.
Those who are injured or fall ill will
have their necks broken by a worker
several hours later.
Most will spend their lives among tens
of thousands of other animals.
Near the end of their lives, it's so
crowded they have barely enough space to
lay on.
Many animals don't survive these
horrific and unnatural conditions. Every
day, dozens of dying and dead animals
have to be removed from the sheds.
Hidden camera footage shows the extent
of the cruelty towards these fragile
beings.
Chicks still clinging to life are thrown
away on a regular basis
in garbage bins. Chicks are literally
buried alive under piles of dead chicks
who are thrown on top of them.
Our investigators documented this
procedure a total of 10 times.
It must be assumed that these are common
practices within the chicken industry.
A few weeks before, Animal Equality
investigators had already secretly
recorded these scenes on another farm.
12 hours later, this injured chick was
found and saved by our investigators.
The systematic violence that these
animals are being submitted to is
shocking, but the pain in their lives
starts even earlier.
Chickens raised for their meat are
specifically bred to grow as large and
as quickly as possible. This rapid and
unnatural growth is linked to problems
like cardiovascular failure, arthritis,
and painful leg injuries. At the end of
the growing process, many animals can
barely move. The acidic air and the
feces on the ground burn and inflame
their skin, legs, and feet.
But their nightmare isn't over yet.
The day they are sent to the
slaughterhouse, workers enter the sheds
and catch and collect the frightened
animals.
At this supplier, chickens are being
kicked, thrown, grabbed by their legs,
and brutally crammed into tiny cages
right in front of the farm's owner.
This process often causes fractures of
the birds' wings and legs.
After that, the injured animals suffer
for hours on their way to the
slaughterhouse, where they then have
their throats slit.
If it were up to the chicken meat
industry, these chickens would be dead
by now because the growing process
usually only lasts 42 days.
By then, they have gained enough weight
to be processed into chicken meat or
chicken nuggets.
These chickens can spend the rest of
their lives in freedom. They don't need
to fear for their lives anymore.