New ‘Uncounted’ report explores chicken death rates on factory farms; 500 million die before slaughter
A new report by Animal Equality—titled Uncounted—examines the chicken mortality rate on U.S. factory farms. The report, recently covered by VOX, analyzes data reported by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 2021 to break down the death rates of chickens raised for meat at all stages of life—from hatchery to transportation trucks.
Read the full report: Report: Mortality in broiler chickens
Key findings
Each year, over 500 million chickens die on farms without a reported cause– succumbing before slaughter from disease, organ failure, and neglect.
The birds that remain spend their lives in overcrowded sheds, unable to stand, feed or walk due to genetic deformities on a litter, riddled with ammonia and feces, that has never been changed in their lifetime. Stressed to exhaustion and unable to protect themselves against infection from the variety of bacteria they are exposed to, entire flocks become diseased and individuals die on farms, are killed by workers or die during transport.
Animal Equality’s investigations into hatcheries, farms and slaughterhouses provide overwhelming evidence of the unsanitary conditions animals are raised in making them vulnerable to the slew of harmful pathogens they must live amongst.
Read the full report: Report: Mortality in broiler chickens
LIVE KINDLY
With rich emotional lives and unbreakable family bonds, farmed animals deserve to be protected.
You can build a kinder world by replacing animal food products with plant‑based ones.
