470 million reasons to say no to factory farmed chickens

Voiceless today launches its report, From Nest to Nugget: an exposé of Australia’s chicken factories, the latest in an annual series that lifts the veil of secrecy surrounding factory farming.

This hard-hitting report on the factory farming of chickens for meat will ruffle the feathers of an industry increasingly under siege from popular opinion.

470 million chickens were slaughtered in 2006/07 in Australia to feed demand that has grown a staggering 15,000% in the past fifty years. Most of these birds are factory farmed – forced to live in unnatural conditions and may lawfully be subjected to antibiotic laced feeds. They never feel the sun on their backs, the grass beneath their feet or enjoy the experience of raising their young.

The report’s findings include:

• Selective breeding has produced birds who can now grow to slaughter weight in just 35 days –compared to 64 days 30 years ago and the fact that they can naturally live up to 6 or 7 years;
• Up to 60,000 chickens may be housed in one shed, with less floor space than an A4 page to call their own;
• Three companies supply 80% of Australia’s meat chickens. One of the three biggest players, Baiada Poultry, slaughters more than 2.4 million chickens per week;
• Chickens labelled ‘barn-fresh’, ‘grain-fed’, ‘hormone-free’, and ‘100% natural’ are likely to be sourced from factory farms.

This damning report, about an industry which has largely swallowed up the Aussie family farmer in its pursuit of quick, cheap meat, will be launched by former Premier of New South Wales, the Hon. Bob Carr, during the Voiceless Awards Event, a red carpet cocktail party at Sydney’s Mint.

Earlier this year, Jamie Oliver shocked the UK and Australia with graphic images of chickens raised in factory farms. The Australian Chicken Meat Federation reportedly responded by denying that the show was directly relevant to Australia. Now Voiceless sets the record straight and makes it clear that meat chickens in Australia suffer a similar fate to those in the UK, despite the presence of animal welfare codes of practice.

Speaking today about From Nest to Nugget: an exposé of Australia’s chicken factories, Brian Sherman AM, co-founder of Voiceless, said, “I will never forget holding a tiny chick in my hands, one from amongst fifty thousand others packed into a factory farm ‘barn’ that I visited recently, knowing that it will be subjected to regimes of artificial light for hours on end, controlled temperatures and processed foods; that it will be treated in practice and in law like a commodity from birth to death, and slaughtered at just 35 days old. The image of those chicks has inspired me, and the Voiceless team, to publish this report and shine a spotlight on the shameful chicken meat industry.”

Ondine Sherman, co-founder of Voiceless, said, “Chickens suffer immeasurable social and physical deprivation in factory farms. We know they feel pain, and many Australians are now asking, do we have the right to take a sentient animal and deprive it of most of its natural behaviours for the sake of our culinary pleasure and industry profit?”

From Nest to Nugget: an exposé of Australia’s chicken factories gives Australians access to information about where their food is really coming from, and the power to make informed choices. A short, user-friendly ‘Consumer Action Sheet’ will also be widely distributed. 

An interactive, cutting edge MySpace ‘Adopt a Chook’ campaign will complement the dissemination of the report’s findings. In launching the MySpace campaign today, Rebekah Horne, Vice President MySpace.com Australia said, “We’re sure that the 2.5 million Australian MySpace users will be an effective community adding their voices to the Voiceless campaign, an important initiative for all Australians concerned about the welfare of animals. We encourage anyone with a MySpace profile to not only add www.myspace.com/adoptachook as a ‘friend’ but importantly to spread the message virally to their network.”

The Awards Event will see acclaimed actor and Voiceless Ambassador, Hugo Weaving, who last week was awarded the V Australia Inside Film Living Legend Award for services to the film industry, announce the 2008 Voiceless grant recipients.

Now in its fifth year, the Voiceless Grants Program has awarded almost $1 million to not for profits, universities and councils around Australia. This year, $136,500 will be awarded for a diverse range of projects which are united by the fact that they will benefit the lives of animals. The inaugural ‘Against Factory Farming Grant’ will be presented to RMIT University which is receiving $21,000 for research into Australian opinions towards factory farming.

Brian Sherman AM will also announce a significant new media prize, to give recognition to intelligent and insightful coverage of animal protection issues by the media.

For further details or to arrange interviews, please contact Cybele Stockley at Voiceless, 02 9357 0743, 0408 603 605, or Michael Young, 0432 169 147.

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