End Cruel Breeding!

The chick stands in the barn with its eyes closed.

It breathes heavily. The farmer lifts it up to examine it and realizes: this chick cannot withstand the rigors of fattening. He kills it swiftly by breaking its neck, forcibly pressing it down over the water trough. The chick continues to struggle for several minutes while fully conscious. This is shown in undercover footage by the Swiss animal rights organization Tier im Fokus (TIF). 

This operation is not an isolated case: the footage shows several farmers illegally killing their sick animals. The Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO) actually provides precise regulations on how sick animals must be killed: the animal must first be stunned with a blunt blow to the back of the head, then killed by cervical dislocation, for example using special pliers. Some farmers apparently find this too cumbersome. 

Sick and injured chickens are a daily reality in chicken farming: broiler chickens have been bred for high performance for decades. Their bodies are no longer capable of sustaining life, and many chickens suffer from leg problems and cardiovascular issues. By the end of the fattening period, most chickens can barely walk. According to industry’s own figures up to 4 percent of broiler chickens die prematurely. According to calculations by Tier im Fokus (TIF), that amounts to over 1.5 million animals per year – in Switzerland alone. 

A petition against cruel breeding

«Factory farming once again reveals its ugly side», says TIF president Tobias Sennhauser. Agonizing death is part of the business in chicken farming. «The chickens pay the price for cheap meat», says Sennhauser. 

Stricter inspections would not help against illegal killings. Chicken farmers search their barns twice daily for injured and dead chickens – no inspection authority can deploy that frequently. «We therefore need to tackle the problem at the root and ensure that the chickens don't get sick in the first place», says Sennhauser. Tier im Fokus (TIF) is therefore calling in a petition for a ban on torture breeding. 

Swiss studies show that slow-growing broiler chickens are healthier. These live twice as long as intensively bred varieties and remain agile during that time: their breast muscle grows normally, allowing the chickens to move without pain right up to the end. The downside is a larger ecological footprint, as the chickens consume more feed. 

For the industry, this represents a conflict of objectives; for Tier im Fokus (TIF), the problem lies in mass production: «By keeping lower numbers of animals, we can not only reduce the suffering of chickens, but also the environmental impact», says Sennhauser. 

With their petition, Tier im Fokus (TIF) wants to spur politicians into action. In doing so, the animal rights organisation is pushing at an open door: Green National Councillor Meret Schneider recently submitted a motion, «to ban torture breeding in broiler chicken farming».