Lifestyle
Perdue Changes the Way They Kill Chickens
Thinking about how poultry made it to your plate isn’t always pleasant, but Perdue, the third-largest producer of chickens in the United States, recently made some major humane adjustments.
Many supermarket brands hang the chickens upside down, injuring the animal. Then they cut their throats and plunge them in boiling water to kill them. Also, as the Chicago Tribune reports, chickens farmed for consumption are often bred to be so big that their body weight crushes their limbs, leading to a sedentary life before being killed.
Perdue, who has 3,000 farms and processes 700 million chickens a year, has decided to change these conditions. Perdue spokesperson Julie DeYoung told the Chicago Tribune, “We are seeing from our consumers more questions that are being raised about where their food comes from.”
Perdue will begin killing chickens with gases like carbon dioxide or argon to eliminate hanging them. They’ll also allow the animals to get more sun exposure, let them be more active and not force overly speedy growth.
Even though the changes could increase the cost of their products anywhere between 5 – 15 percent, Perdue believes that the benefits outweigh the cost. Customers who value knowing about how their food reached their table will support the company’s efforts, and perhaps other chicken producers will follow their path.
