I'm being a total crank here, but this isn't cannibalism. It has nothing to do with cannibalism, because pecking at animals, however fierce, is not the same as eating them. By a thesaurus, Associated Press.
Bok bok volcanoes, oil rig explosions, earthquakes, goldman sachs bok cluck cluck peck peck. Soon you all will be the meat in our Double Down.....So Sayeth The Chicken>>>
Chickens are hierarchical and can exist peacefully in flocks of up to 80 or 90 birds, but beyond that, they freak out if they aren't allowed to express their natural order or re-design the flock into smaller groups.
I work at an animal sanctuary and I have never seen these birds cannibalize one another, but when they come to us, they look like they've been beaten close to death. Chickens only cannibalize when they're housed in huge groups where the stress of the social disruption coupled with the fact that they are so crammed in their cages that they can't spread their wings or get far enough away from their own waste so as not to wallow in it - that they do what everyone would do and they FREAK THE FUCK OUT.
And @9 is correct - instead of giving the birds more room to move around, or better living conditions where they could actually express their natural proclivities as chickens, farmer's simply sear off the end of their beaks, and have also started removing the ends of their toes so when they fight, they won't damage the "product" which is the flesh of the birds around them.
You can get all in everyone's face about 'free range' nonsense, but it doesn't mean shit. The 'free range' and 'cage free' labels aren't actually governed by any authoritative agency meaning anyone can slap those words on any product and it's not illegal.
Most importantly, why isn't anyone freaked out about the fact that eggs are the *menstrual waste* of chickens??? Fucking sick.
Eh. We're all our mothers' menstrual waste. (And I say this as a vegan. I'm consistently annoyed by "ew gross" arguments, ie "but it's bee vomit!" type stuff. There are good reasons to go veg, no need to rely on visceral reactions, we all eat plenty of plant naughty bits too...)
@17, ovulatory waste. Chickens lack uteri w/ a spongy, bloody, cyclically disintegrating lining (shell gland instead). But the real dirty secret the poultry industry DOESN'T WANT YOU TO KNOW? Eggs come out the asshole (cloaca/vent)!!!1! My next egg will be thoroughly bleached and de-shelled, let me tell you!
Sorry, but a lot of this is just nonsense. I keep heritage birds, ones that haven't had the heck bred out of them. They're free-range, roost in trees... but they'll still tear the heck out of other. There's just less damage when they can run away. The behavior isn't caused by cages and poor treatment. It just makes it worse.
Chickens will peck at anything that stands out to them. It's how they pick out insects. If you have a mole on your hand, keep that hand away from chickens. It's automatic, an impulse.
I raised chickens for a long time and they will often peck at one another when they aren't getting the right kind of food either. We used to feed ours crushed oyster shells and it stopped the picking. But yeah, keeping them piled on top of one another is a sure way to get them to kill each other. Humans would do the same thing.
#24 makes a good point. It is often said that modern humans are too sheltered from the horrors of the slaughterhouse, but even without human intervention, life for most animals is brutish and short. Territorial disputes in particular can turn even the most docile creatures into frothing hell-beasts. Sweet little bunnies will sometimes try to tear each other to shreds during the mating season.
Are God and Nature then at strife,
That Nature lends such evil dreams?
So careful of the type she seems,
So careless of the single life;
Chickens are cool. I have two. They're smart, friendly, funny critters and supply more than enough fresh home-laid eggs for two people. But -- the human race is not going to any heavens for at least two reasons -- the buffalo genocide and battery chickens (just for starters). If this planet was a test we blew it. Even cockroaches are going to be able to watch us whimpering to get in at the gates -- and being very relieved when we're told to go wander in the outer toxic hells we seem to like to create so much.
Dummy.
Anything animals can do, we can do better.....
I work at an animal sanctuary and I have never seen these birds cannibalize one another, but when they come to us, they look like they've been beaten close to death. Chickens only cannibalize when they're housed in huge groups where the stress of the social disruption coupled with the fact that they are so crammed in their cages that they can't spread their wings or get far enough away from their own waste so as not to wallow in it - that they do what everyone would do and they FREAK THE FUCK OUT.
And @9 is correct - instead of giving the birds more room to move around, or better living conditions where they could actually express their natural proclivities as chickens, farmer's simply sear off the end of their beaks, and have also started removing the ends of their toes so when they fight, they won't damage the "product" which is the flesh of the birds around them.
You can get all in everyone's face about 'free range' nonsense, but it doesn't mean shit. The 'free range' and 'cage free' labels aren't actually governed by any authoritative agency meaning anyone can slap those words on any product and it's not illegal.
Most importantly, why isn't anyone freaked out about the fact that eggs are the *menstrual waste* of chickens??? Fucking sick.
We are progressive.
Anyway, this is why I'm keeping my own chickens.
Chickens will peck at anything that stands out to them. It's how they pick out insects. If you have a mole on your hand, keep that hand away from chickens. It's automatic, an impulse.
Are God and Nature then at strife,
That Nature lends such evil dreams?
So careful of the type she seems,
So careless of the single life;