Upthread a bit there is a post from one experienced in raising chickens, and he pointed out that when chickens are unhappy or sick, they don’t lay many eggs. The few that do get laid get spoiled.
Ranchers have known for centuries that if you want good product, you’re good to the animals, and that doesn’t just apply to chickens. They also know better than to get too attached to them and concerned about their welfare because, at the end of the day, they are all going to die.
“...at the end of the day, they are all going to die.”
And so are we! So does that mean that we need to go out of our way to abuse another living thing? My bet is that “ranchers” have done university studies to try and figure out the lowest cost way to raise chickens, which most likely includes just how many they can cram into a coop and still get optimum output. That doesn’t make what they do ethical. Ever been to a Greyhound race? Know what they do to the dogs when they won’t run anymore? Think that that kind of treatment, just to make a buck is o.k.? I don’t! Same goes for chickens and calves raised for Veal. You can eat it if you want to, but we don’t.
I mean UC Davis has a program to develop square tomatoes so that more of them will fit in a box. It’s always about a buck, it’s seldom about product quality.