gohandinhand.Apologistsforfactoryfarmingoftensaythat
ifthebirdsoranimalswerenothappy,theywouldnotthrive
and hence would not be profitable. The broiler industry
provides a clear refutation of this naive myth. A study
publishedinPoultryScienceshowedthatgivingchickensas
littleas 372 squarecentimetersperbird(20percentlessthan
thestandardamountusedintheindustry)couldbeprofitable,
even though so small a space allowance meant that 6.4
percentofthebirdsdied(morethanatlowerdensities),that
birdswereunderweight,andthattherewasahighincidence
of breast blisters. As the authors point out, the key to
profitabilityinthepoultryindustryisnotprofitperbird,but
profit for the unit as a whole:
Mean monetary returns per bird started to decline ... as
stockingdensityincreased.However,whenmonetaryreturns
werecalculatedonthebasisofreturnsperunitoffloorarea,
the reverse effect occurred; monetary returns increased as
stockingdensityincreased.Althoughextremelyhighstocking
densitiesweretested,thepointofdiminishingreturnswasnot
reached despite the reduction in growth rate.^24
Thereaderwho,afterreadingthissection,iscontemplating
buyingturkeyinsteadofchickenshouldbewarnedthatthis
traditionalcenterpieceofthefamily’sThanksgivingdinneris
nowrearedbythesamemethodsasbroilerchickensandthat
debeakingisthegeneralruleamongturkeystoo.Accordingto
TurkeyWorld,an“explosionofturkeyproduction”hasbeen
taking place during the lastfew years and is expected to
continue. The$2 billionturkeyindustry raised 207 million
turkeys in 1985, with twentylarge corporations producing
over 80 percentofthem.Turkeysspendbetweenthirteenand
twenty-fourweeksinintensiveconditions,morethantwiceas