Owner Of The Hatchery Where The Infamous Chick Video Was Filmed Speaks Out

DES MOINES, Iowa —(AP) The owner of a northwest Iowa egg hatchery where a video shows unwanted chicks being tossed alive into a grinder says an independent investigation found animal welfare policy violations at the plant.

But West Des Moines-based Hy-Line North America said in a Tuesday statement that it won't release further details.

The Chicago-based group Mercy for Animals publicized the undercover video last week. It was made at Hy-Line's Spencer hatchery.

Hy-Line has said "instantaneous euthanasia" is standard industry practice. But its Tuesday statement says some practices depicted in the video don't reflect the company's standard procedures.

The statement says corrective measures have been taken but the company declines to elaborate. It also won't say who conducted the investigation.

Watch the video that sparked the investigation below. Warning: it is graphic.

Comments

[DaSn0wMan]

Lots of distressing things in this world if you choose to see it firsthand: countless sick and starving children in Africa whom will inevitably die, child prostitution happening in poor cities in the good ol USA, all the germs and microscopic organisms we touch and encounter in just one day of our lives. However, if we don't look see any of this or choose not to view this, the world is suddenly a more pleasant place. Ignorance is truly bliss.

[patianneb]

I always find it interesting, albeit repulsive, how mean-spirited and nasty many people become toward people who are troubled or concerned about acts of cruelty committed against the defenseless.

[Neophile]

Please observe that the converse is also true.

[yemaya]

ok, for the record. eating meat everyday is not good for you. Colon cancer rates are highest among people that do. Number two, think about how we evolved. Yeah, we ate meat, but only when it was available to hunt. Rabbits, buffalo and deer aren't available everyday. That is a modern convenience.
Try hunting for your meat everyday and you'll see that it would not be sufficient to satisfy modern man's taste for meat.

The other half of the time we were mostly gatherers and stored things like nuts, fruits and berries and other vegetation to eat for the lean times. after humans invented agricultural farming, everything changed. We domesticated animals for food, etc.. But think about the way we were designed to eat for a moment, this feast or famine biology.
I think eating meat everyday is a luxury that most people around the world can't afford anyway. Just another perspective.

[Vickster]

Colon cancer isn't higher among people who eat meat, although there is evidence that suggests people who eat processed meats (i.e., bacon, pastrami, pepperoni, salami, etc.) have slightly higher rates of colon cancer.

As for what humans may have eaten when we were all hunter-gatherers, meat would always be available, regardless of the season. Fruits, berries, vegetables and nuts, on the other hand, are only available for three or four months every year in most regions.

True herbivores and most omnivores can digest grass, leaves and bark. So when was the last time you chowed down on grass, leaves or bark?

[SLCPunk]

Anyone else find the BW3 Wings ad at the top of the page a touch cold given the subject matter?

[rjta]

Perfect ad for the Republican Party - you WILL be born and then we WILL kill you!

[rjta]

It's the perfect ad for the Republican Party - you WILL be born goddammit, and then we WILL kill you!

[NoSillyName]

Didn't watch before. Not watching now.

Welcome to the World, cute little chicks!

[motoGpifupleez]

When the time comes, the hatchery owner an be euthanized the same way. It is, after all, instantaneous.

[MarcEdward]

He's a human, they are chickens. Get a grip!

[Big0725]

Ever see a bull become a steer? It's called nutting and make this look tame!

[NoSillyName]

Yeah, and branding is another "fun" thing to see.

No thanks.

[hoytvanderbilt]

Look, PETA! If God hadn't wanted us to eat animals, he wouldn't have made them so darn tasty!

[SparkyGump]

Which god?

[NoSillyName]

Said like a true Flesh Eater.

[MarcEdward]

Said like a true plant-flesh eater, willing to let a rain forest burn to satisfy your blood lust for soy products.

[metropixie]

And, if god didn't want Americans to be so stupid he wouldn't have created George Bush.
Can we agree that the "if god" question is surely the stupidest of all questions?

[hoytvanderbilt]

I was just quoting a joke by Colbert. I thought it was funny. Not meant to be serious.

[BBHounds]

Just what are they doing with the ground up chicks? No one is saying. There are inherent dangers when using dead animals as filler in other animal feed.

[Big0725]

Yep. It's called a prion. Some folks suspect Mad Cow disease was started by cattlemen feeding the tailings of the slaughter process back to cattle, mixed with feed.

[yemaya]

mcnugets

[kjeaton]

I have chosen to be a vegetarian. I buy my eggs from a local health food store, they get the eggs from a local farm. The dozen eggs cost 4.57/dozen­. Seems like a lot, but that's still just .38 an egg. I think it's worth it.

And I totally agree with choosing to eat meat but making local, humane choices on where to acquire the meat. I would like to add another point; reduce the amount of meat you eat! People eat meat for every meal. If everyone would cut down to meat at just one meal a day it would most likely make a huge difference. AND eating all that meat is NOT good for you, no matter what the meat/dairy lobby says.

I have a Japanese friend that says in Japan they use a little meat to flavor the vegetables, in America they use vegetables to compliment the meat. A Japanese person eating a traditional Japanese diet has much lower incidence of heart disease and cancers.

[Bea Elliott]

All this reduces down to choice --- 95% of all animal suffering is done in the name of animal agriculture. We do not "need" to eat eggs, dairy or meat. It's not like it's a matter of survival. Each of us has thousands of other healthier options in an air conditioned, brightly lit grocery store. People who say they are concerned with animal well being and still continue to eat them are in moral dissonance. Either own up to the idea that you really DON'T care about animal suffering - OR DO something about it... Choose compassion - Go Vegan
http://www.humanemyth.org/

[xms]

Having your own chickens and collecting their eggs does not require one to be a Vegan. I appreciate your choice, but abhor your dogma.

[MarcEdward]

I really don't care about chickens suffering. Probably makes them taste better.

[RiverOfSparta]

I don't care about your loved ones suffering.

[SweetJudith]

You're the perfect corpse muncher..H­ow sweet!

[Big0725]

I'm gonna have a nice thick ribeye for dinner tonight, Pittsburgh rare. And all the while, I'll be thinking about you vegans.

[RiverOfSparta]

May you be stripped of your flesh and thrown on a conveyor belt to be ground up. I would love to see that!!!

[BaggyPantsDevil]

I have a feeling that the percentage of wild animals--and all the suffering they experience in the form of starvation, disease, and the constant predation (not to mention the various social and mating behaviors that involve bullying, killing, and raping)--c­onstitutes more than just 5% of all animals on this planet. So, I'm going to have to disagree with your number there.

I like animals, too and dislike the idea of them suffering but I do not consider eating them automatically cruel or unethical or immoral. After all, animals eat other animals all the time. Am I supposed to impose some sort of human morality on a wolf and provide him with soy based kibble so he won't prey on deer? Predator-prey relationships are paradoxical and probably so ethically complex that we'll never be able to completely nail down what's good and what's bad.

And, how come no one cares about the carrots? They're living things, too. Can't be that much fun to be ripped out of the nice, moist, nutritious soil, diced up and added to the mirepoix.

[yemaya]

carrots don't have brains or eyes or noses. but good point. However, your point that the complexity of it all makes is hard to nail down what's good or bad is a bit disingenuous. We are the highest on the food chain. Don't you think we bear some responsibility for that powerful position?

[Halfwit]

There is nothing shocking about this video if you have ever thought about this.

[SwingingFromCenter]

Typical thin-skinned nature of people. How do you THINK that prepackaged meat is made? Do you think it comes that way? Do you think that the cow/chicken/lamb is sang a lullaby and then given a peaceful inje.ction­?

I do love all the "I'm going vegan" comments, though. These people fall into 1 of 3 camps:

1) They aren't really going to
2) They already are, and are attempting vi.ral marketing to get others to do it, even though there's no such thing as a healthy vegan or
3) They'll do it...right up until their husband/wife orders their next ju.icy steak when they go out to eat.