500,000 Chickens Killed In Colorado Egg Farm Fire

By Care2 May 2nd 2012

As if we needed another reason to loathe the factory farming industry, reports coming out of Colorado confirm that roughly half a million chickens died in a fire at a Weld County egg farm Monday afternoon. According to Weld County Undersheriff Margie Martinez, four buildings housing chickens used for egg production were destroyed.

Although the cause of the fire is still unknown, the reason these poor animals perished is plain: humans locked them in an unhealthy, unnatural environment, 125,000 at a time. Had these chickens been grazing and pecking in a pasture as nature intended, this type of waste and destruction wouldn't be possible.

RELATED: HSUS Files Complaint Against "Humaine" Egg Farms

As Care2′s Drew Wilson pointed out years ago, hens confined in eggs factory-farms are likely the most abused animal on the face of the planet. "They are crammed into tiny, wire battery-cages. The birds have no room to turn-around or spread their wings. At birth their beaks are seared off with a hot blade. They live a miserable life of intense confinement and stress. When the hens no longer produce eggs at a rate fast enough for the factory farm owners, they are either shipped off to a brutal slaughterhouse or just ground up to be made into cheap fertilizer."

RELATED: 4 Questions To Ask Your Egg Farmer

Although 500,000 hens died in the Colorado egg farm fire, they are only the tip of the iceberg. According to FarmSanctuary.org there are more than 280 million egg laying hens confined in battery cages around the U.S. Their eggs fill our grocery stores, flood into our favorite breakfast spots, and get mixed into our Sunday morning pastries.

RELATED: Blood On The Egg McMuffins: Buying Cruelty With Breakfast

Only public outcry against battery cages, and increased demand for truly sustainable, free-range eggs will end this cruel practice. Take action now.