Animal Advocacy Factory Farming facts - Your input requested

[Dedalus]

Good day VV'ers! I am in the process of creating a presentation during which I plan to flash on screen some facts on factory farming. Of course, there are thousands of facts readily available - but I'm a little overwhelmed and at odds of which to include for maximum impact.

Who better to call on than the wonderful community here at VV?

Here is where it gets challenging: because this presentation is in the form of a video with a limited amount of time, I need the verbiage to be able to be read in 5 seconds or so. Example:

A pig's natural life expectancy is 15 years. ​

Pigs are killed for pork when they are just 6 months old.​

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and​

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Modern industrial fishing line can be as long as 75 miles ​

- the same distance from sea level to space.​

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I want to drive home as many facts as possible - ones that will stick in the minds of those watching. (I also plan to give VV credit as well - a good way to promote the site eh?) Thanks in advance.​

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[Second Summer]

Excellent initiative, and we do have a couple of people who are good with words here, so let's hope someone comes to your assistance!

When you said the verbiage needs to be 5 seconds or so, do you mean the total amount of verbiage in the whole video is going to be 5 seconds or so, or do you plan to have several verbiages / facts, each one around 5 seconds long?

 

[Dedalus]

Excellent initiative, and we do have a couple of people who are good with words here, so let's hope someone comes to your assistance!

When you said the verbiage needs to be 5 seconds or so, do you mean the total amount of verbiage in the whole video is going to be 5 seconds or so, or do you plan to have several verbiages / facts, each one around 5 seconds long?

The latter. I will have enough time for several slides - so hopefully I can gather a full minute or so of hard - hitting facts.

The 5 seconds is just an estimate - it can certainly be more than that - I just don't want to have too much information on one slide. (That being said - if I have to split up the 'fact' into two slides - I can do that as well.)

 

[CrazyCatLady]

About 200 million male chicks are ground up alive, gassed, electrocuted or suffocated each year

Let me know if u need references xxx

 

[mlp]

About 200 million male chicks are ground up alive, gassed, electrocuted or suffocated each year

Let me know if u need references xxx

And I think that number is just for the U.S. alone.

 

[Second Summer]

200 million is approx. the size of the population in Brazil. (Estimated to 193,946,886 in 2012.) Or the populations of Mexico and Vietnam combined ....

 

[Dedalus]

Okay - not a lot of takers so far ....don't be shy, testify! Here is what I have gathered up on my own - perhaps that will spark further thoughts on the subject.

Due to genetic manipulation, 90% of broiler chickens have trouble walking.

Two out of every three farm animals in the world are now factory farmed.

There are more animals factory farmed in the world now than at any other time in history.

Pigs are born and raised inside buildings that have automated water, feed and waste removal. They don't see daylight until they are shipped for slaughter.

Veal calves spend each day confined alone with no companionship and are deprived of light for a large portion of their four-month lives.

Dairy cows are kept in a holding facility where they are fed, watered and have their waste removed mechanically and are allowed out only twice a day to be milked by machines.

Laying Hens are kept in Battery cages which are very small with slanted wire floors which cause severe discomfort and foot deformation. Between five and eight birds are crammed in cages only 14 square inches in size.

Broiler Chickens: As male chicks are not useful for the broiler industry, and 50% of chicks hatched are males, they need to be disposed and killed at birth. Egg producers suffocate or grind up (alive) 280 million male chicks per year.

To create a meat-centered economy, 260 million acres of forest have been cleared for cropland.

Forty million cows and calves are killed annually. Cows have a life span of 20-25 years, but a factory-farmed cow is used up by the time it is 3 to 4 years old and sent to the slaughterhouse

Breeding sows spend their entire lives in tiny metal crates so they cannot turn around. Shortly after giving birth, they are once again forcibly impregnated. This cycle continues for years until their bodies finally give up and they are sent to be killed.

 

[Second Summer]

Am I right in thinking these numbers and other facts are mostly for the US?

To create a meat-centered economy, 260 million acres of forest have been cleared for cropland.

A big number! 260 million acres = 406250 square miles, which is almost as big as the land mass of Bolivia (418,265 sq. miles) and larger than the total area of California, Arizona and New Mexico together (399283.35 sq. miles). (Numbers from Wikipedia, acres to square miles conversion by Google.)

 

[Dedalus]

Am I right in thinking these numbers and other facts are mostly for the US?

It's hard to say for certain really. Some sites I've visited use the UK as the base for their numerical comparisons - I specifically try to avoid them if possible since my audience will not be familiar with those.

A big number! 260 million acres = 406250 square miles, which is almost as big as the land mass of Bolivia (418,265 sq. miles) and larger than the total area of California, Arizona and New Mexico together (399283.35 sq. miles). (Numbers from Wikipedia, acres to square miles conversion by Google.)

Sobering and sad. Great stats though, thanks! I will use some of those. It's good to have a visual to go along with the staggering number.

 

[Pickle Juice]

Wonderful project Dedalus. I wish I could see the finished presentation.

And: If you grew as fast as a chicken, you’d weigh 349 pounds at age two. From http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/01/poultry-transparency/

 

[Dedalus]

Wonderful project Dedalus. I wish I could see the finished presentation.

And: If you grew as fast as a chicken, you’d weigh 349 pounds at age two. From http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/01/poultry-transparency/

You will have the opportunity to see the finished product! I'll upload the video when completed and post a link here.

Thanks for your contribution!

 

[Pickle Juice]

You're welcome. I look forward to seeing the video!