The First Ordeal of Broilers: The Hatchery

It is a well-known fact that male chicks from egg-laying hens are killed on the day of birth, but few people know that chickens raised for meat are similarly sorted on their first day, and “substandard” chicks are being killed on a daily basis. Chicks that are weak, have congenital shape anomalies such as too many legs, are too small, inflamed or dirty are considered “substandard.” Since about two out of every 100 chicks are killed, it is estimated that about 14 million birds (8 to 16 million birds) are killed immediately after birth in Japan each year. The most common way to kill chicks in the country is to…

Japanese Companies Align Their Stance Toward Gestation Stall-Free; Marudai Food Mentions Imported Goods

In 2013, the Animal Rights Center signed a petition calling for the abolition of gestation stalls at five major Japanese meat companies: Nippon Ham, Prima Meat Packers, Itoham Foods, Starzen, and Marudai Food, and submitted the signatures collected that year. Ten years have elapsed since then, and all five companies have clarified their stance on the abolition of gestation stalls. Prima Meat Packers was the first company to make its position clear, stating in 2020 that it would not construct any new piggeries using gestation stalls in the future. Then, in November 2021, Nippon Ham announced that it would transition all gestation stalls on its domestic farms to herd rearing by…