Comments on: The true story of KFC chickens

By: Jake

Jake — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 15:00:18 +0000

This is a very feel good article pointing out all the good things to do with KFC and raising chickens in general. The reason they do not use growth hormones is because they are raising a genetically modified species. This GM species grows bigger and faster than a natural chicken and thus does not require growth hormones. Some may argue that there’s no difference (between the natural and GM species), some may not. However, in the end I think it’s safe to say that we know very little about the long term effects of growing / consuming genetically modified species. Same goes for GM corn, soy, potatoes, and this list goes on and on.

By: Ajay

Ajay — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 04:39:25 +0000

17000 birds? KFC will need atleast 1 million per day to cater to all chicken sold across the globe from its stores. If I am KFC, I can setup one such farm (as an overhead which customers pay for anyway) in every continent / country depending upon my sales and profitibility and take environmentalists, kids, college zoology majors etc.. to these centers to dispel so called “myths”. For 1 such center I will then have enough “real” production centers to cater to getting the 1 mill birds per day !!

By: Hen Houses

Hen Houses — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 16:19:50 +0000

Hey, wow that was a really interesting article. It’s reassured me that the chicken factory you visited in Canada has up to high standards, especially as the chickens are destined for KFC, I just hope the chicken farms across Europe are of the same standard.
Lucy

By: Amanda S.

Amanda S. — Tue, 18 May 2010 15:28:55 +0000

Hi Lilian – I’d *love* to see a mainstream article on that. (Maybe I’ll dig into it myself.) Far too often in Canada the news we hear about agriculture is from the US, and many of us assume that it’s the same here. When it’s not, we don’t hear about the Canadian side of the story.

By: Lilian

Lilian — Tue, 18 May 2010 15:14:22 +0000

Hi Amanda – I think you’re right; agriculture practices need to include all of those things if we want to be able to keep people farming and producing food that is both sustainable and affordable for all.

Regarding the economics of chicken farming, I can’t comment on the US situation as I’m not as familiar with their system, but here in Canada, chicken farming is run under a quota system called supply management. This means farmers produce as much chicken as our domestic market demands and they are guaranteed a fair price for it. This system, which is also used on our egg, turkey and dairy farms, means both a stable supply of chicken (or eggs or dairy or turkey) for consumers and a stable income for farmers. It also comes with strict on-farm food safety programs that all farmers must follow if they want to produce.

Thanks for reading!

By: Amanda S.

Amanda S. — Tue, 18 May 2010 14:46:42 +0000

Interesting story, especially the bit about not allowing chickens to be raised with growth hormones in Canada. I’d love to see a comparison table of what Canada allows in animal agriculture vs the US and EU. I bet it would be a real eye opener.

Question: Did you get a chance to talk about the economics of chicken farming? One of the complaints I’ve heard about the US chicken farms is that the farmers are often deeply in dept due to having to upgrade their facilities to meet the specifications of their buyers. The buyers also set the price for the chickens. Consequently they may not be earning a living wage, and they’re also highly fragile financially.

I think that when we look at sustainable agriculture practices we have to look at animal welfare, environmental impact, and wages / quality of life for the farmers.

By: Top five food and farming posts

Top five food and farming posts — Sun, 16 May 2010 23:23:59 +0000

[...] The True Story of KFC Chickens – what I saw and experienced when I visited a chicken farm in eastern [...]

By: Lilian

Lilian — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:50:53 +0000

Good point on the photos – I have posted in a follow up blog:
http://www.foodandfarmingcanada.com/2010/01/04/a-kfc-chicken-post-follow-up/.
Generally poultry is housed indoors in Canada so as to protect birds from predators, disease (avian influenza and other diseases that they could catch from wild birds) and of course the cold Canadian climate. Barns are climate controlled so the birds are not exposed to wild temperature fluctuations of frigid Canadian winters or steamy hot summers. I can’t answer your slaughter questions though – I didn’t have the chance to visit a processing facility as part of this particular tour so I don’t have the info to comment.

By: judith redding

judith redding — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 15:57:57 +0000

I did not see any photos of the chickens ‘roaming’ freely, also do they ever have an opportunity to live outside? Also what happens to them at the slaughter houses?

By: chicken coop

chicken coop — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 12:34:57 +0000

What a hot topic to choose, good reading.