[QUOTE]Architecture student André Ford has proposed a new system for the mass production of chicken that removes the birds' cerebral cortex so that they don't experience the horrors of being packed together tightly in vertical farms.
Each year, the UK raises and kills around 800 million broiler chickens for their meat. These creatures are grown in vast sheds with no natural light over the course of six to seven weeks. They are bred to grow particularly quickly and often die because their hearts and lungs cannot keep up with their body's rapid growth.
Philosopher Paul Thompson from Purdue University has suggested " The Blind Chicken Solution". He argues that chickens blinded by "accident" have been developed into a strain of laboratory chickens that don't mind being crowded together as much as normal chickens do. As a result, he argues, we should consider using blind chickens in food production as a solution to the problem of overcrowding in the poultry industry. He argues that it would be more humane to have blind chickens than ones that can see.
Ford goes a step further and proposes a "Headless Chicken Solution". This would involve removing the cerebral cortex of the chicken to inhibit its sensory perceptions so that it could be produced in more densely-packed conditions without the associated distress. The brain stem for the chicken would be kept intact so that the homeostatic functions continue to operate, allowing it to grow.
Ford proposes this solution for two reasons: to meet the rising demand for meat, particularly poultry, and to improve the welfare of the chickens by desensitising them to the unpleasant reality of their existence.
After this "desensitisation", the chickens could then be stacked into huge urban farms with around 1,000 chickens hooked up to each large vertical frames -- a little like the network of pods the humans are connected to in The Matrix. The feet of the chickens would also be removed in order to pack more in. There could be dozens of these frames in the vertical farming system, which Ford refers to as the Centre for Unconscious Farming. Food, water and air would be delivered via a network of tubes and excrement would be removed in the same way. This technique could achieve a density of around 11.7 chickens per cubic metre instead of the current 3.2 chickens achieved in broiler houses.
A challenge for Ford's system would be the lack of muscular stimulation. However, Ford proposes using electric shocks similar to that used in other lab meat experiments.
Ford argues that his solution is no more shocking than existing food production techniques. "The realities of the existing systems of production are just as shocking," he told Wired.co.uk, "but they are hidden behind the sentimental guise of traditional farming scenes that we as consumers hold in our minds and see on our food packaging."
He added: "There are numerous differences between the current dominant production systems and the one I am proposing, but the fundamental difference is the removal of suffering. Whether what I am proposing is an appropriate means to achieve the removal of suffering is open to interpretation. In reality this should be decided at the level of the individual consumer, at the counter, handing over their money and 'voting' for their system of preference."
Ford believes that the Headless Chicken Solution has the same intentions as the lab-grown meats we have seen developed recently. "The intentions are the same -- the synthesis of animal protein without the suffering," he says. However, he believes that the inability to synthesise blood vessels will prove to be a major challenge for those seeking to create 3D chunks of lab meat.
The likeness to The Matrix has not gone unnoticed by Ford. "The similarities are patent, although in The Matrix the dominant species were kind enough to provide the sub-species with a alternate reality, which was far better than the their 'real' post-apocalyptic world," he told us. "This was a lovely gesture by 'The Machines', but the chickens in this system will not be privy to such a luxurious appendage to an already elaborate system, especially in this age of austerity."
[IMG]http://cdni.wired.co.uk/462x693/k_n/Matrix_09_1.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://cdni.wired.co.uk/620x413/k_n/Matrix_01.jpg[/IMG]
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[URL="http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-02/15/andre-ford-chicken-farming"]Source.[/URL]
I can't help but feel slightly creeped out...
Thats...
Well that's rather cruel.
[editline]15th February 2012[/editline]
[QUOTE] have been developed into a strain of laboratory chickens that don't mind being crowded together as much as normal chickens do[/QUOTE]
How can you even prove something like that?
Eating meat just isn't the same when you can't revel in your victim's crushed hopes and desires.
Yeah, I think I'll wait for in-vitro meat factories rather than eat this stuff.
I came in here thinking I was going to be disgusted, but if it works like he says it does, then it actually makes a lot of sense.
I don't know. Not sure how I think about this.
[QUOTE=ewitwins;34712556]Thats...
Well that's rather cruel.
[editline]15th February 2012[/editline]
How can you even prove something like that?[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE]Architecture student André Ford has proposed a new system for the mass production of chicken that removes the birds' cerebral cortex so that they don't experience the horrors of being packed together tightly in vertical farms.[/QUOTE]
Basically they're braindead sacks of meat coated in feather that only have the basic brain functions to breathe for themselves.
Nothing else.
Still pretty damn creepy, but hey, playing god is now also nutritious and well tasting when cooked properly.
That sounds horrific and cruel, but it makes sense.
Whatever is better for the chicken I suppose.
I wonder if this would work for other animals aswell. PETA will have a field day with this shit though.
Oh PETA is just going to [U][B]LOVE[/B][/U] this.
[QUOTE=Van-man;34712653]Basically they're braindead sacks of meat coated in feather that only have the basic brain functions to breathe for themselves.
Nothing else.
Still pretty damn creepy, but hey, playing god is now also nutritious and well tasting when cooked properly.[/QUOTE]Delicious zombie chickens. Hmm, very nice.
One day we will be able to link it to their minds and they will be in a nice cosy field :)
I'd rather this than a life of pain, but it's still really creepy to think about.
I also find it rather strange that Ford calls The Matrix a [B]"lovely gesture"[/B] towards the humans...
I somehow think that removing their ability to be scared doesn't necessarily make it humane...
[QUOTE=ewitwins;34712556]
How can you even prove something like that?[/QUOTE]
"[I]WELL IT AINT COMPLAININ' NOW IS IT?[/I]"
How would they remove parts of their brain on such a huge scale..
[QUOTE=Instant Mix;34712765]I somehow think that removing their ability to be scared doesn't necessarily make it humane...[/QUOTE]It actually pretty much removes their ability to be anything more than breathing food.
[editline]15th February 2012[/editline]
[QUOTE=mobrockers2;34712827]How would they remove parts of their brain on such a huge scale..[/QUOTE]Science! [img]http://www.facepunch.com/fp/emoot/science.gif[/img]
[QUOTE=rilez;34712726]I'd rather this than a life of pain, but it's still really creepy to think about.[/QUOTE]
Pretty much this.
They remove part of the chickens brain, to me this does seem like a better alternative to the massive barns crammed full of chickens.
Looks pretty cool.
I don't empathize well with farm animals or animals in general, so I really don't care about how they're kept. But if this is more efficient, then that's great.
[QUOTE=BANNED USER;34712874]They remove part of the chickens brain, to me this does seem like a better alternative to the massive barns crammed full of chickens.[/QUOTE]
Now try to explain that to the PeTA nutjobs... :/
I swear I remember something almost exactly like this as part of some "what if" situation from one of my high school classes, where we examined the morality and such of the situation.
As creepy and messed up as this is, it's still less creepy and messed up than the current system.
Which is saying something about how fucked up the current system is.
[QUOTE=Pretiacruento;34713012]Now try to explain that to the PeTA nutjobs... :/[/QUOTE]
Peta protesters actually listening to sane and sound arguments?
Never gonna happen, they're nutjobs 'till they die.
I'm not sure what to think here.
[QUOTE=Da_Maniac_;34713088]I'm not sure what to think here.[/QUOTE]
Neither are the chickens.
Wow. Now this is fucked up.
I wouldn't support this, atlest at the current state of food production demand.
This is so retarded and cruel I struggle to find words.
Battery chickens have already been proven to be very shitty meat that have a bad taste and little to zero benefits, just imagine a chicken that can literally not move for its entire freaking life and that's basically made braindead so it doesn't struggle too much - it would be among the worst meats you can ingest ever.
[QUOTE=Last or First;34713097]Neither are the chickens.[/QUOTE]
I bet that pun came out as a no-brainer, huh?
[QUOTE=Instant Mix;34712765]I somehow think that removing their ability to be scared doesn't necessarily make it humane...[/QUOTE]
They are only a little bit more than the final edible product, even when alive.
Inhumane is letting something suffer.
These exist only to be eaten. They wouldn't ever come to world, if they weren't supposed to fill that purpose. They aren't [I]able[/I] to be uncomfortable with their existence.
It's life incapable of suffering. Why should it be inhumane?
[QUOTE=BANNED USER;34712874]They remove part of the chickens brain, to me this does seem like a better alternative to the massive barns crammed full of chickens.[/QUOTE]
It's not. It's just going to deteriorate the meat quality even more because it will rely entirely on stuffing the chicken alive with as much food as you can instead of actually letting it run around and have some exercise which will give a better tastier meat with more health benefits.
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