Basic HTML Version
AFTERMATH
of disease. Millions of
chickens were killed, hauled to render–
ing plonts ond processed into chicken
feed.
Mike Hendricluon - Ploon
Trulh
Pholo
breed because they are selected for
the same strengths - desired pro–
duction capabilities. But by the
same token, they wiJJ aH have tbe
same weaknesses and hence, they
wiiJ be broadly susceptible lo the
same diseases. If one succumbs,
chances are that they all will. Thís
is
exactly what happens with New–
castle's disease. Once it gets into the
flocks, it rages uncontrollably.
Overcrowding sets up unfavor–
able stress conditions. According to
the manager of a 50,000-bírd egg
ranch near Cucamonga, California,
five to ten of his hens succumb daiJy
to confinement stress. (That's be–
tween two and four thousand per
year.) "These birds," he says, "don't
die of any disease. They just can't
take the stress of crowded living." In
addition, he has to clip the beaks of
his crowded birds because "canni–
balism increases as the concentra–
tion of birds goes up." Clipping
beaks further weakens the birds and
makes them even more susceptible
to diseases.
An added difficulty is the world–
wíde scope of the problem. The
USDA has banned the importation
of live birds of any sort from the 23
nations which have experienced the
most serious outbreaks of the dis–
ease and/or face Exotic Newcastle's
as a problem. The FAO reported
that not only are more countries
beíng stricken with the disease, but
also that larger numbers of birds are
being affected.
(World Animal Re–
view,
1972,
pp. 33-34.)
Modero mass-production agricul–
ture is by far the most productive
system used in recent history. And
ít
must be, for world farro production
must be multiplied to feed endlessly
growing numbers of hungry mouths.
And yet, first one segment of agri–
culture and then another ís being
PLAIN TRUTH Moren 1973
\
-
,
...
...
,
f
, ,