Sam, maybe you should check a map, and look at where Modesto is. "Liberal" California is mostly the San Francisco Bay Area as well as Southern California centered around Los Angeles (and not counting San Diego).

The Central Valley in particular, where Modesto is, is mostly farmers and farm land, and is decidedly conservative.

"Ido", most of this teachers molesting students is happening in the LA country school district. That is over 300 miles away from Modesto where this chicken incident took place, about the same distance as between New York, NY, and Richmond, VA. I guess you can pretend that we're all the same people if it makes you feel more comfortable about your ignorance.

How about feeding hungry people instead of the 'usual business practice of euthanizing the chickens'

This is what is wrong with our for profit society.

Gotnorice, I know you love to blame all the worlds ills on liberals but the truth is that California is a diverse mix of people. Isnt Rev. Warren from there? and didnt the religious right in Califonia defeat the same sex marriage bill? and anyway if you want to compare child and animal abuse cases in california with any of the southern states you would lose.

Here is just one stat from one state. Texas led the nation in deaths from child abuse and neglect, with 1,509, during the years covered by the study -- 2001 to 2007. Looking just at 2007 data, Texas still finished first, with 228 child deaths. And that was straight out of the Dallas Daily News, not some liberal rag like MSNBC. http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2009/10/texas-leads-the-nation-in-chil.html

there are corrupt corporate scum bags and perverted child molestors in ever corner of this world, california doesnt hold a patent on them, but I think the conservative movement does.

the sob ! did anybody else catch the owners name ?

scum of the earth.

Don't forget to drink your conservative oil off the Gulf of Mexico Sam.

The owner should get a day in prison for every dead chicken.

Justoneguy, Be careful using the word ignorance considering what you wrote. I mean, really.

How about feeding hungry people instead of the 'usual business practice of euthanizing the chickens'

These birds are way too stressed to be fed to humans Peter. Lights on for 8 hours, lights off for 8 hours, lights on for 8 hours....etc. Ever notice how some eggs you buy have harder shells than others? Those are the new "fresh" birds. Softer shells are the birds that have been force-producing for 6 months. This is how you keep up with human consumption. The general public has no idea how many tens of thousands of birds go to the dump every month.

Debi: When the birds are done with their use, their necks are snapped and they're shipped to the local dump. That is the way it is. You can't expect individual chicken funerals for millions of birds, and no one is going to take in that many birds. However, leaving these to starve is ridiculous. They should have all been killed immediately and burned if the owners didn't want to pay shipping and dumping fees.

JmB66, feeding the hungry was my thought as well and I'm not familiar with what you've written regarding that the birds were too stressed out for human consumption.

OK, well what about use in pet foods. Considering some of the horrible ingredients used in some - definitely not all - pet foods, could this have been a solution??? The waste here is just mind boggling and makes me very suspicious about the intent of the owners. 50,000 of anything is a large amount to just abandon. Some kind of tax break for loss maybe???

JmB66

Thanks for your input. You are right. I imagine their productive life is limited as well because of all this stress. Hmmm. Not productive, no life for you. Lets call them NeoChickens.

chefaz, pet food is an interesting option as well which I didn't think of.

about using the chickens for consumption - human or pet - would be bad. these chickens have been feed major doses of antibiotics to help keep them alive and producing eggs. Not a good option for consumption.

Another good point to consider jfl.

From the good input I am seeing from other viners sounds like the government should be more worried about the industry practices than whether this man killed 50k chickens. Sounds like more than 50k chickens are dying because of these practices. Go figure....

It is interesting that dragging caged chickens through electrified water (standard practice when it comes to slaughtering poultry) is considered humane, while starving the birds is not.

All I can say for that practice (I had never heard of it) is that it would much quicker, I would think. You would not have the cannibalizing that comes with starvation.

Most poultry in US is killed with an electric charge of some sort. However, most birds are not really dead, just paralyzed so they can be easily hung on the processing line by people. Easily half of all birds on the line are still alive when they are gutted.

How do you "accidentally" abandon 50,000 chickens? I hope the owners are prosecuted, and NEVER allowed to buy or own another animal. These corporate-run farms are disgusting; the way they treat animals SHOULD be illegal. I am convinced PART of America's obesity problem is caused by the hormones they dose the animals with.

Norm--you must be referring to Mr Boehner, right. No Mr Cantor, No Mr McConnell, No Mr Ryan. Do I have to go on, jerk, Idiot, Moron, etc.

Here's a scene from the near future at a Modesto McDonald's playing out:

"Hey Dave, do your McNuggets taste stressed out to you?"

"Yeah Bob, that's why I always get the hot mustard sauce instead of the sweet-n-sour."

Chickens are disgusting creatures but, like all the rest of God's precious critters, they taste good when deep-fried.

If they can find the owner......

They found the owner, he made a statement, said it was "an accident".

I say that's bull, I mean really - How can you not realize nothing was done with those 50,000 chickens for 2 weeks? They know who he is, they know where he is, now prosecute him.

I am not a vegan or member of PETA, and I like a good omelet or chicken dinner as well as most people do - but my eggs and chickens come from local farms where the birds are taken care of properly, not warehoused. There is no excuse for what those people did.

A true American-Andy Keung Cheung, sounds like a chicken to me!!! Hold the phone, he forgot where he placed the chickens??? My Mistake???

More than that .... more farms are being bought up by the mega corporate producers. This is what happens when big government becomes so prevalent and so "accepted", so too does big food, big bank, big transportation, big communication, big healthcare, big oil ... essentially how many tried and failed socialist societies of the past began. I can't wait.

This is what happens when an entity becomes so big (government or business), it can't properly and adequately take care of what is has amassed and assumed control over and many get neglected and forgotten about.

Not mentioned on MSNBC but definitely worthy of notice, the Schmallenburg virus which is literally killing thousand of lambs and is also affecting cattle in Europe and Great Britain. I bring this up as an addendum to the factory farming, animal brutality issue in the article and cited by some of the posters.

Factory farming, genetically modified food stuffs, pesticides, herbicides, etc. have all negatively impacted our food.

The virus is named after a town in Germany, where the outbreaks were first noticed. Interestingly enough, there is a massive agri-business, chemical and research facility in said town. Fraunhofer IME. Schmallenburg virus is leathal to lambs, and leaves the ewes barren. Now, if you want to see some serious problems with our food supplies (and raw milk policing is the least of them) take a gander at what the USDA and FDA are doing about the virus which has reached the US. They don't know the transmission vector, however, there are many, many immigrants and travelers coming here, not to mention the massive amounts of food being brought into the country.

As to the PRIZE SOB who starved the chickens...perhaps the best punishment for him would be a similar fate.

mygirl1

Not mentioned on MSNBC but definitely worthy of notice, the Schmallenburg virus which is literally killing thousand of lambs and is also affecting cattle in Europe and Great Britain. I bring this up as an addendum to the factory farming, animal brutality issue in the article and cited by some of the posters.

FYI.. I read an article several hours ago, on MSNBC, about the virus killing lambs in europe... Just because you haven't run across it yet, doesnt mean it doesnt exist...

FYI: I did a search on MSNBC and could find no such article. Where was said article buried?

I saw that one too about the virus. If you need to know, look on the search engine under "virus killing lambs in europe" and you will see a whole bunch of articles.

don't get your feathers ruffled...puc...puc...puc..they only pay the writer's chicken feed...puc...puc...puc...what's everybody squawking about...puc...puc...puc...

The Food situation in Europe was caused by Greedy Farmers who used dead animals that could not be sold for food, meat etc., to be used in Animal Feed instead. This is what killing people in Europe, also LACK of Gov't Regulations oversea to stop this practice. This is not a virus, this is MAN CAUSED!!!

The owner of those chickens obviously thinks were MORONS to believe that he ACCIDENTLY FORGOT about them. YEAH RIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We weren't born yesterday. Throw his stupid LYING F*&ing ass in jail for a long time!! And please make an example of him. It should be 50 thousand separate charges of animal abuse and neglect. This was greed plain and simple. He didn't want to pay for feed and water or employees to take care of them. He should lose his license to ever be in this business again. Period!

Yep, Cali's legislation in the works: Chickens deserve the same respect as HUMANS.

How is not letting animals starve to death giving animals the same respect as humans? Do you even know what you are saying, or are you simply mimicking some Rush Limbaugh non-thought?

Mmmmm, Hot Wings. So tasty

Cheryl, with all due respect, I know you mean well, but chickens are not sentient. They may have instincts, but they cannot think in abstract terms like a human. They have no sense of self or individuality. They cannot do algebra. They could not build a bridge even if they had opposable thumbs. Their brain is the size of a pea, for crying out loud! The portion of the brain that allows for sentience in higher animals does not exist within the limited space of a chicken's cranium. Your statement, while kind-hearted, is completely ludicrous, as was someone else's comment about "chicken funerals".

I'm sure the chicken guy from last year's hoarders program would take in a few.

They are not very smart and a bit messy, this is true.. Much of their natural instincts have been bread out of them.. But a chicken is smarter than you think and can be trained somewhat to be a good social pet.. Hopping up on your hand to be petted or for a treat like a parrot can be trained to do.. Ours come when they are called every time, the same can not be said for a cat.. They even know when feeding time is and if I am running late one hen will peck at the back door to remind us.. They also get excited just like a dog when they see a treat in your hand.. Every evening they know it is time to go into the barn for the night to be safe from predators.. We raise chickens and sell healthy eggs,from unhealthy animals comes unhealthy food.. Why mistreat anything if you don't have to?? Loosing your humanity is the path to becoming an animal..

Roadrunner0

Excellent post. I so enjoy stories about animals. Especially farm animals that are not often thought of as pets or having a personality. I find chickens to be pretty entertaining.

We had a pair of geese for several years. They had personalities too, but were very territorial. Heaven help you if you wandered too close to their nest or even to the female. They are very intelligent, but more independant, which I think is why they don't get as attached to us. They are wonderful parents though.

I always enjoyed the animals we had. And your statement "losing your humanity is the path to becoming an animal" really sums it up nicely. Thanks.

Ranjet: are you serious? Please give the names of the articles that told about people being pecked to death.

to stop a chicken from attacking ...you cut off his pecker...

damn, you funny

Yep, and killing them then eating them is just disgusting and totally unacceptable !!!

Killing and eating them is not the same as starving them to death. Guess you don't mind losing 50,000 potential fried chicken dinners? Guess you don't care about compassion or treating a living creature with a modicum of decency? Guess you're attempting to explain away mass cruelty in a rather weak and puerile manner.

MG-Unfortunately these chickens would not have been fit for consumption even a month ago. They were layers- fed hyper protein and as drugged, strung out like a crack whore if I can be blunt. In a year they would have been gassed and the carcasses disposed of, maybe kfc. Once they cannot make the bottom dollar it is the end of the road.

Stonepipe: I'm aware of that information...sadly. I was directing my post at the prior poster who seemed to think that it was ok to starve an animal to death and justified said belief by noting fried chicken several times.

Stovepipe -- old laying chickens are not and cannot be served by KFC. "Fryers" are very young chickens only a few weeks old. (Younger with today's "enhanced" rearing techniques -- yeech.) Older hens who have largely worn themselves out as "layers" are sold as "stewing chickens", mostly overseas as that food has lost favor in the U.S., and sometimes to be pet food. I used to like the taste of the older chickens that my mother, aunts, and grandmother prepared when I was a child. Back then those chickens had spent part of their lives on the ground at weren't full of antibiotics for most of their lives because they weren't confined in houses of 50,000+ birds full of all sorts of really gross diseases. I'm not much on older chickens now for that reason. Don't imagine the "mature" flavor is at all "right" any more. Here's a clue: this is all about price and hence maximum profits. While gasoline already cost more than ten times what it did during my childhood prior to the recent runup and electricity is up even more, chicken has only gone up about four times and eggs only around double or so. Relatively speaking, they are dirt cheap compared to almost any other food or almost anything else. Why do you think that this is? "Mass production" techniques, the same reason cars cost so much less in 1925 than they did in 1910. The cars were better in 1925 than 1910, but all we lost was taste and safety with the chickens!

Having grown up on an "egg" farm, when the chickens were no longer producing enough eggs, we sold them to Campbell's and they used them for chicken soup and cat food.

Thanks focus. Well said.

Yeah focus, way to point out the most aggregious abusers as an example of the thousands of responsible farmers and ranchers who don't follow factory production procedures. You're right on target there, mister, yes indeedy. You zinged 'em good.

Trolls are quite abundant around here. It's a shame we can't send them to a troll sanctuary to be adopted out.

I assume they mean as backyard chickens, or "pets that happen to lay eggs."

I have chickens. Wouldn't consider slaughtering or eating them. The kids named them! But I do very much enjoy their eggs.

Yes, chickens make very good pets. As companion animals too, they are a lot of company. We lived on a small farm and had 3 horses. Each horse had a chicken that lived in its stall (for sleeping only, during the day everyone was let out to the pasture, or in the chickens case, loose in the barn.

Chickens do not cost a lot to keep, they had a calming affect on the horses, and in the winter the horses threw off a lot of heat and helped keep the chickens warm. The chickens were right there in the stalls, under the feeders that held the hay, and out of the way, so they weren't stepped on.

Say it's stupid all you like. I would much rather think of a solution that works for both animals and harms no one.

Nobody remembers Tommy Smother's "Pet Chicken Story"?

I do!
Mom always liked you best...

Yuck! Chickens are by far the smelliest, most disgusting domestic animals I know of. I would rather be downwind from 10,000 head of cattle or 1,000 pigs than 5 chickens! I know people who have chickens on their property, and I won't go visit them at home. The smell is too much for me, and it's not like I am squeamish. I can handle being up to my elbows in the viscera of a freshly-killed deer, or ripping the guts out of a 20-lb. steelhead, or sucking the heads of a bunch of crawdads from a muddy stream, but I just can't stand the smell of chickens. I'll continue to get my poultry from the supermarket, thank you very much.

Clearly, they have no respect not only from their actions here, but it is further implied when they state that normally all of the chickens would have been euthanized once the operation at that facility had been shut down. It's cheaper for them to kill the chickens than to move them. That's the almighty dollar for you.

Don't count on it. Chickens are simply a commodity.

I have chickens and I love them. The eggs are a bonus!

You're a nice person. My grandmother saw them as strictly means to an end. Once they stopped being productive (missed a few days of laying) they became stewed immediately. Those were harder times even than even these around here, though. She got her money's worth for her feed. The main losses were to each other (in their feeding frenzy once blood is drawn; really hope that you've never seen that and you may not have depending upon the size of your flock) and, of course, hawks (are those in your area at all?) and chicken snakes.

the story's only hype... for those... wanting to do the funky chicken...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMy2rad5J5g&feature=related

I think it was supposed to be a joke.

Pet chickens.

Also see comments 12.1 and 12.2

i don't care.

Clebro. You are an idiot.

I raise my own chickens. Love the eggs and yes sometimes they end up on the table.....such is life!!!!!

Wow - so a company cannot comply with the new regulations so they let their chickens starve to death?

Somehow I don't feel like it's the state's fault that a) the company cannot provide descent housing for their chickens and b) that in failing to do so they just let 50k animals slowly starve.

clebro-so glad you find it so amusing even though you said you don't care. Sure are opening up your yap a lot and taking the time to post and read enough posts about this disgusting case of inhumane animal treatment. They're calling you back to your sanctuary as it's past your bedtime.

well what do you want them to do? call the humane society to find a home for 50,000 McNuggets? Or maybe you can take them in.

clebro - There are other farms in the area.

Crying Shame -- that's a huge biosecurity issue right there. You do not bring poultry from one facility into another to prevent spread of disease. Many places will require shower in/shower out for any visitors and maybe even workers.