Factory farms are far from idyllic places that we picture when we think about farms. In fact, workers are able to get away with countless acts of animal abuse, especially when it comes to chickens and other birds. Chickens and other birds make up 95 percent of land animals that are killed and raised for food in the United States; however, unfortunately, they are not protected under the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act, which requires animals to be completely sedated and to not be able to feel pain during slaughter.

Thankfully, one of the nation’s largest poultry producers, Perdue, is making changes to decrease suffering. Perdue’s main goal is to make significant changes in their slaughter methods, the ultimate goal being to improve the welfare of their chickens and other birds.

Unfortunately, the birds are crammed into tight spaces with no exposure to sunlight due to the lack of windows in Perdue’s facilities. To enforce this, Perdue will install windows in 200 of its facilities and will determine whether or not the health of the chickens improve. If it does yield positive results, Perdue will install windows in 5,000 of their facilities, having already mandated that all of their new facilities have windows installed.

Currently, the chickens and other birds are crammed into tight spaces. As a result, the birds’ beaks are removed in order to prevent the birds from plucking each other to death. In order to ensure healthier chickens, Perdue will allow them more room to walk around.

In addition, chickens and other birds will not be slaughtered by an electrical stun and will not be dumped, shackled, or have their throats slit while still conscious. With this new change, they will now be slowly exposed to carbon dioxide, which will make them fall asleep and die a short while later.

Another significant and devastating problem in the world of factory farming is the overuse of antibiotics. Perdue has stated that another company goal is to completely eliminate the unnecessary use of antibiotics.

The use of hormones to raise chickens who grow far past their natural size is also something that the company wants to reevaluate. These hormones that are pumped into the birds cause their breast muscles to grow too large for their bodies to handle, often leaving them unable to walk.

Finally, there will be video surveillance that will monitor the catching and transport areas, to ensure that the birds are not abused.

These changes were mainly inspired by animal rights groups and the fact that Millennials want to know how their food gets to their plate and their refusal to accept these cruel practices. Ultimately, this is a significant and needed change to reduce suffering and to increase compassion towards sentient beings.