I work in a chicken factory. AMA!

[AintNobodyHereButUsChickens]

Anything you might’ve wanted to know about what really goes on in a chicken processing factory I might be able to tell you! (I’ve only been there 6 weeks so I don’t know EVERYTHING. But I know a bit!)

Honestly, I don’t know. I’ve only been to that part of the place once and I didn’t get up close to the gas chamber. I’m led to believe they don’t but I don’t know for sure. I was told it was like just going to sleep. They’re gassed by the CO2 levels in the chamber being increased gradually to induce unconsciousness, and eventually death.

I will! Thank you 😊

How to win hearts and minds.

I'm just away to put some chicken in the oven.

What is the rationale behind not even using the dropped chickens as pet food? I'm sure if they were rinsed off the meat would be fine for animal consumption. It seems so wasteful and disrespectful for want of a better word, that chickens were killed for nothing. Just to end up in a bin.

This has all put me off eating meat even more than usual!

Because if they’re killed by hand, it becomes a welfare and process issue. Protocols that are above my pay grade, basically.

My weight has actually gone up a teeny bit 😬 probably a combination of the free meals and hopefully building some muscles! I don’t feel fitter 🤣 my shoulders are aching now! Although that’s unusual tbh, I don’t generally have lasting aches which is something I need to keep an eye on.

I can’t comment on egg box colours…

It’s to do with hygiene. A lot of other stuff gets dropped on the floor. Gloves, bits of gloves, bits of packaging, there’s a lot of paperwork around and often the papers’ll get soggy and bits will end up on the floor and trodden everywhere. And also it would probably cost more to have someone rinsing off dropped meat than it costs to just chuck it. And anyway, the waste is still used! A by-product company collects it all and turns it into something that I can’t remember now 😅

Absolutely nothing from the chickens is actually wasted. It all gets used one way or another!

This is fascinating, for some reason I imagined working in a chicken factory would be awful, but you make it sound much better than I thought.

Is there any "risk" that you would be moved roles, to for example one of the roles where you check they bleed properly, or being put into the gas, or is that a completely different section/company/qualifications/etc?

Do you not get to see free range or organic chicken? I often wonder if it's worth spending more on, I usually buy the "higher welfare" variety.

Fascinating thread! Love a chicken nugget.

Also interested in whether it’s worthwhile paying £20 instead of £5 for a big chicken to feed the family, although not sure if you’ll know.

Thanks for the comprehensive answer 👍

Definitely muscle!

Do you receive chickens from multiple egg companies or do they all originate from just one?

Does - or would - your factory give tours to members of the public if they wanted to learn more about food sources and the production of meats/poultry?

Well they’re pretty much always advertising for workers. So all you gotta do really is pretend you’re interested in a job, come for a tour and be like “Sorry that’s not for me”. They welcome questions, I’ve asked all sorts and generally they’re happy to explain what does what!

This is Mumsnet, so any chicken will feed a family of 5 for a week 😅

This has been really interesting.

I’d definitely be proud of you if I was an in law! Gets on with things and find solutions, funny, fab writing style, comprehensive etc :) whatever direction life takes you next I’m sending good luck vibes

Hmm, being gassed by CO2 is not exactly like going to sleep, as much as I'm sure they would like you to believe that! (Although it may be the least worst option of slaughter, I'm not sure)

CO2 reacts with the moisture in their eyes, nose, and throat to form carbonic acid, which causes intense burning, irritation, and a distressing feeling of breathlessness (air hunger).
Unconsciousness is not instantaneous, leading to a period of suffering. Chickens can detect CO₂ at very low levels. Before they are fully sedated, birds often panic, attempting strenuous escapes, shrieking, shaking their heads, gasping for air, and jumping.
At concentrations typically used in commercial settings, it takes about one minute for a chicken to lose consciousness. In phased systems where the gas concentration rises gradually, this period can stretch to several minutes, during which the birds may still feel fear and pain.

There are other gases which could be used which would be painless. But my understanding is that they aren't used for human safety reasons, as an escape of these other gasses would be a danger to human life and the workers may not be able to tell before it was too late. Which is fair enough, to be honest!

We keep rescue hens who are at the end of their laying career
https://www.bhwt.org.uk/hen-adoption/

I’d love to know what happens to the waste meat if it’s not good enough for humans or pet food. It sounds like there’s quite a lot really, including all the bones.

in many ways its not hard to guess, but at the same time yes i get it its meat etc and they are bread for eggs and meat but still the poor birds, in an ideal society pitty they could not be on a farm for their last days.

that said im also realist eg costs of food plus their value etc

i guess you could ask what happens if theres a mass chicken escape

overall they are strange birds and given the option they do like to peck / bully each other at times and they would walk over a dead chicken to get food but overall they are still lovley if not strange creatures

Anyone being grossed out by the thought a chicken would eat a fellow dead chicken - they happily eat mice and I expect a live baby bird if it came into their run. So I don't doubt they might eat each other. They are like mini dinosaurs. But full of character. You are very good at writing and it sounds like you are good with people. I'm sure if you decide to move on you will be successful but thank you for being part of the British farming system feeding the nation.

can confirm chickens do eat precooked chicken, never known them to peck at a dead one in their flock, but yes they will walk over one to get to food etc

Apologies if this has already been asked, but do you know why sometimes you get a piece of chicken breast that has the weirdest texture?

Ive seen it described as woody/chewy but I wouldnt agree with that so I think its something else. Its almost like a bizarre very dense jelly like texture to cut into, tasteless, and just feels absolutely hostile to chew, like a gristly texture 🤢

the op may have a better answer but i got this one :

That bizarre, dense, jelly-like, or "gristly" texture you are describing is a muscle myopathy known as "Spaghetti Meat", often found alongside the more widely known "Woody Breast" condition.

These texture defects are a well-documented challenge in the modern poultry industry and are primarily caused by rapid growth rates and selective breeding for abnormally large breasts

Ooh I think I can answer this one! When we grade breast meat, we look for defects like tumours, excess fat, bits of bone still attached and something called ‘over scald’. That’s when a bird has been dipped into the hot water for a tad too long and has juuuust started to cook briefly. Over scald are usually white on the top, but sometimes they’re just really tough and almost solid. I assume that any tough meat like you describe is over scald that has been missed during grading.

I've had this a few times now and it's totally put me off breast meat 🤢