130505 Never Eat Chicken or Eggs Ever Again

We learned way too much about chickens and eggs this week! 

For all the pictures and movies:  CLICK HERE

In our never ending search for the right solution for a family chicken project, our journey took us to La Vega to visit some real chicken farms.  What an eye opener!

Our first stop to a farm that receives day old chicks destined to become broilers wasn’t too bad.  The pen was large, housing thousands of cute fluffy little chicks, but it was clean, cool and the little chicks at this stage had lots of room to flutter and run about.  Their pen was soft with clean new rice hulls for a bed and the owners were careful to make sure no contamination entered therein.  The water they drink is filtered and chlorinated---probably cleaner than the people themselves drink.

The next stop nearly killed us!  The moment we opened the car door, the stench nearly knocked us flat.  We suffered until the moment we were nothing but taillights; everything made us sick.  The pens were large filthy disease infested putrefied jails with 1000s of sick looking birds.  We wandered around taking a few pictures to learn what we could while the veterinarian we were with walked through the flocks looking for dead chickens.  He found ten, which he proceeded to dissect and diagnose the cause of death.  We were not a bit sorry to leave the place and resolved to never eat a commercial chicken again, even if it is the national dish!

Veterinarian checking for cause of death of chickens.

Our next stop was to a gigantic egg producing machine!   Thousands upon thousands of stressed hens were crammed into pens allowing them about 1.5 to 2 sq ft per bird with long rows of “nests” where they lay their eggs.  Our final revelation of the chicken industry occurred when they allowed us to go into their “modern” egg making machine.  It was a large building with row after row of pens.  Picture in your mind 10 hens all crammed into a 2’x2’ pen called a “cell”.  The hens eat egg stimulating feed and lay eggs that roll out into a tray that automatically carries the eggs to cartons without a human hand touching it.  The space isn’t large enough for any one of the chickens to hardly move.  They are in constant contact with the surrounding hens.  Ten “cells” are stacked on top of each other to form a “column”.  Hundreds of “columns” formed long rows.   There were a lot of rows.   A conveyor belt between each layer of cells takes away the chicken poop.  With the sound of stressed hens all crying for deliverance (which will surely come when they quit laying their quota of eggs!) filling our ears, we left with the resolve to never eat another commercially grown egg the rest of our days!

 

 

CLOTHES

We helped unload some of the bundles of clothes from the metal storage containers at the Area Office.  We are going to deliver them to random places that we visit.  The idea is that it is time to recycle these clothes intended to be for emergency situations.  Some of the clothes were in very bad condition.

Gertrudy Soriano and Diogenes Leocadio leaders of the Monte Plata Branch receiving 2 bundles of clothes.

METRO

Instead of driving to Church, we rode part of the subway line for the first time today with the Crismons and the Wegeners.  It was an interesting experience.  Here are some of the sites on the subway and during our walk to and from.

James and Joy Crismon and Edith waiting outside the subway station for the Wegeners to arrive.

Edith standing near the end of the line.

Lisa Wegener, Wallace, Edith, Joy and James Crismon

Man saleing fish taken from the Ozama River

 

 

1 Peter 3:4  ------ ornament of a meek and quiet Spirit in the sight of God is of great price.