"buried alive" news and stories

In Sonoma County in Northern California, old hens that can't lay eggs anymore are being euthanized and composted in layers of sawdust at a rate of 500,000 a year. They are killed by placing them in a box and gassing them with carbon monoxide, a quick , painless, and humane method of euthanization. The only problem is that not all the chickens are dead when they are composted. "Zombie chickens" is the nickname for live hens who are digging their way out, crawling and staggering from the heaps. Some say this was a one time situation where two dozen birds were buried alive, caused by inexperience, but others say that every now and then they do get zombie chickens roaming around.

These old birds don't have much in the way of meat, usually less than a pound of usable meat vs. a five pound healthy young cooking chicken. Supposedly slaughtering them properly and transporting them frozen for sale costs more than composting them. Also no one wants old stewing chickens anymore, not even soup factories, and the last California rendering plant stopped accepting the old hens as of last May. This isn't just a California problem but a nationwide one.

Suggestions are being made on how to use the retired birds. Some say make chicken sausage to feed the poor and homeless, others say use them as food for exotic reptiles kept in zoos and as pets. One industry group thinks that they could be used as fuel in power plants, like excess slaughtered beef is in some plants in Europe. Right now no one is coming up with any really practical and useful ideas. Does anyone want to start an old age home for retired hens?

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