Mother-Child Separation

Nothing says “humane farming” like taking a newborn away from their mother, but this is standard practice on industrial farms. After all, if a calf drinks the milk that their mother made for them, what is Arla going to bottle up and sell to us? Come on, people! Have some compassion. The CEO needs his bonus.

Calves are removed at birth, and both mother and calf grieve, sometimes calling for one another for days. But they are not the only ones. The chicks bred to lay supermarket eggs are taken away from their mothers even before they hatch. This is particularly distressing because the bond between a hen and her unhatched chick is so strong that they chirp to one another through the eggshell.

Piglets are taken from their mothers at four weeks old. Not only does this have a traumatic emotional impact, it also has a direct physical impact and makes them sick. This separation is why so many antibiotics are used in industrial pig farming,³ and using antibiotics to prop up poor factory-farming practices allows superbugs to flourish. It seems we all have to suffer so that shareholders get their dividends.