Paul Lentz’s letter of April 29 on chicken factory farms: [His] remarks about the use of antibiotics make it sound like the reason that the protein industry’s (beef, pork, chicken) use of antibiotics is a matter of greed and is profligate in its use.
I spent over 15 years in the chicken and pork industry with Gold-Kist before they were acquired by Pilgrims Pride. When I was there, it was a farmer-owned co-operative. My title was senior software architect, but my duties did get me to the plants, feed mills and farms.
When I worked for Gold Kist, antibiotics were only used in about one flock in 20 [and only] after symptoms of infection showed up. The use of antibiotics was minimal and was stopped at least 4 weeks before processing to allow the drug to be expelled from the bird’s system.
Where did the infection come from? The birds are fed a diet of raw corn and soy meal, and it is on the feed. Wild birds are carriers of such bacteria as campylobacter, salmonella and botulism. There are viruses such as Newcastle’s disease and avian influenza (bird flu). The wild birds defecate on the corn as it is drying on the stalk and [the infections] sometimes find their way into the grain storage areas and contaminate the grain. By keeping the chickens in growout houses, contamination risk is kept down.
Chicks grow from a couple of ounces to about 5 pounds in 60 days; this is because of selective breeding, not genetic modification.
While Mr. Lentz was complaining about crowding in the growout houses, there are three factors that he failed to mention.
1. When the birds are placed in the house, each bird does not take up a lot of room. It is only in the last few days, (from about the 50th day) would the birds be crowded.
2. By their very nature, chickens will flock together; at times the birds will pack close together and there will be open space in the rest of the house.
3. Chickens are afraid of strangers. If a stranger shows up, they will cluster as far away from the stranger as possible.
After the flock is sent to the processing plant, the growout house will be cleaned out and steam-cleaned to kill bacteria and viruses. Sunlight will be let in to kill any mold spores. The house will be left open to air for 30 days.
I would be worried about the excessive use of antibiotics and crowding in the the poultry industry — if there were a problem. I do not feel that such a problem exists.
Larry DeBert
Fayetteville, Ga.
