Natural lifespan and typical age at slaughter

jfagreg commented 7 years ago

Sources are needed for these statements concerning the typical age of farmed animals at slaughter vs natural lifespan. Sources can be separate for each statement, or a source may support more than one statement. Please do not use animal rights groups as sources for this—instead look for sources from the industry, university ag sites, studies, journals, and USDA, etc. If the numbers are incorrect according to your source, but sufficiently close that they still make the point that farmed animals are slaughtered when young, then correct the numbers to match your source.

Pigs: Slaughtered at 6 months; natural lifespan: 6 to 10 years

Layer chickens: Slaughtered at 6 weeks; natural lifespan: 5 to 8 years

Broiler Chickens: Slaughtered at 6 weeks; natural lifespan: 1 to 3 years.

Beef cattle: Slaughtered at 18 months; natural lifespan: 18 to 25+ years

Dairy cows: Slaughtered at 4 to 5 years; natural lifespan: 18 to 25+ years

Veal Calves: Slaughtered at 16 weeks young; Natural lifespan: 18 to 25+ years

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janeen-garrett commented 7 years ago

Red junglefowl are the wild ancestors of all domestic poultry (3). The average lifespan in captivity is 30 years. http://eol.org/pages/1049263/details. I was not able to locate the reference that the (3) referred to.

janeen-garrett commented 7 years ago

The wild ancestor of cows is not known, therefore it is difficult to determine what the natural lifespan of a cow would be. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151026092912.htm. Domesticated cattle: 20 years. http://genomics.senescence.info/species/entry.php?species=Bos_taurus.

The domestic pig originates from the Eurasian wild boar (Sus scrofa). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1461048/.
Life span is generally 15 to 25 years (Boreal Songbird Initiative, 2007). https://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/119688. I was not able to find the original source on the reference site. Wild boar: 27 years. http://genomics.senescence.info/species/query.php?search=sus+scrofa

jfagreg commented 7 years ago

Thanks Jan. I really wanted the numbers in captivity—didn't even think about ancestors. I need both natural lifespan if allowed to live, and typical lifespan before slaughter.

Sorry if that wasn't clear.

janeen-garrett commented 7 years ago

Those numbers were for captivity. Who knows the lifespan in the wild where animals are subject to being killed and eaten. Also my view is that selective breeding for exploitation has shortened the life span and is another way that we have harmed animals. I think that comparing the lifespan of a red junglefowl and an egg laying chicken is valid. A chicken that lays an egg every day is certainly not going to live as long as one that lays several eggs/year. The information on egg laying chickens that you want - I have already given you in those outlines.

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On Oct 27, 2017, at 2:38 PM, greg notifications@github.com wrote:

Thanks Jan. I really wanted the numbers in captivity—didn't even think about ancestors. I need both natural lifespan if allowed to live, and typical lifespan before slaughter.

Sorry if that wasn't clear.

— You are receiving this because you commented. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or mute the thread.

janeen-garrett commented 7 years ago

You said natural. There is nothing natural about a hen laying an egg every day! I was raised a Baptist; we take things literally!

From: greg notifications@github.com Reply-To: jufoan/research reply@reply.github.com Date: Friday, October 27, 2017 at 2:38 PM To: jufoan/research research@noreply.github.com Cc: janeen-garrett janeen.garrett@gmail.com, Comment comment@noreply.github.com Subject: Re: [jufoan/research] Natural lifespan and typical age at slaughter (#8)

Thanks Jan. I really wanted the numbers in captivity—didn't even think about ancestors. I need both natural lifespan if allowed to live, and typical lifespan before slaughter.

Sorry if that wasn't clear.

— You are receiving this because you commented. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or mute the thread.

jfagreg commented 7 years ago

Good points all. I'll run with it. Thanks.

On Oct 27, 2017, at 1:38 PM, janeen-garrett notifications@github.com wrote:

You said natural. There is nothing natural about a hen laying an egg every day! I was raised a Baptist; we take things literally!

From: greg notifications@github.com Reply-To: jufoan/research reply@reply.github.com Date: Friday, October 27, 2017 at 2:38 PM To: jufoan/research research@noreply.github.com Cc: janeen-garrett janeen.garrett@gmail.com, Comment comment@noreply.github.com Subject: Re: [jufoan/research] Natural lifespan and typical age at slaughter (#8)

Thanks Jan. I really wanted the numbers in captivity—didn't even think about ancestors. I need both natural lifespan if allowed to live, and typical lifespan before slaughter.

Sorry if that wasn't clear.

— You are receiving this because you commented. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or mute the thread.

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jufoan / research

Natural lifespan and typical age at slaughter #8