Mike is one of many magnificent “broiler” friends we’ve had over the years. Like many of his predecessors, he’s an outgoing boy who knows his name, runs to us or tosses his head when we call him, and loves to eat lunch with staff (many of us have shared our salads or rice and beans with the appreciative boy!). You can find him by the break room door around 12:30 waiting for the staff to show up with snacks. He is part of the ‘underfoot family’, which means that he is allowed to walk freely around the Sanctuary during the day.
Sadly, these birds are bred to grow so large so quickly that the lucky few who escape their fate live very short lives. Their chronic health problems are similar to those of morbidly obese humans — they have respiratory, circulatory and joint issues, and so many die of violent heart attacks that the wretched poultry industry has dubbed the condition “flip-over syndrome”.
