Over the 1.5-2 years of their lives (including transportation and slaughter), conventional egg-laying hens are estimated to spend:
431 hours=18 days, or ~2.5% of their lives, with Disabling pain
4054 hours=169 days, or 23% of their lives, with Hurtful pain
Over the 45-50* days of their lives (ignoring transportation and slaughter), conventional chickens raised for meat (broilers) are estimated to spend:
51 hours=2.1 days, or ~4.5% of their lives, with Disabling pain
297 hours=12.4 days, or ~26% of their lives, with Hurtful pain
The above estimates:
Allow pains from different sources to overlap in time and sums their durations even if they overlap, so the actual durations could be shorter. I would guess Hurtful pain would be ignored when also experiencing Disabling pain (from another source).
Assume the chickens are not in pain while they sleep. From a quick Google search, chickens sleep about 8 hours a day, so they spend 1⁄3 of their time sleeping. I don’t know how much WFP assumed they sleep, and it’s plausible their pain often keeps them from sleeping.
My own guess would be that under a symmetric ethical view like classical utilitarianism, each of the Disabling pain or the Hurtful pain alone would outweigh the good in these chickens’ lives in expectation, and both together would very likely outweigh the good, since
It seems like these chickens spend the equivalent of ~1/3 of their waking hours with Hurtful pain. (Shorter since pains from multiple sources may be experienced at the same time but their durations are added. Still, multiple pains at the same time are probably together worse than any of them alone at a time, per second.)
At best, their goods will be as good (per second) as Hurtful pain can be bad, and they won’t be experienced enough of the time to make up for the Hurtful pain.
I’d guess Disabling pain is at least ~10x ~5x as bad as Hurtful pain on average per second, so the Disabling pain in their lives probably contributes about as much or more at least half as much bad overall as the Hurtful pain. (EDIT: adjusted from at least ~10x to at least ~5x)
* The typical broiler lives 40-45 days, but WFP added the pain from 1/140th of the average female broiler breeder, who lives 1-2 years and produces ~140 chickens for meat. 2 years/140=5.2 days.
Based on Welfare Footprint Project:
Over the 1.5-2 years of their lives (including transportation and slaughter), conventional egg-laying hens are estimated to spend:
431 hours=18 days, or ~2.5% of their lives, with Disabling pain
4054 hours=169 days, or 23% of their lives, with Hurtful pain
Over the 45-50* days of their lives (ignoring transportation and slaughter), conventional chickens raised for meat (broilers) are estimated to spend:
51 hours=2.1 days, or ~4.5% of their lives, with Disabling pain
297 hours=12.4 days, or ~26% of their lives, with Hurtful pain
The above estimates:
Allow pains from different sources to overlap in time and sums their durations even if they overlap, so the actual durations could be shorter. I would guess Hurtful pain would be ignored when also experiencing Disabling pain (from another source).
Assume the chickens are not in pain while they sleep. From a quick Google search, chickens sleep about 8 hours a day, so they spend 1⁄3 of their time sleeping. I don’t know how much WFP assumed they sleep, and it’s plausible their pain often keeps them from sleeping.
My own guess would be that under a symmetric ethical view like classical utilitarianism, each of the Disabling pain or the Hurtful pain alone would outweigh the good in these chickens’ lives in expectation, and both together would very likely outweigh the good, since
It seems like these chickens spend the equivalent of ~1/3 of their waking hours with Hurtful pain. (Shorter since pains from multiple sources may be experienced at the same time but their durations are added. Still, multiple pains at the same time are probably together worse than any of them alone at a time, per second.)
At best, their goods will be as good (per second) as Hurtful pain can be bad, and they won’t be experienced enough of the time to make up for the Hurtful pain.
I’d guess Disabling pain is at least
~10x~5x as bad as Hurtful pain on average per second, so the Disabling pain in their lives probably contributesabout as much or moreat least half as much bad overall as the Hurtful pain. (EDIT: adjusted from at least ~10x to at least ~5x)* The typical broiler lives 40-45 days, but WFP added the pain from 1/140th of the average female broiler breeder, who lives 1-2 years and produces ~140 chickens for meat. 2 years/140=5.2 days.