‘in “humane” farms the animals are more often sick (since they do not take antibiotics, …)’
It sounds like the book is referring to organic farms, which are not necessarily as humane as could be possible, for reasons like this. I’ve read about UK organic farms and it seems that disease rates can be relatively low even without antibiotics due to using lower stocking densities. For sheep it’s a problem, though, because they can’t help encountering germs in their environment. There’s nothing to stop a truly humane farm from using antibiotics, though.
Thanks for the reply. Yeah reading the book I got the impression that the example the author uses could be an isolated one and it was not everywhere like that. However, I also did not find easy to find statistics on the problem in internet. But your response seems more accurate than what it is presented in the book
I only just saw your reply. Here’s a (fairly old) report that discusses organic farming in the UK, including management of disease, that may be useful—though note it was sponsored by a organic-promoting organisation, but it does include criticism and doesn’t just seem to be a piece of marketing: http://charliepyesmith.com/wp-content/uploads/2003/01/Batteries-not-included.pdf . I don’t know of any other thorough reports—it would be useful if there were more.
‘in “humane” farms the animals are more often sick (since they do not take antibiotics, …)’
It sounds like the book is referring to organic farms, which are not necessarily as humane as could be possible, for reasons like this. I’ve read about UK organic farms and it seems that disease rates can be relatively low even without antibiotics due to using lower stocking densities. For sheep it’s a problem, though, because they can’t help encountering germs in their environment. There’s nothing to stop a truly humane farm from using antibiotics, though.
Thanks for the reply. Yeah reading the book I got the impression that the example the author uses could be an isolated one and it was not everywhere like that. However, I also did not find easy to find statistics on the problem in internet. But your response seems more accurate than what it is presented in the book
I only just saw your reply. Here’s a (fairly old) report that discusses organic farming in the UK, including management of disease, that may be useful—though note it was sponsored by a organic-promoting organisation, but it does include criticism and doesn’t just seem to be a piece of marketing: http://charliepyesmith.com/wp-content/uploads/2003/01/Batteries-not-included.pdf . I don’t know of any other thorough reports—it would be useful if there were more.