The so called broiler, a chicken farmed for its’ meat, is the most killed animal in the world. 576,000,000 chickens are killed in Italy alone every year. Low prices and high demand call for an ever increasing speed of farming, killing and processing birds.

To meet those requests, leading companies are introducing machine lines able to kill, process and package up to 15000 birds per hour. Those processing plants require only a minimum of human intervention, instead, a sophisticated array of machines transports the bird through the different stations, beginning from stunning and killing, over removing feathers and intestines to packaging and distribution. To maximize efficiency, every step of the process is streamlined and engineered, from the egg to the product.

The following book makes a journey through the last century of chicken processing, follwing the inventions and machines involved into the process and asks the question:

Are those birds really living beings or just protein on legs meant to sustain us?

If the only purpose of life is to be killed, can it be called alive?

If we created it by breeding and genetic engineering, is it organic?

If only machines interact with the bird, is it not just a product?

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