There has got to be a better way to wrap up chickens, on the way to the slaughter house in frigid weather, than with a giant roll of Saran Wrap. Last week, on one of our coldest days, a loaded chicken truck pulled out in front of me from Hayes Road onto Hwy. 21 headed to Forest. By the time we got to the swamp the plastic wrap was blowing in the breeze like the tail of some giant kite.
By the time I turned off on Hillsboro Road heading into town and the office, there was plastic wrap in the trees, plastic wrap on the roadside and even plastic wrap wrapped around some road signs. It was still there on the return trip home that night. A whole bunch was still out there this morning. Honestly, that unsightly stuff is somewhere all of the time.
I understand it is the humane thing to do, and I suppose most likely the processing plants are not allowed to process dead, frozen chickens, but they don’t really have that far to go and it’s not like their fate is not predetermined.
Anyone that has ever read this column more than once a year has probably already seen me harping on the roadside trash in these parts.
It is ridiculous!
Besides the cattle feed bags, trash bags, coon, possum, and dog strewn garbage, and the thousands upon thousands of styrofoam food boxes, drink cups, beer cans and bottles, we also have Saran Wrap, or whatever it is legitimately called.
The heavy rains last week, as heavy rains do when they fill the ditches, washed up, and out, and everywhere a whole slew of styrofoam. That stuff floats, you know, and will never deteriorate in our lifetime.
On top of that, there is an ever growing number of product solicitations in the form of plastic corrugated signs on metal sticks for this, that, and the other. Our newly-paved road is featuring Internet wi-fi options this week. One company I am unfamiliar with, and the other AT&T, who came along just after the road was paved and the ditches cleaned out and dug up the ditches and dirtied up the road putting down high speed fiber.
What mess!
Then they decided to stick up the signs saying look out y’all we are coming soon. For a price, mind you. The signs don’t read “for a price” but believe you me, if AT&T is involved there is a price.
I freely admit, that I am biased. They should be advertising their services in this newspaper, not by littering Pine Grove Road, or any other road, with their little signs, but I’m honestly more concerned with the littering than the money.
Those signs are unattractive litter in my eyes just like the food boxes, beer cans, drink cups and anything else that can be tossed out of a car or truck window, except that they are strategically placed.
During election years, the Mississippi Department of Transportation is constantly warning politicians that campaign signs on the roadside are illegal and will be removed. Perhaps we need to issue the same warning to AT&T and like.
Clean it up, or get it cleaned up for you.
Back to the Saran Wrap.
A Google search of “why are live chicken trucks wrapped in plastic wrap” provided the following.
“Live chicken trucks are wrapped in plastic primarily to protect the birds from extreme weather conditions, such as freezing temperatures or high wind chill, during transport. The plastic acts as a windbreak, providing a controlled, calmer environment that reduces stress on the chickens while still allowing for necessary ventilation.
“Key reasons for wrapping transport, or using specialized enclosed containers, include:
“Environmental Protection: It keeps birds warm in cold, windy, or wet conditions, preventing cold stress.
“Reduced Stress & Safety: It creates a calmer, darker environment, which helps keep the birds quiet and reduces injury risk.
“Modern Transportation Welfare: Newer, specialized trailers for poultry are designed to be covered, providing better, more humane conditions than open-air crates.”
So, now we are concerned over our chickens getting stressed out on the way to being whacked out for life.
Kind of makes me stress out thinking about it. Especially when I see all that plastic wrap blowing in the breeze and hanging from the trees.
