Battery Cage: A wire cage in which up to 9 laying hens are crammed together for their entire lives, from the time that they begin egg-laying until they are sent to slaughter. The cages are stacked three or four tiers high in sheds or barns with no fresh air or natural sunlight. About 95% of eggs sold in the U.S. come from hens kept in these cages.

Beak Trimming: Removal of a portion of a bird's beak to prevent feather picking and other forms of cannibalism among chickens, turkeys and ducks raised under stressful factory-farming conditions. Usually performed by cutting off the end of a young chick's beak with a hot blade. Also referred to as “de-beaking” or “partial beak amputation.”

Boar: An uncastrated mature, male pig used for breeding. Often kept confined and isolated from other pigs on factory farms.

Bovine Growth Hormone: Milk and dairy products produced in the United States - unless otherwise labeled - may come from cows routinely injected with this genetically engineered hormone. BGH, given to artificially manipulate lactation and increase milk output, can cause significant health and welfare problems in dairy cows.

Branding (“hot” and “cold”): In hot or “fire” branding an iron is used to burn a mark onto the body of an animal for identification purposes. In cold or “freeze” branding liquid nitrogen is used to alter the growth of hair in the brand area. Both forms, which are typically performed on cattle, especially in western states where cattle graze on the range, are known to cause pain and distress in animals.

Broiler: Term used to refer to chickens raised for meat. Today's meat chicken has been selected and bred to grow very rapidly and to provide meat portions of a uniform size and weight when slaughtered. Chickens on factory farms live in crowded, dusty, noisy sheds and are sent to slaughter at approximately 42 days of age.

CAFO: Acronym for Confined Animal Feeding Operation. A term used to refer to farms where a large number of animals are confined for the purpose of growing as fast as possible for slaughter.

Cannibalism: The tendency of intensively raised farmed animals to attack, bite or otherwise injure other animals due to stress caused by crowded housing conditions and the lack of opportunity to perform normal behaviors.

Castration: Removal of the testes of male animals, accomplished by 3 primary methods – 1) knife; 2) the “emasculator,” a pliers-like device that crushes or severs the spermatic cord and blood vessels supplying the testicles; and 3) the “elastrator,” a rubber ring that shuts off blood supply and causes necrosis, eventually resulting in the sloughing off of the testicles. Procedure is typically performed on farm animals without any pain relief.   

Cull Cow: A dairy cow removed from the milking herd and sent to slaughter because she is no longer considered profitable due to a drop in milk output.

Dairy Drylot: Unpaved dirt lots used for full-time housing of dairy cows, especially in California and the southwestern U.S. The ability of dairy cows to feed, sleep and exercise in drylots is limited by environmental conditions and the small amount of space available to each animal. Drylots often fail to provide adequate protection from environmental elements, including excessive wind, sun and precipitation.

Dehorning/Debudding (removal of horns): Debudding refers to destruction of the horn bud in cattle less than 3 months, while dehorning refers to amputation of the horn in older cattle. A variety of methods are used. Most often performed by applying a hot iron to burn the horn bud in young calves. Calves may also have a strong chemical paste placed around the horn bud to destroy it. The horn is also sometimes cut out with a spoon or a scoop. Another method consists of sawing off the horns of older animals.

Downer: An animal unable to walk under his or her own power due to disease, chronic disability or acute injury. Also referred to as a “downed animal.” Non-ambulatory animals are sometimes shipped off to slaughter to avoid having to pay for vet care or euthanizing the animals on the farm.

Dust Bathing: A normal behavior performed by chickens to clean themselves, distribute oil through their feathers and to remove dead skin and skin irritants. Chickens form a dust bowl, roll on their sides, and stretch out their legs and feathers. Attempted by chickens in virtually all situations even those confined to battery cages with no “dust” (sand or litter) available.

Electric Prod: A device delivering a high-voltage electrical shock that is used to move animals. Also referred to as a “hotshot.”

Factory Farm: A site where a large number of birds, cattle or pigs are raised for consumption under an industrial-type system. Animals raised in factory farms are confined in small spaces, usually without access to fresh air and sunlight, and given hormones and antibiotics to increase their growth and prevent disease that may result from living under such stressful conditions.

Farrowing Crate: A device (also referred to as a “stall”) used to confine lactating sows. The crates, which are similar in size to gestation crates, are designed to allow piglets to suckle while restricting movement of the sow. Sows are moved into the crates at the end of the pregnancy and are kept there for the initial 2-3 weeks after birth of the piglets.

Feather Picking: A pecking disorder where chickens raised under factory-farming conditions pull the feathers of other birds. Caused by stress due to crowded housing and the inability to perform natural behaviors.

Feedlot: Purpose of these large dirt lots is “finishing,” or putting weight on animals before slaughter. Cattle feedlots may hold 50,000 or more animals. Housing cattle in a high-density situation and forcing them to undergo a large and rapid weight gain causes significant health and welfare problem. Feedlot cattle are subjected to inadequate space, lack of exercise, high levels of dust and an accumulation of mud and animal waste.

Finisher Pig: Pigs are classified according to their age and the purpose for which they are fed. “Finishing” refers to the process of putting weight on pigs for slaughter. Finisher pigs are sent to slaughter at 120 to 240 lbs. Also referred to as “grower-finisher pigs.”

Foie Gras: A food item, considered a gourmet delicacy, produced from the liver of ducks or geese who have been force-fed enormous quantities of meal two or three times per day through a pipe inserted into the bird's esophagus. The force-feeding process is done for three to four weeks before slaughter and can result in the rupture of internal organs, respiratory difficulties, infection and premature death.

Forage, Foraging: Normal behavior of animals when they move around in a manner that allows them to encounter and acquire food for themselves or their offspring. Foraging is not possible under factory-farming confinement conditions but usually is available to farm animals kept in “free range” or “pasture raised” situations.

Forced Molting: Artificially stimulating a new egg-laying cycle by subjecting hens to stressful conditions. These stressful conditions include withholding food and water and limiting artificial or natural light. Conventional forced molting protocol calls for removing food for up to 12 days and restricting water for up to 3 days.

Free Stall: A method of housing dairy cows where the animals are allowed to move freely in and out of stalls and usually also out-of-doors into concrete or earth yards where they receive food and water. Access to pasture may not be provided however.

Gestation Crate: A device used to confine pregnant sows. The crates (also referred to as “stalls”) are approximately 2 ft wide and 7 ft long and prevent the sows from turning around and moving about freely. Breeding sows are kept in the crates while they are pregnant, which represents the vast majority of their lives. At the end of their pregnancy, the animals are moved to “farrowing crates.”

Layer: A chicken raised for egg-laying purposes. Most layers in the U.S. are selected and bred for high egg production and confined for their entire productive lives to small “battery cages.”

Polled Cattle: Cattle possessing a gene that causes them to not grow horns. Breeding cattle with this gene is a more humane alternative to removal of horns (“dehorning”).

Sow: An adult female pig used for breeding. Kept in a “gestation crate” while pregnant until moved to a “farrowing crate” for birthing their piglets. Bred repeatedly until reproduction drops and sent to slaughter (“cull sow”).

Spent Hen: An egg-laying chicken who is no longer producing enough eggs to justify her maintenance, which usually occurs after a little more than a year of production. May be killed on the factory farm or transported to a slaughterhouse.

Stocking Density, Space Allowance: Maximum number of animals or maximum animal weight per specified area, such as square foot or yard. Used to refer to number of animals occupying a particular area such as a pen or transport vehicle. Alternatively, “space allowance” refers to the minimum amount of space allotted per animal.

Stunning: Process used to render farm animals insensible to pain prior to cutting for slaughter. Accomplished by one of several methods including gun shot to the head, captive bolt to the head, electrical current to the head and/or body, or carbon dioxide or other gases. U.S. law requires stunning before slaughter for mammals (cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, horses) but not for birds (chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese).

Switch Trimming: Trimming the tuft of long hairs at the end of a cow's tail. A more humane alternative to “tail docking.”

Tail Docking: Removal of a portion of the tail of pigs and dairy cattle. Usually accomplished by use of an “elastrator,” a device that stretches a rubber ring over the tail, shutting off blood supply and creating necrosis that eventually leads to the sloughing off of the tail. Done to prevent tail biting in intensively housed pigs and, in cows, to make milking more convenient for dairies. Also referred to as “tail banding.”

Tethering: Restraining animals by tying them around the neck or abdomen. Practice is typically performed with calves and pigs confined indoors who are provided little or no opportunity for exercise or normal interactions with other animals.

Tie Stall: A method of housing dairy cows in which the animals are tied in a barn stall for long periods of time, unable to exercise and engage in normal behavior such as grooming.

Veal Calf: A young bovine, usually male, fed a milk-based liquid diet throughout his lifespan of 16 to 20 weeks (until a weight of 350-400 pounds is reached). Movement is also prevented by use of chains or housing the animals in small crates or stalls to prevent muscle development and produce pale, tender flesh. Meat also referred to as “formula-fed,” “milk-fed,” “special-fed” or “white” veal.

Weaning: To remove an animal from suckling milk from his/her mother and substitute a solid grain or grass-based diet. Process naturally takes months to occur, but animals on factory farms are forcibly weaned at an extremely young age (i.e. 3 weeks of age for pigs) to allow breeding animals to be re-impregnated as soon as possible.

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