This abnormal growth also creates stress for the cardiovascular system. Many birds develop congestive heart failure, which causes ascites - a pooling of body fluids in the abdomen. The industrialisation of animal agriculture also produces diseases because the birds are a monoculture, and if one gets infected in the confined environment of a factory, all of them are affected. The chicken has therefore to be chemically dosed with heavy doses of antibiotics and pesticides. About half of the thirty n-dllion po unds of antibiotics produced in the United States are fed to factory animals.
All poultry gets antibacterial additives in their feed.
Antibiotics are used to prevent or treat respiratory disease, coli bacillosis, synovites and other bacterial disease. Factory farming of thicken is plagued by avian influenza and infectious bronchitis. Sulfonamides are used against fowl cholera in poultry. Poultry producers also use arsenical compounds to speed growth and feed efficiency. The US DA claimed that only 2 per cent contained illegal residues.