How did factory farming start?

History of factory farming Up until the 1900s chickens were kept outside in coops and in backyards by families keeping a small number of hens. Indoor farming was introduced at the start of the last century, when layer hens were first kept in more intensive systems. read more

The cattle feed industry made it easy for the farmer to start an intensive livestock farm (financing the factory unit often organizing the building and the necessary licenses etc.). The only thing the farmer needed to do was to sign on the dotted line. read more

The term seems to first appear in literature from the 1940's. "Factory farming" is just a phrase coined by animal rights activists to refer to large-scale animal agriculture. read more