DeputyDave

Ok, I just got finished watching Baraka again. I had a group of friends over for some wine and I suggested we watch it. None of them have seen it. They were impressed as I always am but we all had the same question:

In the scene with the baby chicks, what were they doing when they would burn the beaks? None of us can figure it out.

Anyone?

jfoobar

The process is called "debeaking." Chickens raised in commercial chicken farms are packed into such tight quarters (it's rather cruel, actually, that they will sometimes go a bit mad and attempt to cannibalize one another. The debeaking, which removes only the sharp end of the beak, prevents them from killing one another.

They are often debeaked again later as well.

DeputyDave

Thank you (especially for the quick answer, every one is still here) that makes perfect sense.