Poultry king Poland hatches 2 billion chicks a year

KONDRAJEC PANSKI, Poland - In what looks like a Niagara Falls of yellow feathers, thousands of chicks cascade down a conveyor belt in central Poland.

A day old, they only have 41 days of life left. Their fate is sealed: Once grown, they will wind up on a plate.

Nonetheless, the conditions during their brief lives should be better, according to animal welfare activists, ever more active and influential in Poland as elsewhere.