Maybe someone can help me out; what is not included in “Tza’ar ba’alei chaim”? Obviously, animals are not as aware as humans, nor do they have identical psychological needs.
Is tiny confinement for animals Jewishly verboten, as some claim (to common ridicule)?
Today chicken beaks are burned off to prevent them from attacking and injuring one another! The beak is not nail or bone but flesh (yes, I know). Why are they suddenly violent? Because they are now confined together to smaller coops than they require. Does this matter to the Kashrus certification agencies? No.
And if the only issue is the beak-burning, what of tiny confinement for cows, sheep, etc.?
P.S., I now find the following Rashi in Mishlei 12:27:
חרוך, מחובר למקרא שלפניו כלומר דרך רשע תתעהו ולא יחרוך את צידו של רמיה שלו.
לא יחרוך, לא יצליח בתרמיתו ולפי שדבר בלשון ציד נופל בו לשון חריכה שהציד המצליח צד את העופות וחורכן באש.