"Perdue Says Its Hatching Chicks Are Off Antibiotics"

"Perdue Farms says it has ditched the common practice of injecting antibiotics into eggs that are just about to hatch. And public health advocates are cheering. They've been campaigning against the widespread use of antibiotics in agriculture, arguing that it's adding to the plague of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

This particular use of antibiotics is ubiquitous but little-known. It happens at hatcheries, which lie at the heart of large-scale chicken production."

Dan Charles reports for NPR's All Things Considered September 3, 2014.