Just because PETA protests the loudest doesn’t mean there aren’t any honest protesters who want to stop the cruelty.
The chickens used for kapparos are definitely being treated with cruelty. Whether this is worse than the typical treatment of chickens is something I honestly don’t know, but it is wrong. If this is how chickens are always treated, something needs to be done. I personally have seen chickens packed into crates like sardines with no access to water and no food.