Comments on: Which Came First

By: scienkoptic

scienkoptic — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 02:42:52 +0000

I’ve got no hesitation to put something down. I’m not prepared to eat them though. I figure if I ever get out of this hell, I’m going to raise meat birds. I just won’t let them get named!
I am every morning reminded how thankful I am for these birds. They ask for little and give lots in return.

If the chickens became a “Problem”, I would be ready to pitch a fight.
For most folks around here, an unwanted city chicken is an opportunity for the local “Santera”. They no problem dumping their chicken ‘offerings” around here.

By: Katie

Katie — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 16:07:05 +0000

Thanks for your comment! Chicken coop construction begins this weekend, and I only plan on getting 4 hens. And trust me, I have no qualms about killing. I agree with so much of what you’ve posted on the matter, and as a hunter, I see no wrong in a swift, humane death after a fulfilling, respected, natural life. It amazes me the way people decry me for hunting deer, for example, but have no issue eating meat at the store that was killed inhumanely after a short, disgusting, unnatural life of being treated as nothing more than a product. People who say they could never kill an animal have NO business eating meat.

By: Twwly

Twwly — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 14:27:59 +0000

Couldn’t agree more with you about just getting chickens. With town councils, better to ask for forgiveness than permission. The municipal worries about noise and smell generated from half a dozen chickens are ridiculous. Ditto rat concerns. It’s town! There’s already lots of noise, smell and garbage because there’s lots of PEOPLE.

We lost our first laying hen “naturally” this year. She was almost 3 years old, I have no idea what she died from. Just walked out to do feed & water one morning and she was stiff. I would imagine that most people doing “city chickens” would have educated themselves about feed & water requirements, and even the most basic care will prevent loss since the living conditions are so far superior to the chicken concentration camp (which the bulk of them survive through).

I will comment that my only concern with city chickens is end of life scenarios. I hate to see a “problem” passed on, and I would hate to see humane shelters wind up with anymore work. I worry some people won’t have the “heart” to kill something that either needs killing, or would be perfectly fine in a stew pot, having lead the happiest life a chicken could ever live.

Practically everyone I have talked to who is either interested in, or has chickens in town says “oh but I could never kill one”. If you are fine with a chicken who doesn’t lay as a pet, and have the room for one, power to you. But if often twangs of a few other annoying things people have said to me about their animals like “I have put a bark collar on my dog because I live in an apartment and my Jack Russell is barking all the time”. Which pretty much makes me see red!

By: scienkoptic

scienkoptic — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:41:08 +0000

@katie- I say F the law. I did. I got six hens that make far less noise than the following:
1: Neighbors leaf blower that runs most saturday evenings when I am outdoors
2: All the neighbors dogs that bark incessantly.
3: Just about everything else.

I think as long as roosters are not involved, most neighbors appreciate the periodic supply of fresh eggs.
hens are damanding. they get used to routines.
best thing I did was build an automatic Coop door so that I don’t have to get up before dawn to let them out or put them up at night.
If you have no intention of eating them, they are great pets which bring my children great enjoyment as pets.

My only reservation was buying six with plans that I’d lose a couple before I got any eggs. I didn’t. Either we did a good job raising them or the breed I picked are pretty hearty.

Based on my observations, I can’t imagine the miserable life a industrial chicken has. Chickens live for the forage. They’ll always defer feed for the bugs and worms that they scratch up.

By: Twwly

Twwly — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 20:04:44 +0000

Please do share.

By: promisedtogod

promisedtogod — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 18:08:54 +0000

i hope you don’t mind if i pass this link along.

By: promisedtogod

promisedtogod — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 18:05:28 +0000

What I want to express is gratitude for this post, because there are so many people now that don’t actually know what’s going in their food, or how it’s being produced. It’s so important to READ BEFORE YOU BUY, but most adults I know only apply that knowledge when they’re investing in something big like a car, or a house. They don’t actively apply that same line of thinking to what they’re ingesting.
The same can be applied to skincare, haircare and make-up. I can’t count the number of times I had skin reactions as a child because of ingredients in drugstore make-up. They put preservatives in the lipsticks, eyeshadows and foundations to prolong shelf life. The worst of them left me in a walk-in clinic on hallowe’en because my face was twice it’s usual size, and tomato red to boot.

Thanks for posting these, people need to know.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 16:12:40 +0000

I WILL not buy or eat factory farmed eggs….I always buy them from a free range, organic fed, farm. Not only are the animals treated with respect and love, the eggs just taste better…This is a topic close to my heart, as I am a failed vegetarian. I really tried to cut meat out of my life, but I am afraid I could not. I eat meat, but ONLY grass fed, free range beef, chicken and eggs, NO pork at all.

By: Charley

Charley — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 14:04:36 +0000

Soooo there with you on this one.

By: Katie

Katie — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 13:16:16 +0000

This is fantastic! I just posted yesterday about keeping chickens, and I added your post as a P.S. at the end. I’m not allowed to have them where I live, but I have plenty of room in my backyard and I can’t find any logic whatsoever to back-up the law banning them, so I intend to break it..