Amish woman on TV said Chickens don't make good pets??????

[oesdog]

Just wanted to see what you all thought of that??????

I watched a programme called living with the Amish. http://www.channel4.com/programmes/living-with-the-amish

Where a group of teenagers from England go and stay with the Amish community.
On this weeks episode the girls were supposed to care for Chickens. They were all in one of those massive sheds ( Kind of much like Battery farming but bigger spaces)

- The Amish lady said she didn't know anyone who kept a chicken as a pet. That cats come to you but chickens run away?????? She also said that they didn't have the capacity to enjoy life as we would and that all they did was peck and sleep and lay eggs. She had a massive shed she kept them in and of course they never got outside to see the sun and her excuse was that it would be too hard to round them up and that preditors would get them. I can see her point to an extent but if she had the money to make a massive shed then I would guess there was money also to make a secure run all the way up the side of it. I kind of felt sad for the woman as she had soooo many chickens but had no idea of how wonderful they can be. She didn't take the time to know them at all. If she did I guess she would realise chickens do come to you and only run away from folk they are scared of! It just seemed a bit wrong that someone who is soooo deeply religiously convicted could miss the point! Yes we are given dominion over the animals and that is good and yes we do use them as food which is great - but they are not mindless brainless things but wonders of Gods creation. I guess I felt they needed a wee bit more respect than that before they ended up on the table? - She did remind me much of the farmers wife in the film Chicken run!!!!!!

In contrast I got my girls from a lovely man who farms chickens here and he has about 200/300 birds. ( They are NOT pets they are laying hens for business!)The lovely thing is that he tends them daily and they know him and come running everytime he goes to see them. He has big sheds too but he also has big runs that they love and play in. The sheds have proper nest boxes and roosts which the Amish lady's didn't seem to have? Of course he does have issues too like the wild birds taking feed but his hens are lovely happy and healthy girls. He has a wonderful intimate relationship with them - pitty the Amish lady has lost out on this. Not only has she missed so much but her chickens don't actually behave like normal chickens either and so I guess she has a warped view of a chicken. If only she had access to a computer I would so love her to have been enlightened and joined BYC!!!!! of course they don't so she will remain unaware of the true beauty of a chicken!!!!!! I wonder how she would react to us - with our wide range of chicken ways.

Anyhow this is just a random ramble on about how a different set of views can affect someones relationship with Chickens!!!

Oesdog

Don't I just wish that lady could do a life swap with some of us!!!!!!!

 

[Cetawin]

If she is indeed an Amish woman, not mennonite, she will have no electricity, no computer and no real modern conveniences. It is her way of life and she knows no different. I feel sad that she is missing the relationship of having one of them come running to you to be picked up or gets scratches and pats.

 

[Beekissed]

It just seemed a bit wrong that someone who is soooo deeply religiously convicted could miss the point! Yes we are given dominion over the animals and that is good and yes we do use them as food which is great - but they are not mindless brainless things but wonders of Gods creation. I guess I felt they needed a wee bit more respect than that before they ended up on the table?

I guess I'm not sure where her religion should come into her husbandry style? If she doesn't humanize a chicken, she can't be "respecting" them? Dominion merely means we are charged with their care...not necessarily with naming them cute names and cuddling with them. Perhaps she views her chickens as chickens, as a food source and as a source of income..but still cares for their needs of food, water and safe shelter.

I'm not saying I advocate her not having outside access for her chickens...mine all free range to their heart's content. But neither do I cuddle or otherwise rub them on my body, name each and every one, nor get upset if they don't run to me and hop up on my lap. I like them to be chickens~simply doing what chickens do without too much fussing over from me~ and I like to keep their "feelings" in perspective.​

 

[1muttsfan]

Maybe she just hasn't met the right chicken yet...

 

[Clay Mudd]

Quote:
There's another important point being missed here -- that there's more than one way to approach raising chickens.


Quote:
And learn the One True Path of chickendom?



Quote:
She's probably look at some posts and think, "What a precious bunch of loons with too much free time!"

 

[cafarmgirl]

Amish folk participating in a reality television show? Do they do that? Makes me wonder about the authenticity of her "Amishness" as purported by the creaters of that particular tv show lol!

But anyways, religious convictions aside, I think there are a lot of people who simply own and raise chickens for the eggs and meat and never see them as anything else, nor do they care do go any further with it. Sad? Yes to me it is but to people like that chickens are livestock who fullfill a purpose just like beef cattle or hogs etc. etc.

I do think any animal regardless of purpose should have proper accomodations and care.

 

[HHandbasket]

Quote:
I am SO glad I am not the only person who questioned that!

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

They cant own these things but can use them. Like if one is walking to the store an you offer a ride they can take it but they cant go out an buy a car.

 

[WyandotteTX]

I have raised chickens all of my life. From my dad having the incubator in my room as a small child, then watching the baby chicks as they came out to now when I raise purebred varieties. I dont think I have ever considered them pets. There are some that are spoiled for sure but in the end they are only chickens to me. Guess I am jus too utilitarian in my thinking. Pets are a luxury, chickens are a commodity just like most other domesticated livestock.
Not trying to ruffle feathers, just trying to enlighten others that there are other views about such things.
PS....I do not begrudge anyone having them as pets, that is their choice and to each their own. This is America after all

 

[frostbite]

In any religious group there is variation. People for whom raising livestock is necessary work for survival may not have the time to "enjoy" their animals the way those of us who do it in our back yards for a hobby do.

I would not judge them or their faith. Just accept that different people have very different perspectives.

A local guy here used to raise a steer for beef every year. My spouse asked one time how he could raise the animal from a baby and then look it in it's dark brown eyes and butcher it. The guy said, "Let him step on your foot once."

Different strokes....

By the way, she is right that chickens do not experience emotions the way we do. They do have emotions of a sort, however, and for details you might want to read Dr. Temple Grandin's book "Animals Make Us Human: Creating The Best Life For Animals" It gives a good look at animals, with one chapter devoted to chickens and other poultry. It presents a way of looking at animal emotions without making the mistake of thinking that they think like we do. Great read. Also chapters on cats, dogs, horses, cows, pigs, wildlife, and zoos.