Are Your Chickens Livestock or Pets?

[Shorty22366]

If one gets sick or injured I do all I can for them including a vet visit. If they are not going to make a full recovery rhen I give her or him to someone for a nice meal. I cry for days afterwards.

 

[chickens really]

Definitely livestock to me..I do enjoy watching them and do Cull anything that needs culling. I have cried over a favourite though too..
Mine are just here as layers and enjoy their lives.

 

[Mosey2003]

They're livestock that I am quite fond of. Being livestock to me doesn't mean that they get substandard care or cheap feed, it means that I understand that I am wholly responsible for them and I think about the decisions I make. And yes, I do cull them. I cull chicks that look sickly, I cull older layers, I cull birds that are not good representatives of their breed. Do I cull rather than sell or rehome because I don't value them (like pets)? Absolutely not. I cull them because I DO care, and I know exactly what and how has happened to them that way. They haven't had to take a car ride, be integrated into a new flock, or risk picking up disease.

UPDATE: By "cull," I always mean kill. By cervical dislocation.

 

[aart]

And yes, I do cull them.

Cull is another multi-definition word.
If you mean death, say kill/slaughter/euthanize.

 

[chickens really]

Cull is another multi-definition word.
If you mean death, say kill/slaughter/euthanize.

Why.....It's the respectful way of saying Kill..I definitely say Culling..

 

[Mosey2003]

Cull is another multi-definition word.
If you mean death, say kill/slaughter/euthanize.

There's nothing wrong with using cull when the definition can easily be derived from context.

 

[centrarchid]

Cull is another multi-definition word.
If you mean death, say kill/slaughter/euthanize.

I do a lot of culling for a lot of reasons and a range of outcomes for the organisms involved. Being particular, especially when communicating with an audience where context is not well well defined, helps control confusion.

 

[Mosey2003]

There, I fixed it.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I look on it as the flock is the entity that is made up of changeable parts that are always changing. Solve problems for the benefit of the flock as a whole, not any one specific individual. My goals are mainly meat and to play with genetics. Eggs are a nice side benefit. I enjoy watching them and observing how they act. Flock interactions are fascinating to me: broodies and chicks, roosters and hens, cockerels and pullets, chicks and chickens of varying ages.

If you have to put a label on them, mine are not pets so that probably makes them livestock. That does not mean you neglect or abuse them. Any animals are a responsibility that requires a commitment. Livestock is not going to produce unless it stays healthy and is kept in reasonable conditions. Growing up on a farm where we had livestock my understanding of what conditions are actually required for healthy animals may differ from someone that does not have that experience. That does not mean it is cruel or inhumane.

My flock gets a great life. They are healthy and get to act like chickens (whatever that means). I try to see to it that the individuals have as good a life as I can until they have that one bad moment.

 

[chickens really]

There, I fixed it.

Was not necessarily needed......