backyard chickens make the news..

[cluckless]

Hipster? I'm as old-fashioned conservative as they come and I want backyard chickens! Can't have them yet, but I'm *gasp* DOING MY RESEARCH so I'll know what I'm getting into!

 

[ke5hde]

I'm actually offended by being called a "hipster".

Chris

 

[olefarmersdaughter]

I'm actually offended by being called a "hipster".

Chris

Sad thing...I don't even know what a 'hipster' is.....

 

[MEMama3]

Sad thing...I don't even know what a 'hipster' is.....

HIPSTER: Hipsters are a subculture of men and women typically in their 20's and 30's that value independent thinking, counter-culture, progressive politics, an appreciation of art and indie-rock, creativity, intelligence, and witty banter.

 

[normanack]

Edited to delete. I was responding to a different article.

 

[Studio2770]

Terrible article. I also think caponizing should come back so roosters aren't tossed around so much. Hipster, since when does owning chickens mean you're a hipster? One thing is for sure, for individuals who value intelligence, they sure didn't do their homework, and the poor birds are paying for it.

 

[yinepu]

I love how they focus on a few people and not the majority... and have such WRONG info in that article!

we butcher all non layers.. I would never dream of taking a chicken to an animal shelter..
hundreds of dollars on vet care?.. a swing with an axe is free
We also caponize.. so roosters are welcome in our hatches!

If the chickens are such a burden for the animal shelters... why not set up a program where they can be butchered to feed the homeless instead of whining about bad chicken owners???

"Hundreds of chickens, sometimes dozens at a time, are being abandoned each year at the nation’s shelters from California to New York as some hipster farmers discover that hens lay eggs for two years, but can live for a good decade longer, and that actually raising the birds can be noisy, messy, labor-intensive and expensive."
and how many dogs, cats, ........ children are also noisy, messy and labor-intensive and expensive...... and look how many of them are mistreated or abandoned every year....

"many urban farmers are surprised that chickens attract pests like rats, and predators including foxes, raccoons, hawks, and even neighborhood dogs."
the same can be said of garbage cans....

"She traces that rise to the so-called “locavore” movement, which spiked in popularity in 2008 as advocates urged people to eat more food grown and processed close to home." “It’s the stupid foodies,” said Britton Clouse, 60, who admits she speaks frankly. “We’re just sick to death of it.”
So I guess my grandparents. their parents and grandparents were "foodies"?...

"People entranced by a “misplaced rural nostalgia” are buying chickens from the same hatcheries that supply the nation's largest poultry producers and rearing them without proper space, food or veterinary care, she said."
HAHAHAHA... sorry.. but uhm... NOPE.. Places like Tyson Farms, Townsend Poultry, Purdue and others have flocks of breeder birds which lay their own eggs and have their own hatcheries.. we NEVER bought outsourced chicks when I worked at the hatcheries!

"The most commonly available hens have been bred to be good egg layers. At the same time, backyard farmers often use enhanced feed, light or other tools to prompt hens to lay constantly. "
Since when?.. I don't know of a single "backyard farmer" who has fancy lighted setups to control laying cycles!... Maybe I need to go play some motivational tapes for my girls when they decide to go on strike!

"Because chickens are notoriously hard to sex, some backyard farmers wind up with roosters, which are often culled and killed because they can be noisy, aggressive and illegal, and, of course, they don’t lay eggs at all."
Sorry.. but wrong again.. vent sexing and feather sexing are insanely easy.. not to mention sex linked chicks... who wrote this crap???

Calling us "hipsters" I suppose is better than being called an uniformed SHEEPLE...
I dislike all labels though.... but I do think the SHEEPLE who wrote the article need to stop and use a brain cell for once in their life and should lay off the koolaid....

 

[yinepu]

"She hopes the enthusiasm for raising backyard chickens will fade and that consumers will take a second look at their appetite for eggs and poultry.

“To go back in time sounds wonderful,” she said. “But there is not enough land on this earth to sustain the amount of meat, dairy and milk that people want.”​

Maybe she is in the wrong line of work... perhaps a job in the birth control or population control fields would suit her better?.......
After all.. if people weren't spitting out kids like a pez dispenser there wouldn't be so darn many people to feed....


unless she's a cheerleader for Monsanto.............................

 

[Bullitt]

"She hopes the enthusiasm for raising backyard chickens will fade and that consumers will take a second look at their appetite for eggs and poultry.

“To go back in time sounds wonderful,” she said. “But there is not enough land on this earth to sustain the amount of meat, dairy and milk that people want.”​

I find it ironic that National Shelter Director Susie Coston says this as she runs the Farm Sanctuary in Watkins Glen, N.Y. I am guessing that Coston lives there, and she says she enjoys chickens.

So it is okay for her to have chickens and enjoy them, but everyone else should stop having small flocks of chickens?

That seems pretty hypocritical to me.

These people make themselves feel better by caring for chickens. Fine. But don't tell others how to live.

 

[Studio2770]

I love how they focus on a few people and not the majority... and have such WRONG info in that article!

we butcher all non layers.. I would never dream of taking a chicken to an animal shelter..
hundreds of dollars on vet care?.. a swing with an axe is free
We also caponize.. so roosters are welcome in our hatches!

If the chickens are such a burden for the animal shelters... why not set up a program where they can be butchered to feed the homeless instead of whining about bad chicken owners???

"Hundreds of chickens, sometimes dozens at a time, are being abandoned each year at the nation’s shelters from California to New York as some hipster farmers discover that hens lay eggs for two years, but can live for a good decade longer, and that actually raising the birds can be noisy, messy, labor-intensive and expensive."
and how many dogs, cats, ........ children are also noisy, messy and labor-intensive and expensive...... and look how many of them are mistreated or abandoned every year....

"many urban farmers are surprised that chickens attract pests like rats, and predators including foxes, raccoons, hawks, and even neighborhood dogs."
the same can be said of garbage cans....

"She traces that rise to the so-called “locavore” movement, which spiked in popularity in 2008 as advocates urged people to eat more food grown and processed close to home." “It’s the stupid foodies,” said Britton Clouse, 60, who admits she speaks frankly. “We’re just sick to death of it.”
So I guess my grandparents. their parents and grandparents were "foodies"?...

"People entranced by a “misplaced rural nostalgia” are buying chickens from the same hatcheries that supply the nation's largest poultry producers and rearing them without proper space, food or veterinary care, she said."
HAHAHAHA... sorry.. but uhm... NOPE.. Places like Tyson Farms, Townsend Poultry, Purdue and others have flocks of breeder birds which lay their own eggs and have their own hatcheries.. we NEVER bought outsourced chicks when I worked at the hatcheries!

"The most commonly available hens have been bred to be good egg layers. At the same time, backyard farmers often use enhanced feed, light or other tools to prompt hens to lay constantly. "
Since when?.. I don't know of a single "backyard farmer" who has fancy lighted setups to control laying cycles!... Maybe I need to go play some motivational tapes for my girls when they decide to go on strike!

"Because chickens are notoriously hard to sex, some backyard farmers wind up with roosters, which are often culled and killed because they can be noisy, aggressive and illegal, and, of course, they don’t lay eggs at all."
Sorry.. but wrong again.. vent sexing and feather sexing are insanely easy.. not to mention sex linked chicks... who wrote this crap???

Calling us "hipsters" I suppose is better than being called an uniformed SHEEPLE...
I dislike all labels though.... but I do think the SHEEPLE who wrote the article need to stop and use a brain cell for once in their life and should lay off the koolaid....