Chickens: Pets Or Food?

[strega78]

Mine will be pets (when I can get some anyway lol).....and as long and they give us plenty of eggs they will be able to stay (hubby says but if they don't they wont go nowhere unless by some odd chance we get some mean chickens lol).

 

[seminolewind]

Mine are all pets, and when they stop laying, they will retire to the Sunny Florida Old Fart's Coop in my yard, and get oatmeal for breakfast.

 

[dtm]

Food and providers of such. If the hens dont lay, or dont lay well, they go to the freezer. I do have a couple I'd hate to see go just like most of the rest of you, but for the most part, my chickens are for laying eggs and eating!!!!

 

[chickless]

People who love companion animals do not necessarily have to attribute "human" feelings to them to love and care for them, and since we are animals too, there is no reason to believe that self-awareness and emotions are not present in other animals, probably on a spectrum, as with a lot of other biological traits we share with other animals, such as communication, social behavior, etc. In fact the more science looks into it, the more likely it appears that some animals do share emotions in common with humans, basically because they have adaptive value. Emotional awareness may be much more widespread in animals than we know. They may have emotions that are not exactly the same as ours, but a relationship with animals doesn't require that we share the exact same emotions. Even emotions between individual humans are different.

That doesn't mean you can't raise animals for food or eat them. It just means you may be more aware of their capacity to suffer and avoid causing them suffering or buying meat from factory farms where you know animals suffer greatly. I prefer to buy meat from the families I know who raise animals humanely and in the fresh air and on grass. I have a lot of respect for them and others who do this.

 

[DaisyBishop]

Pets...all 30 of them. I keep hearing from my teenager how it is wrong to eat store-bought chicken and have pet chickens but she is in her vegetarian phase at the moment. They are pets but they do not come in the house. I have enough to deal with the dogs and the cats. I don't want to deal with chicken poo in my house.

 

[paddock36]

We have them for food and sort of pets. My DH says all pets are food if they have to be.

 

[mylittlezoo]

I have two sets of chickens - those who are pets and those who.... aren't

!!

 

[Warfrost]

We believe that they can be both. Most of our chickens are layers, we have one permanent roo, and we have 4 mutt roos that have been freezer-camp-bound from the get-go. We are planning on getting a couple of Silkies as pets, but they also lay- so we'll be eating the eggs.

I think we can have the best of all worlds! I do prefer to eat my own chickens- I know they have had good lives, good treatment, lots of treats and food, and that our children know where their food comes from, and they have a respect for animals(food and pet alike) that many children miss out on. When you buy a store-bought chicken, you don't know what kind of treatment they have had. I've seen too many stories of chickens treated as objects and not as living things. My children get a life lesson every time I process one of our own.

I will also say that we name every single one of our animals. My kids know who is meant for the table and who is not, but it allows them to see each one as a separate, living entity that deserves to be treated well, no matter what the eventual destination for that animal is. Next weekend we will be processing Pretty Boy, Gorgeous, The Sheik, and Fop.

We love our chickens as much as we love the way they taste.

 

[bmelanco]

Quote:
Yeah, life is hard enough without a chicken pooping on your floor...

 

[momreda]

My pets give me breakfast