Coalition of Animal Sanctuaries Urges Ban on Backyard Chickens

[michickenwrangler]

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They really are in la-la land. This is the irony of these types of groups: They believe they are great nature lovers, but are in actuality distant from the realities of nature. Consider the criticism that chickens will attract mice. Good grief - chickens will EAT mice.

Katherine

Do these people know this lil fact about chickens?

Mine also chase squirrels. My mother has a problem with obnoxious squirrels digging up her gardens, small trees and eating seasonal decorations. When my hens were chicks and roaming around her yard, she had fewer squirrel problems.

Sorry about the P word!

Has anyone done a database to compare pros and cons of backyard chicken keeping to see what comes out on top? Seems as long as you buy from reputable breeders and hatcheries the pros outweigh the cons. It would be like having "normal" pets.

 

[AZKat]

I think that the important thing to remember here is that what these groups are doing is trying to 'move the goal posts'. They have been fairly successful at raising public awareness about how inhumane industrial chicken raising is, and as a result, a more people are interested in raising their own birds. So now, they have to convince everyone that hatcheries are just as bad as industrial egg operations, that shipping baby chicks is cruel, and that the happy, healthy birds in backyards are as bad off as the birds who are living in industrial chicken operations.
The good thing, for us, is that all of these assertations are patently untrue, and fairly easy to refute.

 

[SarasotaClucker]

Our City Commissioners got the email too. I'm glad BYC reconsidered and will allow us collectively to work on responses.

I don't think it is productive to dump on the groups that sent it out -- they are certainly entitled to their opinions and I think it would behoove all of us to support responsible backyard-chicken keeping -- we just differ somewhat on exactly what that entails.

But we will have to address their concerns. Here are several points:

The objections they raise concerning chickens pertain to virtually all pets. Some unscrupulous breeders of all pets confine breeding stock in conditions we would agree is unethical and produce large numbers of pet offspring speculatively. [My understanding is that chick producers are more likely to produce based on actual orders, so that is better than puppy and kitten mills.] Then some people keep pets in deplorable and unsafe conditions. I expect we deplore that whether it is dogs, cats, chicks or whatever. We want people to have success with their birds, not lose them to disease and predators.

Animal rights groups should be working with backyard chicken entities, not simply to improve the lives of our chickens, but to create the critical mass necessary to change the conditions 99% of American chickens live in. Once neighbors see the engaging unique personalities evident in our flocks they will be more likely to seek out eggs from chickens raised humanely and support efforts to improve conditions for commercial chickens.

I think it goes without saying that backyard chickens will be better loved, cared for, and even mourned than the chickens that should be the focus of animal rights organizations.

The document we received is undocumented without citations (one vet) or sources that can be independently verified. As such they are merely allegations.

Part of the reason so many of us are fighting to make chickens legal in our towns and cities is to eliminate the need to dispose of illegal chickens.

It would be helpful if the email proponents would circulate their take on humane slaughtering, instead of suggesting no one knows how to do it.

The tone of their document changes considerably when they get to SUGGESTIONS IF YOU ARE CONSIDERING A BACKYARD FLOCK. With some tweaks I could sign up for most of that part of the document.

 

[SarasotaClucker]

One more thing... (are you sitting down?) it is entirely possible that backyard chicken keepers are a potential new source of lacto/ovo vegetarians or animal rights folks, though not as extreme as the people that produced the document we're discussing.

Why do I say that?

I suspect more people get chickens 1) intending to raise them for eggs and meat and then, once they bond with their birds, rethink the meat part and decide they don't really want to kill them than 2) get chickens only for eggs and companionship and then later decide to eat them.

If so, then the backyard chicken movement may inadvertently be generating numbers of people that decide not to eat chicken, or at least not their pet chickens.

I believe it comes down to personal experience that determines what someone will and will not consider killing. My father used to shoot brant (a small duck-like goose) until one time he shot one that had hatched that year and the two parents circled overhead, calling to it. He could never shoot brant after that.

Aldo Leopold had to see the "fierce green fire" in a dying wolf's eyes before he could rethink predator control. Sometimes people can only decide where they stand on death and dying and killing when they are confronted with it firsthand.

It is oh so easy to pick up that shrink-wrapped package with the clean pink breast meat in the meat section. So much easier than picking out a hen for dinner and getting to the table. Some can do it, some can't. But whether you can or can't, the important thing is taking responsibility for the decision, whatever it is.

If someone out there wants people to stop eating meat and work to improve the lives of chickens, it is entirely possible that the best strategy might be to make sure everyone had chickens. That won't stop people from eating chickens, but it will make people consciously aware of what is involved.

 

[Galaxiedriver]

Just more morons joining the government in thinking they have a right to tell me how to live my life. Gotta fight this kind of thing people!

 

[WisconsinGardenChick]

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I noticed that, too, and mentioned it to them when I emailed them back. Specifically, I wrote, who are the avian experts? I saw only one name.

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I agree with you here.

 

[WisconsinGardenChick]

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The first thing a teenaged nephew said to me when I got chickens was, "Will you be able to eat chicken now?" I pointed out that they were for eggs, and he replied, "I mean ANY chicken."

Backyard chickens, I believe, occupy a complicated border region between pets and livestock. If you have a hundred chickens, can you get really attached to each one? Or name them all? But if you live in a city and keep only 3 or 4, the dynamic changes.

The funny thing about my nephew, though, is that he is a huge and dedicated meat eater. Just not the meat of animals he keeps as pets!

(I threatened to give him a pig to get him to cut down on the amount of bacon he eats!

) I told him that if he is going to eat any meat, he should face up to what is involved.

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I agree, but I also think this is a luxury of plenty. I think when people get hungry, it gets easier. And I believe our hard economic times are just getting started. We have a long way to go before this mess completely unwinds, and people are going to have to do what most people have done throughout history: produce at least a portion of the food they eat.

Great discussion! Thanks!

Katherine

 

[RachelFromTheBlackLagoon]

I think some of you are getting a little personal here. I can't understand how you're making the connection between "vegetarian" or "vegan" and "whack job". Having an opposing opinion and lifestyle does not make someone insane or illogical.

You need to at least try and understand where these organizations are coming from instead of taking it personally and bashing them. There is a huge need for them, especially now that the backyard chicken keeping craze has become such a "trend". Keeping and properly caring for animals is NOT trendy, it's a responsibility that I highly doubt everyone who jumps on the wagon is prepared for (not referring to anybody here, just in general). Take any other animal trend, for example...Paris Hilton and Chihuahuas. How many Chihuahuas ended up abandoned and in shelters during that time? Most shelters don't have the facilities or resources to deal with hundreds of abandoned poultry. THESE organizations step up to the plate and take responsibility for these unwanted birds. I imagine it's tough to find homes for or keep up with as many adult birds as they deal with. Why is it wrong to be against pointlessly ending lives because of human error and irresponsibility?

UPC and CRR are great organizations and they do a lot of wonderful, necessary work for all poultry. What does them promoting veganism have to do with you? If you're that against it, one could easily say you promote meat-eating. What makes you right and them wrong?

 

[journey11]

It seems to me that these people are more geared to their own selfish reasons and desiring to preserve their propaganda at all costs and not toward the actual welfare of any animals. Don't they realize if they try to shut us down from having any control over and ability to produce our own food (egg or meat) they are only reciprocally bolstering the poultry industry which treats their birds considerably less kindly than I do mine? Really, what are they ultimately trying to accomplish? They'll never convert everyone to veganism. As it was said, backyard flock owners are an easier target for them because they don't have the money and big lawyers at their disposal. These folks are just off their rockers! If they succeed, they'll end up doing more damage than good, all the way around. But I think most localities will have no trouble writing them off as nut-jobs, especially since their arguments have so many holes in them.

Besides the fact that all that wonderful chicken litter helps me grow a fabulous organic garden. What's best for both sides is to have more control over where your food comes from! This whole thing seems so counterintuitive to me.

(ETA: I don't infer that their choice of vegan lifestyle is nutty, it is their campaign to dominate everyone else's food choices that is nutty.)

 

[RachelFromTheBlackLagoon]

THEY choose a vegan lifestyle and choose not to adopt their animals into homes where they may become food (I wouldn't either). Those are their choices... I don't see how they are trying to control or dominate anyone's diet by making those choices for themselves or putting ideas out there for others who may be interested in doing the same. I think they're pretty aware that they are not going to FORCE anyone to stop eating meat.