different chicken owners--(RANT)

[rooster-red]

mixed-breeds vary in size, shape, and color, making them hard to classify physically.

You can't call them by any breed name, because they aren't any particular breed.

Mutt isn't a degratory term, to me it sounds much better than half breed, heinz 57, etc...

I have pure breeds and mutts, and I like them both.

I have culled pure breeds that don't meet my standards, which is to say I gave them away to someone who just wanted to harvest eggs for eating, and they are living pampered lives, so culling doesn't always mean killing.

You have to remember that chickens are not just pets to all people, the are a food source.

 

[arlee453]

Culling for gender is a fact of chicken life. The hatcheries kill 1000s of baby roosters because there is not a demand for them. They kill more in a week than are killed on here for food for being a rooster, I'd wager, in a whole year. Even in backyard flocks, we can't have but so many roosters per hens. If you have more than that you end up with a cruel situation where hens are bred to the point of injuries and roosters may peck and fight each other to the death.

That's the facts - there are just too many roos born for the number of females. In the 'wild' those roosters would be shunned out of the flock, or fought to death for breeding rights. I personally belive a quick, humane death is preferable to being shunned and pecked. Chickens can be VERY cruel to each other. You can give away your extra roos, but there are just so many homes for them to go to. Then what happens? You end up giving them away and they eventually end up on someone dinner table. For me, that's fine, but if you mean that we should all give them away to someone so they live a happy life of chicken paradise for the natural length of their lifes, you are not understanding normal, natural chicken behavior. Now, if you want to start a farm for unwanted roosters....let me know where you are and I'll start sending mine to you.

So, my suggestion, Simba, if you want to DO something about a much bigger problem, then learn all you can about chicken genetics and poultry science/biology and work towards developing an easy and inexpensive method of determining gender of the egg before incubation.

Futhermore, after being 'owned' by a flock of chickens for some time now, I know for a 100% fact that any chickens I decide to kill for whatever reason (and I just processed 2 unwanted pullets this past weekend for food) lived such an excellent chicken life, that I feel no guilt whatsoever in quickly and humanely ending their lives to feed my family. Chickens don't have a concept of the 'future'. They don't sit around contemplating their usefulness or if we are coming to get them next. All they know is the moment - they are happy, scratching around, have chicken friends and have full bellies.

 

[robinaggie]

My dogs are animal shelter "Mutts."
Some chicks I hatched are "Mutts" from the egg farmer.
I love them!
I am nice to them.
I spend a fortune on them.
Then they die - hopefully of old age.
Different people at BYC do different things. You'll read a mix of stories and meet a mix of people. You could call BYC a Mutt. You'll find your niche. Be nice.

 

[coffeelady3]

This is going to get ugly!

 

[NurseNettie]

My own personal reason for raising chickens is similar to some others here, but also different.
I am looking to have a decent sized laying flock-- for eggs to eat, sell, and eventually hatch out the next generation of layers.
I also am raising them for the freezer-so, most of the roos, and the lesser productive hens will end up there.
Like so many others here, even though I'm new at raising chickens- mine are getting very good care. Good food, lots of attention, fresh air and grass, bugs, and anything else they choose to pick out of the ground to eat.
They are happy ( from what I can see- I wouldn't begin to know what they're thinking), healthy, not crowded, and not mistreated.
I don't plan to judge how anyone else chooses to handle their flock. If I disagree with someone, I may share my views, but unless someone seems to really need to be educated (and sometimes that's all it is-- lack of knowledge), I don't plan to tell anyone else how to raise thier livestock/pets/etc.

 

[dacjohns]

It's easier to type mutt than it is to type barnyard chicken or chicken of mixed parentage.

 

[chickfillhay]

Quote:
ANYBODY WHO FEELS LIKE CULLING, FOR WHATEVER REASON, If you're anywhere near norh Fl. Just give em to me! I'll take them! Then you don't have to do the nasty!

Unless of course they can't have a good life otherwise!............By the way. I have someone who does the same thing as your Vietnamese friend too. But I really love chickens. If my flock gets too big. I take them to him or the flea market. I'm to wimpy to cull them myself. I'll be traumatized for life! Maybe in time I will get over this too!

 

[Wildsky]

Quote:
You do know you'll get 90% Roosters right?

 

[MissPrissy]

Quote:
Do you have a lot of space and grow out pens? Roosters do not live together like hens. They will fight. It will be bloody. It will at times be fatal if you leave them mixed in a jumble in the same pens.

 

[robinaggie]

My use of the term "Mutt" was not intended to be rude or ugly. When people ask me what kind of dog Holly is, I tell them she's a "shelter mutt." We're both proud of that!