Do you spoil

[nuthatched]

I don't spoil, if you're referring to what is unhealthy or or can create behavior problems. My chickens have good feed, occasionally healthy treats, ( have you ever seen hens body slam each other over a piece of roast? ) a well ventilated coop and a large, shaded run.

 

[Quarterhorses1]

Raising animals that could be used for meat and actually doing so doesn't mean one doesn't care about them. for thousands of years, that's how livestock keeping is. if you can't produce, aren't of any of use, you get eaten or sold. most people couldn't afford anything else. It wasn't until the last two or three generations where people have been disconnected from where food come from, farming in general and have developed over attachments to livestock-type animals has this became a huge ethical thing.
I'd personally rather eat an animal that had a full life out in the wild, like a deer or an animal that was lovingly cared for by a small farmer than your average grocery store meat. :]

I just find it cruel to make them safe and cared for then kill them. I get really attached to my critters

 

[Isadora]

I just find it cruel to make them safe and cared for then kill them. I get really attached to my critters

All life has to end at some point. Better a cared for, normal length life with a swift end then living a short miserable life on a factory farm.

 

[CluckedUpChick]

I am beginning to think that I am the only one who spoils chickens like dogs and cats. Do you spoil you feather family if so what do you do?

I "chickenscape". Since they share space with mykhaki campbells and muscovys i have a nice hutch myhubby built with two cosy compartments one of which is giving my broody hen some much wanted privacy. I am also exploring chicken resistant plants and ground cover to enrich thier environment as much as possible. So far clover is doing great and they love it. A buddy of mine also provides lots of manure loaded with worms for them to tear up. So much chickeny goodness! And hubby is breeding mealworms for them. My daughter cuddles most of my hens especially Knuckle and Tree. Yes she named them.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Pretty sure killing and eating something means you don’t exactly love it. “Extra “ doesn’t really make sense because you got them…. Anyways you do you and I’ll do me

Chicks hatch roughly 50-50 male to female. So while yeah, I did hatch or pay for a certain amount, that doesn't mean I need all those males that are hatched out, usually I just need the females. So, the males are in fact, extra males I don't need but have to deal with because I needed the sisters in that hatch.

I just find it cruel to make them safe and cared for then kill them. I get really attached to my critters

I get really attached to some of mine too. And those ones are the ones that get to live out their lives. I've got several that I consider to be my pets more than producers.

All life has to end at some point. Better a cared for, normal length life with a swift end then living a short miserable life on a factory farm.

A good, comfortable and safe life with one bad moment.

 

[CluckedUpChick]

We also have an ENORMOUS run area. Like 300 sqft.

I "chickenscape". Since they share space with mykhaki campbells and muscovys i have a nice hutch myhubby built with two cosy compartments one of which is giving my broody hen some much wanted privacy. I am also exploring chicken resistant plants and ground cover to enrich thier environment as much as possible. So far clover is doing great and they love it. A buddy of mine also provides lots of manure loaded with worms for them to tear up. So much chickeny goodness! And hubby is breeding mealworms for them. My daughter cuddles most of my hens especially Knuckle and Tree. Yes she named them.

 

[AntiqueB]

Mine get daily free range time, and the opportunity to sit on my lap and get petted while they snooze.

They get some treats, of course, like grapes and cucumber, and also have a chicken planter in their run. It has all kinds of plants they eat, with a hardware cloth cover so they can't dig them up. It will hopefully produce most of the summer.

 

[3KillerBs]

It's spoiling compared to how some people keep them. After all, a bird that doesn't lay anymore eats at least as much as one that is laying reliably

Right.

Additionally, some chickens simply don't further my breeding goals.

I *did* keep my granddaughter's favorite hen even though I *ought* to have culled her this past fall because she's unbreedable -- a poor layer of weird eggs with strange wrinkles and heavy calcium deposits. But she's going to the freezer this fall.

So you think it’s fair to quit loving a horse after it’s not rideable? Or a cow that can’t produce milk? I don’t consider that spoiling.

My chickens are not pets, they are LIVESTOCK. Producing food is their job and if they can't do it via eggs then they do it in the crockpot.

I eat spare cockerels who aren't valuable enough for someone to pay me for them. If they're going to be eaten by someone it might as well be me after I put all the work into raising them.

Old cows who don't produce milk ARE culled -- usually for pet food because they're too tough and lean for people to want to pay normal beef prices for what is, essentially, beef-flavored chewing gum.

If my chickens couldn't produce food for me I couldn't afford to have them. They don't make a profit. At best I might break even.

Pretty sure killing and eating something means you don’t exactly love it. “Extra “ doesn’t really make sense because you got them…. Anyways you do you and I’ll do me

I am maintaining a breeding flock of between 18-25 hens. I don't need more than 2 males. Breed the best, sell the ones who are worth it to people willing to pay, eat the rest. That's how keeping livestock works.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I *did* keep my granddaughter's favorite hen even though I *ought* to have culled her this past fall because she's unbreedable -- a poor layer of weird eggs with strange wrinkles and heavy calcium deposits. But she's going to the freezer this fall.

I've got a hen like that too. Prettiest orange color I've ever seen, lays constantly, but her eggs are hardly ever uncracked by the time I get to collecting them. But she's one of my more pet like ones, so she gets to be her sassy self for a few more seasons hopefully.

Wish I could at least get some daughters out of her, or even just get her to brood any eggs so she contributes more than just honorary feed inspector to the flock

 

[3KillerBs]

I've got a hen like that too. Prettiest orange color I've ever seen, lays constantly, but her eggs are hardly ever uncracked by the time I get to collecting them. But she's one of my more pet like ones, so she gets to be her sassy self for a few more seasons hopefully.
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Wish I could at least get some daughters out of her, or even just get her to brood any eggs so she contributes more than just honorary feed inspector to the flock

I'd keep a good broody who doesn't lay, but Popcorn doesn't brood. She does lay a few eggs a week, but they're always weird.