Dyed chicks

Ha, you guys have been spoofed! The Pink Chicken Project isn't really about making pink chickens (you needed to scroll to the Paradox part of their page). It is a "concept story" put out by the art studio Nonhuman Nonsense.

“We see our work as an attempt to open the public imagination of how the world could be different,” the duo tells us, “but not necessarily how it should be.” Through a fascinating speculative practice, the pair tell stories that lie somewhere between utopia and dystopia, akin to Donna Haraway’s idea of ‘staying with the trouble.’ Contradictions, paradoxes and humour merge to create original stories which unfold before the viewer’s eyes; digging deep into the underlying ethical and political issues that underpin society’s power structure and the “current narratives of inevitability.”
 
Don't the hatcheries use a dot of dye on a chick's head for ID purposes (for a male chick ordered in a batch of females, I think)? I've got no problem with that, or using small dabs for other ID purposes, as long as it isn't a color the chickens like to peck at. It is for a purpose, like like @NatJ said for IDing chicks in a multi-parent hatch. I mean, aren't you essentially dyeing a chicken when you put BluKote on it?

I know my University's Ornithology Dept uses dye to mark wild birds they are studying so they can ID them at a distance. They use dye because it isn't permanent and doesn't interfere with their lives nearly as much as bands or wing numbers. I know some researchers have even found a way to dye the wild birds without the stress of even capturing and handling them (i.e. "paintball land mines").

Dyeing animals just because humans find it fun can be problematic, but maybe not always. I confess to dyeing the tip of my dog's tail purple for the USDAA Agility Nationals one year. It was to honor a wonderful lady in our sport (whose favorite color was purple) who had just passed away. Just about every dog at that very big competition that had a white tail tip, had it dyed purple. The dogs didn't care at all. It was a lovely gesture.

Similarly, if a chicken owner has a very tame chicken in a protected run, I don't see the problem with a little toothbrushed-on dye for the fun of it, as long as the chicken isn't soaked or stressed about it, and as long as it isn't for trying to dupe people into buying it.
 
Ha, you guys have been spoofed! The Pink Chicken Project isn't really about making pink chickens (you needed to scroll to the Paradox part of their page). It is a "concept story" put out by the art studio Nonhuman Nonsense.

“We see our work as an attempt to open the public imagination of how the world could be different,” the duo tells us, “but not necessarily how it should be.” Through a fascinating speculative practice, the pair tell stories that lie somewhere between utopia and dystopia, akin to Donna Haraway’s idea of ‘staying with the trouble.’ Contradictions, paradoxes and humour merge to create original stories which unfold before the viewer’s eyes; digging deep into the underlying ethical and political issues that underpin society’s power structure and the “current narratives of inevitability.”
I never got past this on the Why page-

"The current devastation of the planet is not the result of activities undertaken by the whole species Homo Sapiens: instead it derives from a small group of humans in power, upheld by the injustices of white supremacy, colonialism, patriarchy, heterosexism and ableism. We urge you to fight this oppression: for it enables and aggravates the anthropocentric violence forced upon the non-human world. "

If anyone ever gene splices some strange color into chickens I hope it's that glow in the dark gene so they'll be easier to find in the dark. 🤣
 
I don’t see an issue if you’re like... spraying beet water or similar natural dye, on a white silkie from a spray bottle. Just a lil quick cutesy type deal. But if that causes picking? Eeeek.... may not be worth it.
 

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