While I commend and respect Ideal for posting here and offering their perspective and providing us with the facts, they have just explained exactly why the practice of selling dyed Easter chicks is inhumane.
While it seems as though some have come to BYC and have become responsible chicken owners from the initial purchase of dyed chicks at Easter time, how many have not? I have no problem with someone impulse-buying a chick at a feed store--IF they are willing and commited to educating themselves about how to care for them properly. And some are willing and commited, as evidenced by those who have come here or elsewhere seeking knowledge. But Ideal (and this is only one hatchery that practices this; I assume there are others) has just stated that they sell 90,000 dyed chicks per year. That's a lot of chicks. I think it's safe to assume that the majority of them did not end up with families from BYC.
As many of you have pointed out, and with which I whole-heartedly agree, it is the consumer's responsibility, whether we are talking about chicks or video games or whatever. But that doesn't mean that all companies should be entirely off the hook, either. Hatcheries are in the business of breeding animals; yes, bottom line, it's a business and they are in it to make money. That's fine, we've all got to make a living. But you can set examples by the way you do business. I think I can speak for the majority, if not all, of us who post here at BYC that it is very important to us how our animals are treated. It doesn't matter if the bird is a broiler and destined for the freezer, or a lap-chicken that lives in the house. They all deserve to at least get the basics: adequate food, water, and shelter.
And I think that's why a lot of us are here. Those of you who raise broilers/meat chickens and/or laying hens, how do you feel about factory farming practices? Can I chance to guess that you're fairly disgusted by them? And maybe that's part of the reason why you raise your own meat and/or eggs? Because it is very satisfying, on several different levels, to know that you know where your food came from. You see it, care for it everyday. You know those chickens were raised right; it's healthy. Even if that chicken is going to end up as Sunday dinner, it lived the good life. It saw the sun, maybe even got to be pastured on fresh green grass.
Those dyed Easter chicks, as the representative from Ideal just explained, come from a factory farming situation (excess males from a Leghorn hatching facility). They are being treated as waste. But instead of "just" disposing of them, they've found a way to make a few bucks off of them. Ideal's support of this practice, and those who might buy these chicks (as an uneducated, impulse purchase) are only aiding to perpetuate the mentality that animals are a disposable commodity that do not deserve any respect, not even to have its most basic of needs met or to have a chance at living a healthy, normal, chicken life. If we are going to use animals, be it for food or pets, it is our responsibility (as the supposedly intelligent, superior species) to ensure that they at least get to live the life that is normal and healthy for that particular animal. Buying "excess" chicks from large production facilities only helps to enable the practice of factory farming to continue.
As for the chicks possibly giving "a few kids a little joy for a short time," sorry, that's not a lesson I feel the need to teach my kids--sure, here's a living, breathing creature. Have fun and enjoyment at its expense. Don't care for it properly, and when it suffers and dies an unatural death, it's ok--it was going to die anyway! I cannot rationalize this line of thought. I think the more humane outcome in this situation is for those "excess" chicks to die at the facility. Why prolong their suffering?
If Ideal truly is a sponsor of BYC, then they should truly be a sponsor of, well, backyard chickens. They should be supportive of those of us who choose to keep small flocks for pets and/or food. But the practice of selling Easter chicks is supportive of factory farming goes against everything that those of us who choose to keep our own chickens believe and practice. Yes, Ideal is a business, and they need to and should make money...but profiting from the sale of factory farm excess?? Like I said, a company can set examples by the way they do business. Personally, I would be much more likely to do business with a company that led by the example of humane treatment to and a dedication to the health of the animals it sells. I would think that dropping the practice of Easter chicks and instead attempting more extensive outreach and education efforts on the care and health of the chickens it sells would be a much more profitable practice. Ideal's Web site does have a good, informative section on the care of baby chicks (and I think they send out a care sheet with the chicks as well), but being such a huge hatchery, think of how much more could be done! I realize that information and education is only good if the consumer also puts forth the effort and takes the time to seek the knowledge. I'm in no way saying that it is all Ideal's (or any hatchery's) responsibility as to how chicks are cared for once they leave the hatchery. But it would be commendable to expand its efforts in education--and a good lesson to all would be to do away with the sale of dyed Easter chicks.
