Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[BY Bob]

The neighbors are banging stuff and scaring my chooks
Got some video and photos
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Are they just making noise or are they trying to scare your chooks somehow?

 

[BY Bob]

Real eggs. She's not broody, just likes sleeping in that nestbox and they laid eggs there yesterday. I didn't get out to the coop until they'd all gone to bed so I decided not to disturb her. It does keep them from freezing with night temps.

That is a great side benefit

 

[BY Bob]

My event went really well. The chickens we badly abused, the broilers over weight. It's sad. The broilers could hardly walk under their weight. People were dropping them. I was the only one who talked to the birds. The laying hens were awful. They were white leg horns (sorry Bob) Their toenails were several inches long, and one was missing a toe. They all had chipped and crossed beaks. Their faces were pale, and they were skinny. It was awful. I feel good about my score, but I felt tears in my eyes looking at the birds. I almost cried. Even now, on the bus, my eyes are wet. Well, my phone is at 3, so I'd better go I will talk to you all at around 4 or 5. Oh, and the birds had no food, water, and hardly any shavings.

This breaks my heart. Poor babies.

 

[BY Bob]

As awful as it sounds, I hope all those b

We were not abusing chickens! Or at least I wasn’t. It was Poultry Eval for my FFA chapter at my school. I knew that it was going to be bad. They are meat birds and laying hens straight from a bird factory, so they have never gotten the proper care. It is a competition, to see how well you can judge meat and laying birds, cooked chickens products, raw products, and whole chickens carcasses. As awful as it sounds, I hope that all those live chickens pass away soon, that way they stop suffering. I wanted so badly to make an offer to buy the four laying hens, but I knew that I couldn’t. It broke my heart. I almost broke the silence that was in the room by screaming at people for dropping the birds and throwing them the the cages. It was awful. I was the only one who felt bad for the hens. I was the only one who pet them and gave them quick chin rubs. I was the only one who didn’t throw them in the cages or drop them, nor yank them out of the cages without getting their wing or feet stuck. I promise, I was not abusing them. I just want them to be put out of their misery and suffering. I hate hen factories. I’m sorry. It just really upset me, needing to be quiet and not being able to help people grab the chickens. It hurt me just as bad as it hurt the chickens. My dad wouldn’t give a crap, because in his mind, they are livestock that should die when they slow down egg production. It was pure animal abuse.

Know that I am not angry at you. I'm angry at a society that enables this to happen. We humans have a lot to answer for.

 

[BY Bob]

Farming community - the adults think its normal and ok. The kids are taught that it's normal and ok - and so it gets perpetuated.

It 's like at horse shows - people think how the horse is treated is normal and 'how it should be'. Actually it's like all things in this world - just look at how women were treated 100 yrs ago - even 50 yrs ago! Now a-day that sort of thing would be unheard of and people (women) wouldn't stand for being treated as anything but equals.

And all it took was one person to start!

Righteous Tax
Princess Dorothy, with her electric blue iridescent feathers
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[Pastel the Rooster]

What I was referring to is when people take in their rescue chickens from commercial poultry operations, that there is a reason they are “rescues”. The standard commercial poultry practices do not really account for the well-being of the animals. It’s very hard to keep Broilers alive past processing age. I am not surprised. Most would be considered obese by 10-12 weeks if not put on a restrictive diet.

My husband is a butcher, and when we were working at Wholefoods his department was able to tour one of the top quality poultry producers in our province, and even they have issues, although much fewer. You really don’t want to know what those Costco/Walmart broiler chicken conditions are like, or where those eggs at $4 in the dollar general are being produced.

What has me puzzled is why if it’s for poultry judging you are learning off of spent hens and broilers that should probably have perished by heart attack already. I did note at the PNE “farm” exhibit last year, they were trying to pass off a 10-12 week cockerel as being a 6month old “ready for harvest rooster” that I actually doubt was even a CX… so there’s a lot of fake chicken industry PR out there as well as all the PETA propaganda.

You are checking how meaty the broilers are, and how much or little the hens have laid.

 

[BY Bob]

Right now at this stage it is easier to work with them in the evening when Chiquita takes them to bed. They are more settled and not so easily startled. I know we vowed not to say the word "Flighty", so I will use the word Alert. I actually am very very happy with this. They are very aware of their surroundings and what is going on around them. In general by just watching them I've noticed in the last week when they are out and about there is always at least one with their head up on alert while their siblings and mom are preoccupied. They do this in shifts, 5 heads down, 1 up watching. If something spooks that one they are all gone in a flash. They are very keyed into the birds, a blue jay flying over head had them all scampering. In the coop or in the barn area where there is cover they all settle down and relax. I actually think it is a shame that they are not in general prone to go broody. I love a momma with that sense of awareness they already posses.

They can go broody. Maybe Chiquita can teach them that being broody is a good thing.

I love that they already have appointed a sentinel. You will be amazed by how smart they are. Keep on watching.

 

[Pastel the Rooster]

I am sorry you had to witness that. But you need to look at this as an opportunity to make changes, one person's voice can be heard and you can be that person.

The key is to not annoy people that may be on the fence and potentially persuaded to your point of view, rather than annoyed and dissuaded by rhetoric.

I only takes one person to make a positive change in this world, if you don't like how something is, if it is cruel, write about your experience and send you story to someone. They might not listen - but then again maybe they will, but you won't know until your try!

This world is full of sad and cruel things, it's all in what you wish to have happen to make change.

Tax
Some fluffy kids fluffing about (and I think that might be horse doodoo!)
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I have talked to my parents about it. As I am pretty sure I have said before, I AM going to start a chicken rescue as a side job when I am older. I don't care what it takes, this has made up my mind. Thank you everyone for the kind words I am going to planning how to break these chickens out of jail! ☺

 

[BY Bob]

Well I want to get her early morning or middle of night so I can check her crop is emptying. I am wondering if I take the food away and go with sunflower seeds very early in the morning.
I don't think I will do that tonight - I already freaked her out by grabbing her - but if she is still having liquid diarrhea and or looks poorly tomorrow that is what I will do.
I really hate when they get sick. Like really, really hate it.

We don't know she is sick yet. I wanted a bedtime craw check to make certain it was full tonight and she wasn't fake eating all day.

 

[Pastel the Rooster]

@Pastel The Rooster is there any opportunity to use the experience to cause a discussion with the group about the conditions the animals are kept in.
Maybe there were more people who were concerned but didn’t feel they could say anything. If you convert even a few people towards humane farming practices that would be a huge victory.

I talked to a bunch of people on the way home. Some people said they don't care because the chickens were biting their bracelets (at least they didn't get bitten on the finger like me by a hen!) And others said that they felt bad for the birds. I talked to my advisor, and she agreed with me. She said that it was pure animal abuse, simply because the hens only get a square foot for themselves, and they need to be vaccinated. Then no one cares about them or for them anymore. I was glad some people agreed with me. Someone I am close to was there, and she said it was COMPLETE animal abuse. She has over 200 chickens, so she was furious about it.