Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[MaryJanet]

I think industrial farming is the big problem for chickens and other animals, and many people. Once an accountant's eye is run over the profits and losses (no offence intended if any of you are accountants - most are genuinely good people who may not have considered these views deeply as yet), living creatures are stripped of such things as cleverness, affection, etc and reduced to a one dimensional rendering: is this unit profitable or not?

The same goes for other systems too eg, many technical systems (like the one into which I'm tapping this message) strip participants of most of their characteristic and present us as mere words on a screen when we encompass so much more than that.

The same goes for everything we view with that accounting lens. In using such lenses, we unwittingly strip ourselves of our compassion and we turn ourselves into bullies, because intangible, qualitative elements are not countable. We use other techniques for measuring these things, like observation and interpretation. Counting doesn't work.

When we put money first (which accountants are compensated for doing), the tail wags the dog.

We theorised and implemented economics in order that society would flourish. When greed takes root, it all goes wrong.

Not sure if this comment still makes sense, I may have diluted my point.

Anyway, what do you think about these ideas? I'd love to discuss.

 

[Shadrach]

I am guessing we are of like mind.

I

@Shadrach I have been thinking more about this. I was imagining how we might treat chickens differently as a society if they did not lay eggs for human consumption. Of course we would still have meat birds. Excluding them, would society still consider chickens stupid animals unworthy of our compassion or would they be house pets? Would we actually understand them more and have more respect for them or would they be more like pigeons to us (no offense @biophiliac )? Really big annoying pigeons.

I have not come to an answer but I will say this. It is a certainty that the fact chickens lay eggs for human consumption has led to deplorable conditions and the worst possible life for billions of intelligent, feeling animals and is a stain on the human race.

Being a bit of an expert here on BYC regarding having chickens in the house rather than house chickens (It's a very important difference) the worst thing is not the poop, it's the dander and feathers. With the right floor poop is just regular attention. I've got the right floor.
The house dust load is incredible. All that stuff doesn't come off in dust baths, it comes off after during grooming. If I had known this they may not have got past the door!
I think the most I've had in the house at one time is 11 chickens, roosters hens and chicks.

I really wanted to learn about them and the more time one can spend with them the more one learns, or at least the more questions one has. I suppose I live with the chickens here. True I don't sleep in their house but they do in mine on occasions.
I would like people to radically change their view of chickens and that was the motivation for writing the book.
A lot of the information I read is just plain wrong and provably so. While it is true what one regularly reads here on BYC that we all keep chickens differently etc etc the chicken in one set up is essentially the same as the chicken in another. There are degrees of keeping influence, but their base nature and their behavior is if not predictable, understandable.

 

[Shadrach]

I think industrial farming is the big problem for chickens and other animals, and many people. Once an accountant's eye is run over the profits and losses (no offence intended if any of you are accountants - most are genuinely good people who may not have considered these views deeply as yet), living creatures are stripped of such things as cleverness, affection, etc and reduced to a one dimensional rendering: is this unit profitable or not?

The same goes for other systems too eg, many technical systems (like the one into which I'm tapping this message) strip participants of most of their characteristic and present us as mere words on a screen when we encompass so much more than that.

The same goes for everything we view with that accounting lens. In using such lenses, we unwittingly strip ourselves of our compassion and we turn ourselves into bullies, because intangible, qualitative elements are not countable. We use other techniques for measuring these things, like observation and interpretation. Counting doesn't work.

When we put money first (which accountants are compensated for doing), the tail wags the dog.

We theorised and implemented economics in order that society would flourish. When greed takes root, it all goes wrong.

Not sure if this comment still makes sense, I may have diluted my point.

Anyway, what do you think about these ideas? I'd love to discuss.

I think you're banned.

 

[MaryJanet]

 

[MaryJanet]

I think active compassion matters more now than ever. Even when I offer criticism, I hope I do it with compassion and tenderness for those on the other side.

 

[MaryJanet]

And may I quickly point out none of my previous comment applies to smallholders.

It applies only to industrial scale farming.

 

[Ribh]

I think active compassion matters more now than ever. Even when I offer criticism, I hope I do it with compassion and tenderness for those on the other side.

I'm a simple person. A lot of the highfalutin' arguments go over my head so for me it boils down to: we know so very little; be kind. Animals are sentient beings. They feel pain & fear & I believe, love. The very least we can do is be kind because we're the ones with the power over their lives.

 

[Shadrach]

I think industrial farming is the big problem for chickens and other animals, and many people. Once an accountant's eye is run over the profits and losses (no offence intended if any of you are accountants - most are genuinely good people who may not have considered these views deeply as yet), living creatures are stripped of such things as cleverness, affection, etc and reduced to a one dimensional rendering: is this unit profitable or not?

The same goes for other systems too eg, many technical systems (like the one into which I'm tapping this message) strip participants of most of their characteristic and present us as mere words on a screen when we encompass so much more than that.

The same goes for everything we view with that accounting lens. In using such lenses, we unwittingly strip ourselves of our compassion and we turn ourselves into bullies, because intangible, qualitative elements are not countable. We use other techniques for measuring these things, like observation and interpretation. Counting doesn't work.

When we put money first (which accountants are compensated for doing), the tail wags the dog.

We theorised and implemented economics in order that society would flourish. When greed takes root, it all goes wrong.

Not sure if this comment still makes sense, I may have diluted my point.

Anyway, what do you think about these ideas? I'd love to discuss.

How about if I suggest we shouldn't own other creatures? If we own a fellow human it's called slavery I believe. We could start there.

 

[MaryJanet]

I agree Shadrach. I take the liberty of naming the hens but otherwise, I try not to call them my hens. I try to celebrate their uniqueness in my storytelling.

 

[MaryJanet]

The exchange of money is more complex than 'ownership', but it takes a bit of scratching at the surface in order to see it.