Hope this doesn't make me the bad guy but ~

[Chic-n-farmer]

I'm not taking the time to read the whole thread.

That said, I value the lives of my children so much more than any chicken.

 

[GaNewChick]

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I beg to differ from some of the threads I've read on BYC ~ they do all of the above.

Well, except for school ~ maybe.

 

[GaNewChick]

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Some don't have kids ~ so their chickens are their kids.

 

[purpletree23]

Well said GaNewChick...........I feel the same way about chicken owners who have sick and dying chickens because the chickens are infested with worms or mites or lice. Or the chickens have impacted crops or soft shell eggs because the chickens aren't provided chicken grit and crushed oyster shell.

I like to worm my chickens every 6 months and dust them lightly every 2 months or so. I also apply the poultry dust to the edges of the floor, the roosts and especially the laying boxes. Once in a while I put poultry vitamins in their water.

I like the proactive approach not the reactive approach.

I'm NOT picking on anyone. I know infestations can happen at the blink of an eye and raccoons and varmits can get into the best made coops. I know chickens can get sick/killed no matter how well they are taken care of and accidents do happen.

An ounce of caution is worth a pound of cure.

 

[greathorse]

I dont think anyone denies that good care for our chickens is a really good idea. Good care means a lot of different things to different folks and I understand all of that. Putting chickens (any pets for that matter) on the same plain as children or humans is something I just cant get my head around.

It is just so different on so many levels.

 

[PunkinPeep]

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Yeah, what citrus dreams said.


A raccoon's got to do what a raccoon's got to do, and if he chooses to do it on my captive, defenseless chickens, then i have to do what i have to do, which is defend my land and my chickens and whatever else is under my charge.

Obviously, we all want to keep them as safe as we can. But accidents happen, and sometimes predators are trickier or stronger than we think.

And sometimes, you just have to weigh the risks (regarding specifically free-ranging) and give your chickens the best life possible within your means.

 

[fowltemptress]

That three year old child analogy . . . well . . . if I free ranged my chicks without watching them, and a predator got them, my first thought would be "what the heck was I thinking?!" But if I'm free ranging chickens and something grabs 'em off my property, I have no problem thinking I'm completely in the right to protect my property and territory with deadly force. So, yeah, I'm willing to admit that the child comparison applies to everyone on here who allows their little balls of chick fuzz to run willy nilly across their lawns. I'd never allow a chick where I allow my hens. Really, what are they thinking?

Still, not sure I know of many negligent parents who wouldn't want to apply deadly force to anyone or thing that takes their unwatched child, even in the middle of spasms of guilt. And I can't think of many people who could find much fault with that sentiment. Maybe that analogy would be better used to support the pro vengeance stance.

 

[Wildsky]

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You can't compare chickens and children.

if you would like to do that, then I must ask what school your chickens attend? Or what college you plan to send them to once they start laying?
WIll you brood all your grand-chickens or are you going to eat them as you do your grand-children?

Edit to add: If a raccoon eats my children(human ones) - ITS ON!

Edit again to add: Do you tuck your chickens into bed at night in the house, in their own room after reading them a story?

 

[fowltemptress]

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I compare chickens and children. One always comes up wanting, and I won't tell you which, but it ain't the chickens.

 

[happi752]

It is survival of the fittest. And my 20 gauge shotgun and 22 rifle says around my homestead...me and my chickens are the fittest. anything else is dead meat. I am not going to put my chickens in fort knox so a coyote can come on my homestead.

to anything that wants my chickens.