How chicks are hatched at a hatchery!

[laughingllama75]

Wow....both videos were very disturbing. I know things like that go on, but it is much easier to not think about such things. It (treatment like that) is the reason we raise all our own meat.....yes, we still eat meat but is humanly done and we give them the absolute best of care while they are here. I have been to a beef slaughterhouse, and that is the main reason we raise our own. it makes these chicks treatment look like a walk in the park.

thanks for sharing the videos, very eye opening. By the way, for whomever gets the RFD channel, on 4/1 they are going to have Ideal hatchery on at 8:30pm. it should be an "interesting" show.
I am going to go kiss my little peep now, and tell him how lucky he is.

 

[tx_dane_mom]

Thanks for sharing that. I find it very educational. One thing on the (+) side I have to see is that is the chick lives through all that you atleast know you are getting a hardy bird...survival of the fitttest and all.
I completely understand all of you who are upset w/the process, but the only thing I thought was disturbing was the chick/egg seperator...that has to be a little tramatic for them, but think of the things our human babies go through (vax, circumcision, heal pricks, UV lights) in their first days & puppies (ear cropping/tail docking/dew claw removal.)
Just my 2 cents
Kristi

 

[chickenannie]

Quote:
I would suspect that, in many cases, they did not. That the processes were probably more cruel, not less.

Usually, advances in technology benefit the animals as well as the producers, if only for the sake of *efficiency*.

I agree that some efficiencies cause more suffering, not less, and would cite battery cages and hog crates as examples. They underline the need for regulation to go hand in hand with production.

Twigg, I would not assume previous methods were more cruel. They may have been better.

We assume economies of scale are better, but research to the contrary shows that is not always true. For example, intensive small-scale farming can be MORE productive and profitable per acre than large-scale farming. Another example is dairies that use bovine growth hormone to get more milk from each cow, but may have to pay large herd replacement costs (25-30% of the herd annually) because the cows burn out versus a grassfed dairy that only has to replace 7-8% of its herd annually, but gets less milk. *Efficiency* can only be measured when all the variables are accounted for.

 

[speckledhen]

I prefer to hatch my own here so they arrive in this world much more gently and untraumatized. Just think, to go through that, then be put in a dark box and jostled around for days, sometimes traveling with a sibling who has perished and is crushed underfoot. I empathize too much with my birds to be able to watch many of those type videos. I know how the hatcheries do things, but I just can't watch it. I have observed, at least in my own experience, that the ones I hatch here have been calmer and friendlier from the very start, completely unafraid most of the time, compared to the hatchery chicks I've had. Dont get me wrong, my original flock are all hatchery birds, and great girls, but I like being with them from the very first pip and knowing that they've known nothing like the hatchery chicks in those videos.

***Edited to Add: Steve, we were posting at the exact same time, so I know you were answering the post previous to mine, LOL.

 

[twigg]

Oh I wish I had such a view of human nature.

In the past, there was even less regulation than there is now. Less inspection and oversight, yet we see even on national TV how cruelty is endemic in some beef production facilities.

This despite the laws that now pertain, and despite an increasing awareness that animal welfare is a cause of concern to society.

It's not much of a leap to suppose that prior to such awareness, and regulation, that instances of cruelty to animals was treated even more lightly than it is today.

There never was a *Golden Age* ..... sorry.

One of the reasons I like BYC, and the people here, is that they actually care so darn much.

 

[gamebirdsonly]

wow!

 

[coffeemama]

This just makes me want to go hug my three hatchery chicks! I'm so glad I bought an incubator and won't have to buy them again. I know it's a business, but I like the idea of having non traumatized chicks if I can.

 

[twigg]

Quote:

This is why I like it here. Go hug them, they deserve it.

S'funny really .... most of us like apple pie, but would be pretty put-off were we to see all the processes that go into making a commercial one.

No, I don't think animals are like apple pies, but I also suspect the actual *trauma* suffered by a chick in a well managed hatchery is pretty small.

We do it too, btw, when we move them from hatcher to brooder, get them out to play with them, etc. It's not *normal* for a chicken.

I guess it's a balance between cost and caring. I do know that all the while America wants cheap chicken, then this is how it will be produced, and I go back to Inspection and Regulation as being the best tools we have to ensure humane practises.

 

[Jolly_Rancher]

I got this in my weekly message from Ideal and thought it might be interesting to watch this week.


1937-2007

CELEBRATING OUR 70TH YEAR


Tune in to Ag Lifestyles on RFD-TV next week

The RFD-tv film crew visited Ideal Poultry this past
week. The show Ag Lifestyles on RFD-tv will show
what goes on during a typical hatch day at Ideal Poultry
located in downtown Cameron. The show will air at
8:30 pm on Tuesday April 1st, at 10:00 am on
Wednesday April 2nd and at 10:30 pm on Sunday April
6th. All times are Central Time. The show will air on
Direct TV channel 379, Dish
Network Channel 231 and other Cable providers.

Thank you,

Teri Adcox
Ideal Poultry

 

[twigg]

DVR set

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