How do you make a chicken live longer?

[Hyper_Chicken05]

One aspect of chicken keeping I like is everyone can do something different, and everyone has a different opinion on how to best keep their chickens. No one way is right. What is right for others may not be right for you. That's okay. BYC is about sharing different ideas and ways, while respecting others choices. It the main reason I enjoy this site.

Yeah, I am not trying to offend anyone or say that there opinion is bad. I am just saying my thoughts and my opinions.

 

[Hyper_Chicken05]

Yes, you NAILED it. They are slaves, either lay an egg or off with their heads! Now I do not eat chickens, so I will be moving mine along before 3 so someone else can eat them, well except for the ones my daughters granted retirement to, so Fluffy and Ester get to be freeloaders. The rest are slaves!

Gary

Lol, even how sad it is you make it sound funny

 

[chickens really]

I can not totally free range my Birds...Fox problem....If I did they would all be gone...I also do not Butcher Chickens because my Husband can't kill animals he knows..My Son is my Chicken Culler for me...All Cockerels get given away..

 

[BantyChooks]

Yeah, I am not trying to offend anyone or say that there opinion is bad. I am just saying my thoughts and my opinions.

Good.

 

[aart]

I still eat chicken, but barely. The thing that I definitely don’t do is eat the chickens I care for and raise. Chickens can be Pets just as much as dogs or cats. That’s why I don’t support caged chickens or broiler chicks. And I make sure the chickens I eat are treated nicely. I don’t eat egg production chickens aswell.

How do you do that?
Where do you get the chicken you eat?

Did you know that the 'cage free' label means they aren't in cages,
but still are crammed darn near shoulder to shoulder in huge barns?
Did you know that the 'free range' label means those birds packed into barns have a tiny door, that leads outside into a tiny enclosure, that most of them never go thru?
Those are the regulations that allow those labels.

See, I don't buy that marketing crap, that's why I started keeping chickens, to know my food animals were treated better than in the CAFO's where grocery meats are raised. To know that my 'cage free' birds actually have a good amount of space and fresh air. To take personal responsibility for the eggs and chicken meat I eat, from hatch thru the slaughtering I do myself.

I am obviously passionate about 'real' food and where it really comes from, and am not attacking you but contributing to the ongoing debate about food animals and pets. Pet chickens are fine if that's what you want, but don't confuse them with food animals. I apologize if my words cause you discomfort, but will not apologize for stating my opinion on a public forum.

Do you free range your flock?

Nope. Too many predators here. I can't afford to lose a food animal I have invested time and money into. But they have 30sqft per bird of secure run area that is deep bedded for foraging insects, not ideal, but much better than those packed barns.

 

[BantyChooks]

And it’s not supported among humans?. I prefer to let my hens live a nice natural life and die a natural way. I will also make sure that the hens get extra care when they’re old so that there’s no suffering.

Among humans? Not sure what you mean.
There is suffering, but they are good at hiding it. Their joints get old and creaky, and they have a hard time moving around, and it's possible they have inner issues. Recently, I had a 9 yo hen that I loved too dearly. She really should have been euthanised a while ago. I was selfish though, and did not. She was not in great pain, but she was definitely not feeling well at all. She still ran a bit, and enjoyed sitting in the sun shine, but I kept hanging on to her and hoping she would 'die a natural death'.
As for the argument that 'that's how they'd live in the wild', they'd actually be wiped out whilst still in their prime by some predator, lol. Humans have extended the lifespan of animals to much larger extents, and even if we (you) don't eat them, there's still that responsibility of making their death easy. Yes, they do still have some years left when we cull for food, but when they get really ancient they're tough and not good for much except stew. It's definitely harder to cull hens that we've loved and raised, but if I did not I would have a flock of freeloaders, and I can't afford that. I need the egg money.
Anyway... just some food (ha ha) for thought. Been a nice discussion and thank you for remaining civil. Some folks would just blow up at me.

 

[BantyChooks]

I still eat chicken, but barely. The thing that I definitely don’t do is eat the chickens I care for and raise. Chickens can be Pets just as much as dogs or cats. That’s why I don’t support caged chickens or broiler chicks. And I make sure the chickens I eat are treated nicely. I don’t eat egg production chickens aswell.

The commercial egg production industry is disgusting, maybe more so than the broiler, which is hard. Rampant cruelty everywhere. That's why I'm looking to stop buying from them and process 100% of my own. I am already getting all my eggs and still have some left to sell. Well, when my birds aren't being slackers like they are now, anyway.
It's not easy, I am still grappling with it myself. I can't think of anything that feels worse to do—ending an animal's life, I mean.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

The commercial egg production industry is disgusting, maybe more so than the broiler, which is hard. Rampant cruelty everywhere. That's why I'm looking to stop buying from them and process 100% of my own. I am already getting all my eggs and still have some left to sell. Well, when my birds aren't being slackers like they are now, anyway.
It's not easy, I am still grappling with it myself. I can't think of anything that feels worse to do—ending an animal's life, I mean.

Well said. That's why I always buy a few extra roosters every chick order. They will live longer in my care and my husband gets healthy meat from a bird that had a good life.

Raising and butchering your own birds puts the respect back into it. What everyone buys is the store is an unknown bird, so people don't have guilt, but it's a tortured bird.

I grew up on a farm, I understand where the food comes from. People need to stop eating so much cheap food, and they need to put some respect and dignity back into our animals we raise for food. Spending the whole of their lives in cramped conditions for cheap food needs to stop.

Climbing off my soapbox now.

 

[chickencheeper]

How do you do that?
Where do you get the chicken you eat?

Did you know that the 'cage free' label means they aren't in cages,
but still are crammed darn near shoulder to shoulder in huge barns?
Did you know that the 'free range' label means those birds packed into barns have a tiny door, that leads outside into a tiny enclosure, that most of them never go thru?
Those are the regulations that allow those labels.

See, I don't buy that marketing crap, that's why I started keeping chickens, to know my food animals were treated better than in the CAFO's where grocery meats are raised. To know that my 'cage free' birds actually have a good amount of space and fresh air. To take personal responsibility for the eggs and chicken meat I eat, from hatch thru the slaughtering I do myself.

I am obviously passionate about 'real' food and where it really comes from, and am not attacking you but contributing to the ongoing debate about food animals and pets. Pet chickens are fine if that's what you want, but don't confuse them with food animals. I apologize if my words cause you discomfort, but will not apologize for stating my opinion on a public forum.


Nope. Too many predators here. I can't afford to lose a food animal I have invested time and money into. But they have 30sqft per bird of secure run area that is deep bedded for foraging insects, not ideal, but much better than those packed barns.

I totally agree and I’m in the same predator situation here includeing but not limited to, coyote pack in our neighborhood, tons of hawks(we literally live on a street called hawk hill road), otters, owls, fishers, weasels, raccoons, opossums, foxes, and a bald eagle mating pair that lives on the pond near us. Though we mainly have coyotes, like a lot of coyotes, i have to many game cam and other ictures of coyotes from our backyard. This one came around twice in the same day, this is the second time

 

[Hyper_Chicken05]

How do you do that?
Where do you get the chicken you eat?

Did you know that the 'cage free' label means they aren't in cages,
but still are crammed darn near shoulder to shoulder in huge barns?
Did you know that the 'free range' label means those birds packed into barns have a tiny door, that leads outside into a tiny enclosure, that most of them never go thru?
Those are the regulations that allow those labels.

See, I don't buy that marketing crap, that's why I started keeping chickens, to know my food animals were treated better than in the CAFO's where grocery meats are raised. To know that my 'cage free' birds actually have a good amount of space and fresh air. To take personal responsibility for the eggs and chicken meat I eat, from hatch thru the slaughtering I do myself.

I am obviously passionate about 'real' food and where it really comes from, and am not attacking you but contributing to the ongoing debate about food animals and pets. Pet chickens are fine if that's what you want, but don't confuse them with food animals. I apologize if my words cause you discomfort, but will not apologize for stating my opinion on a public forum.


Nope. Too many predators here. I can't afford to lose a food animal I have invested time and money into. But they have 30sqft per bird of secure run area that is deep bedded for foraging insects, not ideal, but much better than those packed barns.

I know that my chicken I get comes from good people, I have checked their website and the “Our free range” section. They even have a SPCA blue tick which means that they care more for there chickens than just free ranging them. They have alerts when the birds needs have been interupted (When or food runs out and if temperature is not right) and they are given a nice clean barn WITH perches for them to sleep. And the fact that they don’t keep them in huge flocks in good because they can care for them better. They are also not a huge company which means they can free range and take care of there animals better than some other places, and they Definitely are not put and moved on conveyors to places when they are chicks.