How long do you keep your chickens?

[6chickens in St. Charles]

Quote:
Behind 11year old holding our mixed roobaby "Baby", our temporary hoop to help keep the monsters off their backs:

Here's one of our monsters flying off the top of their coop:

Here's their coop, its a shed all their own, in constant state of re-doing, it's insulated because our roosters crow, and even though our neighbors have noisier dogs and screaming children and have ALL told me the crowing is not a nuisance, I think muffling the sound is appropriate. The roosters crow everytime they hear an ambulance or one of the neighbors' kids screaming in the night.:

Where are you? We're by Chicago.

 

[sheps4her]

Quote:
This is what many others have stated. It is important that the animal does not suffer. Any cull for injury or consumption should be quick and humane. I do believe that their is a natural food chain and I will personally continue to eat chickens. I will not however, support the horrible conditions of factory farms. I would much rather consume an animal that I have personally raised so that I KNOW what it ate and how it lived. I hope to soon be able to raise other animals as well. Now, that is not to say that certain residents won't always be around....I do have my favorites!

I do know some people who think it is cruel to feed mice to snakes....but the snake has to eat right? They believe that because it is a snake it does not deserve to live and the mice are just so cute...

Edited to add my cute kid/chicken pics!

 

[6chickens in St. Charles]

OK the battle of Cute Kids Cuddling Pet Chickens pics has begun! LOL!

sheps4her are those all Delawares in the cute kids' arms? Their little pullet faces look so gentle (maybe because they're so loved) and pleasant. That first one with the speckles of bluish-black is a real showstopper, is it a hen or a roo? Now that I'm bit by the chicken bug, I'm always on the lookout for breeds that make good pets. My neighbor has leghorns and RIR's, too skittish to be bothered with petdom.

Oh my I need another pic to post. Here Timmy is 8, holding our broodymom rosecomb hen "Rosie-Buttons" aka "The Cleaning Lady" because we let her in after breakfast to clean up around Timmy's seat at the table:

Posting pics is my new addiction. Who says ya can't teach an old dog new tricks?

 

[6chickens in St. Charles]

Quote:
This is what many others have stated. It is important that the animal does not suffer. Any cull for injury or consumption should be quick and humane. I do believe that their is a natural food chain and I will personally continue to eat chickens. I will not however, support the horrible conditions of factory farms. I would much rather consume an animal that I have personally raised so that I KNOW what it ate and how it lived. I hope to soon be able to raise other animals as well. Now, that is not to say that certain residents won't always be around....I do have my favorites!

I do know some people who think it is cruel to feed mice to snakes....but the snake has to eat right? They believe that because it is a snake it does not deserve to live and the mice are just so cute...

Edited to add my cute kid/chicken pics!

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj171/sheps4her/017.jpg
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj171/sheps4her/013.jpg
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj171/sheps4her/018.jpg

Y'know, there's a lot to that. About 6 years ago I suffered a little heart attack, and the internist I had to work with told me to STOP eating any commercially raised chicken, eggs and pork, because my cortisol levels were dangerously off the charts (I worked a high stress 12hour nightshift job at the time) and she showed me the research papers on high cortisol in these foods. These animals are highly stressed, and we eat high doses of cortisol when we eat them.

As for eating chicken, I find it difficult to find a commercial source of organically raised meat which ISN'T injected with "always tender" high salt/high phosphates "broth". We may indeed learn to cull the unwanted roosters and eat them. (Good for them and good for us) We're discussing the best, most relaxed and humane way to do it. And we'll search for recipes which honor the life we take in order to keep calm order in the flock and good food on our table. Believe me, sometimes there's no other place in the whole world for an unwanted rooster with no place to go.

 

[NoelTate]

Mine live with me until they die on their own. They are pets just like my dogs and cats. Of course, I don't eat meat, so butchering and eating is not really an option, anyway.

 

[chickenlorena]

Your kids are adorable sheps4her! And you chickens, too

Snakes are carnivores and it's their nature to eat, especially live animals, although I've seen some snake pets that are used to eating dead mice. All animals deserve the right to live and to exercise their natural instincts.

As for high cortisol levels in factory farm meat I'm not surprised at all. These animals are pretty much tortures from birth to death so people that consume them are ingesting all the hormones released as a result, plus all the junk fed to them (antibiotics and hormones among other things).

Most people refuse to watch videos about factory farming because deep down then know it'll be a horror movie. Ignorance is bliss, indeed! Paying an industry (supporting them) to abuse animals is like we are abusing them ourselves. We just want others to do the dirty job

 

[dmiravalle]

OK, I am starting a new thread!! Being a die hard 4-H leader I just love seeing kids with their animals!!! It just perks up my day looking at everyones pics! (Home sick, nothin' better to do!)

 

[HorizonSon]

I'm raising chickens for chicken meat and their eggs. Bonus comes in the form of manure for composting and insect control.

Most (but not all) pullets will be kept for the duration of their high egg production years; then soup... A very select few (read 2~3) will be kept longer for breeding purposes; then soup... Most (but not all) cockerals will be culled between weeks 16~24 for our consuming enjoyment and nourishment... A very select few will be kept for flock protection and breeding purposes... It would be highly unusual for us to have a bird older than 4~5+ years old (no point)... I raise chickens to be more self sufficient, to eat healthier and to SAVE money... There is no room here for anything nor anyone that does not serve a practical purpose.

Cheers

ETA: The above statements are regarding our main flock... The much smaller flock has a totally different primary purpose; which is to brood, hatch and mother all our poultry offspring.

 

[spook]

How long do you keep your chickens?

menopausal
(sick I know but even tho we process for our meat birds, our layers are our buddies)

 

[gritsar]

It's pretty much a foregone conclusion that my chickens will live out their lives on this farm. The one big exception to this is any chicken that is obviously suffering. I still have four of my rescue meatie pullets. So far, their lives seem good - I take into account things like them being able to move around, get outside and enjoy the sunshine, etc. When they can no longer enjoy the simple things in life or tend to their basic needs like eating and drinking, they will be humanely put down. A far better end for them than what they would have endured in the commercial chicken process.
I am currently considering culling my adult rooster Thor in the spring. Although I love him to pieces, his leg issues (we believe arthritis) is only getting worse.
For the record, chickens never really stop laying. Their egg production may diminish down to next to nothing, but even old hens will occasionally lay an egg or two.