I fell in love with chickens. Now what?

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Welcome to BYC!​
 
marlaw said:
I think my biggest hang ups stem from factory farming, genetic testing, steroid use, and mistreatment on a massive scale. The industrialized aspect of agriculture is what inspired me to try to become vegetarian. I really am not opposed to small operations that give their animals a good life and treat them humanely until the very end. Since I can't ever really know when buying meat at the grocery, I just assume the worst and learned how to cook tofu, lol.
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Very well said! Welcome to BYC.
If you don't want to deal with excess roosters, selling eggs can be fairly profitable too. My flock pays for its own feed during summer through egg sales. I don't count coop costs into the equation or I'd be in the red forever. :lol:
 
marlaw said:
I just assume the worst and learned how to cook tofu, lol.
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Hi there, welcome to BYC! :frow

Watching those factory farm videos... helped me learn to process some of my own animals. And convinced me... that I would BUY humane, pasture raised when possible. I THOUGHT I might be vegetarian before it was all said and done... but instead, I am just more aware of where my food comes from, how it was treated every single day including the last moment, and have a much better understanding of the circle of life and acceptance of my place in it.

People who focus on vegetables or tofu... don't seem to count the cost of the rodents and other animals being killed during tilling or misplaced from their homes due to large scale farming. There is ALWAYS a cost to consumption IMHO.

Also please note that hormone, antibiotic, and steroid use is ILLEGAL in the US and the animals growing at rates their bodies can't keep up with is a manipulation of breeding and not chemicals or additives to the feed.

If you do not want people eating birds you sell... I would suggest not breeding... as stated by others half will be roosters. And most people cannot afford to support freeloading animals forever. Heck, even the Earth cannot support EVERY animal without a proper predator/prey population in place. Balance is KEY to so many things! :thumbsup

People like me... provide the good life EVERY day for their animals (which includes population control). And when the time is here, they have ONE bad moment that is over before they ever even have time to process what is happening. And the BEST part of all... I'm NOT supporting big chicken! :tongue (directed at the industry). MAYBE, you would be okay knowing the excess roosters you produced are helping to combat big chicken EVEN if they are going to feed someone's family in the end??? I KNOW it's a very personal choice.

Don't forget... if it's important to you, like it is too me... we buy local, pasture raised butter, cheese, and milk and beef as well... while some like the beef are not "humane certified" yet... it is grass fed, pasture raised and knowing the farmer and their practice can a LONG ways towards knowing your cow wasn't raised on a dry lot standing in it's own feces and dragged or pushed by a forklift into their end.

I can be SUPER emotional and very connected to things. But I'm so very thankful for being able to put things into a balanced perspective! I like eating meat... we eat less of it now.

Sounds like you might do well to start with a few hens and enjoy the eggs! While our formulated rations are mostly vegetarian here in the US... chickens NEED the amino acids derived from ANIMAL sources. These are added into our rations. Note that a "vegetarian" chicken has never seen a bug... or they would eat it. :sick

I hope this came off as informational and not as judgmental or pushy! I WISH I had the commitment required to be vegetarian. Alas the flesh is weak, and that isn't how I was created. :confused:

Good luck on your adventures! :wee
 
EggSighted4Life said:
Hi there, welcome to BYC! :frow

Watching those factory farm videos... helped me learn to process some of my own animals. And convinced me... that I would BUY humane, pasture raised when possible. I THOUGHT I might be vegetarian before it was all said and done... but instead, I am just more aware of where my food comes from, how it was treated every single day including the last moment, and have a much better understanding of the circle of life and acceptance of my place in it.

People who focus on vegetables or tofu... don't seem to count the cost of the rodents and other animals being killed during tilling or misplaced from their homes due to large scale farming. There is ALWAYS a cost to consumption IMHO.

Also please note that hormone, antibiotic, and steroid use is ILLEGAL in the US and the animals growing at rates their bodies can't keep up with is a manipulation of breeding and not chemicals or additives to the feed.

If you do not want people eating birds you sell... I would suggest not breeding... as stated by others half will be roosters. And most people cannot afford to support freeloading animals forever. Heck, even the Earth cannot support EVERY animal without a proper predator/prey population in place. Balance is KEY to so many things! :thumbsup

People like me... provide the good life EVERY day for their animals (which includes population control). And when the time is here, they have ONE bad moment that is over before they ever even have time to process what is happening. And the BEST part of all... I'm NOT supporting big chicken! :tongue (directed at the industry). MAYBE, you would be okay knowing the excess roosters you produced are helping to combat big chicken EVEN if they are going to feed someone's family in the end??? I KNOW it's a very personal choice.

Don't forget... if it's important to you, like it is too me... we buy local, pasture raised butter, cheese, and milk and beef as well... while some like the beef are not "humane certified" yet... it is grass fed, pasture raised and knowing the farmer and their practice can a LONG ways towards knowing your cow wasn't raised on a dry lot standing in it's own feces and dragged or pushed by a forklift into their end.

I can be SUPER emotional and very connected to things. But I'm so very thankful for being able to put things into a balanced perspective! I like eating meat... we eat less of it now.

Sounds like you might do well to start with a few hens and enjoy the eggs! While our formulated rations are mostly vegetarian here in the US... chickens NEED the amino acids derived from ANIMAL sources. These are added into our rations. Note that a "vegetarian" chicken has never seen a bug... or they would eat it. :sick

I hope this came off as informational and not as judgmental or pushy! I WISH I had the commitment required to be vegetarian. Alas the flesh is weak, and that isn't how I was created. :confused:

Good luck on your adventures! :wee
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A most excellent post. Thank you.
 

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