I have to write a research paper

[melinda342]

So for my English class I have to write a research paper. We get to pick the topic, but it has to be an arguable topic. Examples she gave were child abuse, steroid use, anorexia, etc.I want to do something chicken/poultry related, like should backyard chickens be legalized everywhere. Does anyone have any other ideas?

 

[jmysgrl08]

Making chicken keeping legal everywhere is a great idea for your paper. I have plenty of friends who would love to have chickens if only...
Others chicken topics free range or not. Also discussion regarding egg and meat production - mass production vs more humane small scale. Good luck.

 

[donrae]

I know teachers like arguable topics, but the examples given aren't really arguable, are they? Who's pro-child abuse?

Anyway....legal backyard chicken keeping is a great topic. You could also do something like breeding higher production birds for more eggs but shorter life spans. Cornish cross meat birds vs dual purpose meat birds. Vegetarian diets for chickens vs an omnivorous diet. Coloring chicks for Easter. Vaccinating/worming flocks vs not. GMO feed vs organic. There are lots of hot buttons for chicken folks---just check the forums for threads with multiple pages or locked threads

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

Another good topic is the culling of male chicks at hatcheries. It's a big issue and there is not really a good solution and lots of opinions on both sides of that argument.

 

[melinda342]

I know teachers like arguable topics, but the examples given aren't really arguable, are they? Who's pro-child abuse?

I know what you mean there but I think is more like where does discipline cross the line? Some people think any form of spankings or tings like that are abusive while others don't. But I do like your ideas, especially coloring the chicks.

 

[melinda342]

Another good topic is the culling of male chicks at hatcheries. It's a big issue and there is not really a good solution and lots of opinions on both sides of that argument.

Forgive my ignorance, but what exactly do you mean by hatcheries culling male chicks? They just straight up kill them? I understand there are a lot of excess male chicks but I guess I never really thought about what happened to them.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

Since eggs generally hatch 50% male and 50% female, there are a large number of male chicks that cannot be placed. One way hatcheries deal with this surplus is by culling them, which usually means gassing with CO2 and then sending the remains to a rendering plant. Some hatcheries have some other interesting alternatives, which would be neat to look into an research.

 

[melinda342]

That actually seems like an interesting topic to look into. Thanks. Now I have to decide...

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

The hatchery I visited actually sold the chicks to a local zoo, falconers, and rehabbers. I think they had about 15,000 males each week they had to cull and the owner was selling about 5,000 to these sources, which I thought was pretty impressive! Chicks that have been gassed with CO2 are a nice, clean source of food for these types of animals.

 

[melinda342]

Well that's a good use of them I suppose. What exactly happens to those that go to a rendering plant?