Incubating ISN'T ethical

[LarryPQ]

Quote:
I think you need to tread carefully here...you are going to open a can of worms & a theological debate. Perhaps it is best to consider the undeveloped chicks as those who had a CHANCE to hatch, when they otherwise would not have. You could look at it as though you are presenting the developing egg opprotunity to hatch, rather than condemming a a un-developed egg to the frying pan.

Yea I agree with you about the can of worms... and maybe I was hoping just a little bit to open that can... as long as it stays civil! Chickens are soooo mass produced and people typically dont have the same emotional connection to chickens as to humans (except for maybe on this site) so maybe this is a way to have some of these discussions without the emotional aspect?

One would hope, but as ethics are closely related to emotions, I don't think you are going to be able to truly seperate them

Ethics
1. (used with a singular or plural verb) a system of moral principles: the ethics of a culture.
2. the rules of conduct recognized in respect to a particular class of human actions or a particular group, culture, etc.: medical ethics; Christian ethics.
3. moral principles, as of an individual: His ethics forbade betrayal of a confidence.
4. (usually used with a singular verb) that branch of philosophy dealing with values relating to human conduct, with respect to the rightness and wrongness of certain actions and to the goodness and badness of the motives and ends of such actions.

So, to question the ethics of incubating eggs, you are (perhaps inadvertantly) questioning people's feelings of right and wrong. Nothing wrong with that, but maybe this is not the best place to do it?

 

[Chosen Chickens]

Quote:
I think you need to tread carefully here...you are going to open a can of worms & a theological debate. Perhaps it is best to consider the undeveloped chicks as those who had a CHANCE to hatch, when they otherwise would not have. You could look at it as though you are presenting the developing egg opprotunity to hatch, rather than condemming a a un-developed egg to the frying pan.

It's just his thoughts. He's not DEAD_SET against incubating, there are 4 eggs IN his bator!

Hey birdaholic..... quit being so aware of things... you are softening my debate!

 

[Katy]

Quote:
I would think those of us who chose to incubate our own eggs are helping to lower the numbers of mass produced chicks by not ordering from a hatchery.

If you're trying to make some connection between between hatching chicks and human babies sorry I don't see it.

 

[farmerlor]

I don't have a lot of birds that go broody so for me it's simple....incubate 'em or eat 'em. Can't eat that many so some are going into the 'bator. For my turkeys, it takes a lot out of 'em to sit a batch of eggs and it takes a long time for them to start laying again so I will be taking the first of their eggs and hatching them and when the bator gets full they can sit a batch. I see no ethical dilemma in this. Oh, and who says my hatch rates aren't better than mother natures? LOL!

 

[Sir Birdaholic]

O.K.

 

[Buck Creek Chickens]

my hatch rate with a hen or incubator is on average about the same, but you have to think about some hens abandoned the nest or kick out the eggs or kill the chicks, eat the eggs....

 

[RM44]

Quote:
I think you need to tread carefully here...you are going to open a can of worms & a theological debate. Perhaps it is best to consider the undeveloped chicks as those who had a CHANCE to hatch, when they otherwise would not have. You could look at it as though you are presenting the developing egg opprotunity to hatch, rather than condemming a a un-developed egg to the frying pan.

Yea I agree with you about the can of worms... and maybe I was hoping just a little bit to open that can... as long as it stays civil! Chickens are soooo mass produced and people typically dont have the same emotional connection to chickens as to humans (except for maybe on this site) so maybe this is a way to have some of these discussions without the emotional aspect?

Oooh, I'll go there, but I am sensitive, so please don't bash me.

I am a Christian, and I believe God is the Master hand and creator of all. However, He put man down here to watch over and care for the animals. That's how I connect my religious beliefs to the animals. I am supposed to do "the best I can" to provide for and take care of God's creations. I don't believe He prevents us from breeding, as long as we do it with the right heart. I do believe we are expected to feed ourselves, so on that note, I believe we we can have cattle farms, milk plants, chicken houses, and hatch chicks to continue having chickens in the future. I believe we are being good stewards in doing all these things. However, if we do anything to intentionally harm an animal, either for pleasure, showing off or because we don't care, that's where we step out of line.

On the same token, I totally understand people who beleive that the right thing to do is not grow animals, not eat animals, not keep them penned up. I do beleive that the people that take that position are doing what they think is right, and those people share the same Christian beliefs as me. The dividing line is the "free will" and "free choice" to make our own decisions. Therefore, I will respect other folks' opinions and positions, even if I disagree with them. I'm just not going to change what I'm doing jut because of someone else's opinion.

 

[FortWorthChicks]

This subject seems like trouble here.

 

[TriciaHowe]

I have only had 1 hen successfully hatch out chicks in 5 years. The last hen that hatched eggs I didn't know she was setting eggs and when she brought the chicks out my guineas killed and tried to eat them. My hens also have a habit of squishing eggs and it's just a mess. I average a VERY high hatch rate with my own eggs (better than 80%). So I believe it's more unethical to let my hens try to hatch out eggs than do it myself.

 

[LarryPQ]

Us trouble? No one on BYC is silly enough to bash. We Love Chicken People!