IS it hard

[wyoDreamer]

then how to people end up with chicks? And i understand but i still think they should have their life purpose fullfilled

As I understand it, the Cornish X chicks that people buy are the product of a very specific breeding program. A very simple expalination is that there are 4 individual flocks - lets say Flocks A, B, C, and D. Roo's from Flock A are put with hens from Flock B to produce chicks A-B and Roos from Flock C are put with hens from Flock D to produce chicks C-D. The A-B roos are then put with C-D hens and the eggs from this cross are then hatched to make the Cornish Cross chicks that are sold as broilers.

This crossing of very specific birds creates a chick that has specific genetics from each of the individual starter flocks.

If you think they should have their life purpose fulfilled, then you must not be a supporter of spay and neuter for dogs and cats either?

 

[Jmanvanatta]

Well half my hens are to old to lay every day but more like every other day and we dont eat many eggs so we still get to many. And i will keep mine long after they dont lay ever again becuse they are like puppys the follow me sit on my lap and still make good moms. You have silkies im soooo gelouse i cant ever find some for sale!

 

[questions543]

well I'm too young to own meatbirds because Im a kid and live with my mum (im 14) AND im only allowed 5 chickens. So no meat birds for me. But when I'm older I plan on raising meat birds because I'd rather suply everyone who eats meat with birds that have good lives before they die unlike the chicken factorys I mean if its going to be done wouldn't you want it to be done with them having a happy life that you have control over?

 

[punk-a-doodle]

Edit: WYO, too funny. Your post went in before mine with just about the same questions!

Jman, people have to order chicks each year for the Cornish X, which are a mix of parent lines (the parent lines are not Cornish X). You can technically use AI with them I believe, but from what I understand, they won't breed true. This is one reason why some choose to raise heritage breeds that are capable of reproducing without assistance.

In nature, modern people often mistakenly believe that each animal is out there breeding and raising offspring. This is a mistaken belief. There is heavy competition to reproduce, and many animals never do. Many never reach adulthood. This is one reason why the idea that each organism should reach adulthood to be 'natural' doesn't make sense to me personally. Killing chickens at a young age versus an old age may make some uncomfortable, or may not be something one personally wants to do, but 'cruel' seems like an awfully strong word. Chickens do not have a little checklist of things to do in life (like some people do, ha), so not getting to check off the 'lay eggs' box doesn't cause them distress.

How do you feel about neutering dogs, cats, and other animals? If for it, understand that you are making them incapable of doing something they are naturally capable of doing (reproducing). Is that cruel? Is allowing an infertile animal to live cruel?

 

[Jmanvanatta]

actualy im never nutering my animals for that exsact reson. The fact of the matter is that animals main purpose is to reproduce but i didnt know they died so early enyways and i dint mean crule as an insalt like you hate them.

 

[wyoDreamer]

Punk-a-doodle, I like your reply! You bring out some very good points. (love the screen name!

Animals don't analyze their lives, and I believe assigning human emotions to animals is wrong. I believe animals have emotions, don't get me wrong, my dog mourned for about a month when his buddy died of old age. But was it saddness for the loss of life or a sence of loss for the one who shared his life and showed him things to do, a disruption of his routine sort of thing.

I don't believe an animal needs to achieve reproductive maturity and produce offspring in order to have a productive life. The two week old antelope that the foxes killed last night fulfilled his destiny. The fox kits playing with the leg bone this morning tells me that. If every fawn that was born survived to be an adult, then evenutally the entire herd would starve to death.

Butchering a broiler is fulfilling his destiny - which is to be my dinner. If I didn't want to raise him and eat him, the chick would have never existed in the first place.

 

[ladyrsanti]

Punk-a-doodle, I like your reply! You bring out some very good points. (love the screen name!

Animals don't analyze their lives, and I believe assigning human emotions to animals is wrong. I believe animals have emotions, don't get me wrong, my dog mourned for about a month when his buddy died of old age. But was it saddness for the loss of life or a sence of loss for the one who shared his life and showed him things to do, a disruption of his routine sort of thing.

I don't believe an animal needs to achieve reproductive maturity and produce offspring in order to have a productive life. The two week old antelope that the foxes killed last night fulfilled his destiny. The fox kits playing with the leg bone this morning tells me that. If every fawn that was born survived to be an adult, then evenutally the entire herd would starve to death.

Butchering a broiler is fulfilling his destiny - which is to be my dinner. If I didn't want to raise him and eat him, the chick would have never existed in the first place.

Many people are thinking about this as well, in fact. ALL of my old friends from high school have chosen not to have children, believing that there are enough people in the world and that they can lead perfectly fulfilling lives without reproducing. While that was not my personal choice and I really hoped to have friends with children that I could relate to and visit with, I respect and understand that choice. My husband got a vasectomy about nine years ago as well. I know that's a little off topic but a tangent. Just because the biological imperative is 'live to reproduce', doesn't mean that it has to or will happen for every organism. There are more than enough chickens, cats, dogs and yes, PEOPLE for many to go without. That's just my opinion of course.

 

[galanie]

The sad fact of life is, that animal shelters are full to bursting with puppies and dogs and kittens and cats because people don't want to have them spayed or neutered. We imposed unnatural conditions on animals then expect them to maintain in "natural" conditions. In the wild, overpopulation of a type of predator (which cats and dogs are) leads to enough starving to death to bring the population back to balance. Yet we feed them and nurture them and don't want even one to die while claiming to be lovers of animals. If someone really does love animals, they will "fix" their mammal pets.

But as for the original thought where people are misunderstanding you, just ignore them from here out. It's not personal anyway.

Edit: yes I am harsh. I am old enough to have grown up when spaying or neutering was expensive and not often done. Or because the male of the household just felt so "bad" for a male animal that he'd never have it done to his. And I've seen the results. I also have a lot of people dumping off kittens here and a "crazy cat person" next door. Don't even get me started on what that's done to the local ecology.

 

[punk-a-doodle]

Oops, double post

 

[punk-a-doodle]

Quote:
No worries, I didn't take it as an insult, just as a discussion and an exchange of ideas. I hope my comments are being viewed similarly.

To clarify, cruel http://www.bing.com/Dictionary/search?q=define+cruel&qpvt=cruel+definition&FORM=DTPDIA
seems like an overly strong word to me for not allowing a chicken to reach sexual maturation as it is hard to see how the chicken would be distressed or in pain over the idea of not being allowed to fully mature.

Quote: Don Bluth meets cornball humor.