Is it morally right to breed more chickens????

oesdog · Jun 27, 2010

I ask this question because in my haste to help my sick baby chick I contacted a web site. I am not going to say which.

The girl who answered me was pretty insistent that I was doing the wrong thing breeding chicks. Her opinion was that there were so many chickens needing homes that I should be offering up homes for them. Not breeding my own flock!

As this is my first year breeding my own chicks I was as you can imagine a little taken a back and had to think carefully Am I a responsible chicken owner? Am I doing the right thing? My 6 beautiful chicks are now between 3 and 4 weeks old. I love each one of them dearly. I had 6 laying Hens given to me as a gift last year during a harrowing cancer scare so my girls are very precious to me. I lost 2 hens during the year and a neighbour kindly offered me his rooster so that I could breed from the remaining hens and replace the girls I lost through my own lovely hens.

Yeah sure I thought about rescue hens. But I also thought about introducing hens that could be diseased, weak, at the end of their laying, or aggressive due to their past living environment. Then I thought about my own girls and I was worried for them. So I decided to breed my own. Am I doing the right thing?????

Sam the Rooster did his thing and is now back home with his family! Now I have 6 live chicks ( Not sure if any are roos? ) If so I am not able to keep them as next door are not happy with the noise, even though we back onto a very loud farmyard! So they will be up for re-homing and if I cant get them homed sadly they will be used for meat. I will of course be upset but that is farming isnt it????

So am I the bad owner this woman thinks I am???????? Am I irresponsible????
I mean I am not breeding puppies. These are farm animals. So why does she get me asking myself these questions????? I call all my girls names and I bring them in each night and stroke each one before bedtime and then I cry buckets when one dies! But they are farm animals not pets right????? So I dont jump down the Vet every time one has an issue I mean if a chicken farmer did that they would be bankrupt! A chicken is a chicken I remind myself when I pass by the meat counter. So is it irresponsible to breed my own chickens??????? Am I doing the right thing or am I the cruella of the chicken world?????????????

PineappleMama · Jun 27, 2010

So, due to the 30,000+ kids in "group homes" (it's not PC to call them orphanages anymore) and the MILLION plus kids who are in foster and/or alternate family care no one should be having sex? Visiting fertility clinics?

Ask her how many orphans she's opened HER home to... chicken OR human OR cat OR dog (lord knows thousands/millions? of them are put down every year)... difference of course is that we don't EAT the cats and dogs...

Really I don't get her attitude at all... we breed chickens on purpose for what they provide us... when we want to get rid of them we eat them... granted there are some people who abandon, just like there are parents who abandon their children. But just because THEY are irresponsible people doesn't mean that you should pay for their crimes.

There must be some kind of story behind her attitude... most people don't get that ... obsessed... unless there's a reason.

sonjab314 · Jun 27, 2010

Don't sweat the small stuff. Some people try to save the world starting with everyone else....never themselves. I do not think it irresponsible to breed your own chicks. I think its smart. If you rehomed all the chickens in the world, can you imagine what diseases youd bring home to your current flock?

blueberrylu · Jun 27, 2010

Ignore the lady that you talked to, and listen to what PineappleMama and sonjab314 said.

paridisefarm2009 · Jun 27, 2010

G wiz There is nothing like it when you make your own chicks and raise them til they are Big mommas laying there own eggs You go on and do your own babie chicks and raise them It is a great thing , Dont worry about what Others Want you to do Or what They THINK you should Do , You do what your Going to DO ! Make more cute chicks I am sure I will soon e

MysticScorpio82 · Jun 27, 2010

Quote: I agree

Tiramisu · Jun 27, 2010

It's not wrong to breed your own chickens. I don't know if she meant take in battery hens or just farm rescued ones or what, but unless you have stuff set up right its not good to be taking in sick birds. The possibility of disease spreading and then you might lose your flock. And as from your post, it seems like you just are doing this one breeding so you could replace your lost hens, not like your running a hatchery or over-breeding hens.

You do what you want to do and its nice to have chicks from your own hens, I would love to breed my hen one day so I can have chicks from her for when she is gone.

chick4chicks · Jun 27, 2010

Did you hatch out a thousand chicks then ask her to take them? I don't think so ignore her and hatch more chicks.

danielle82 · Jun 27, 2010

Chickens are sooo different from dogs and cats and horses in my opinion. I think those 3 species are waaaay over bred.
Chickens however....they get eaten. "Extra" chickens isn't really a problem, as they are an "acceptable" form of meat.
It sounds like her heart is in the right place, but she isn't thinking logically....

Tap Dancing Chickie · Jun 27, 2010

Quote: I agree

PineappleMama you are a WiseMama !! Well said

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