McDonald's finally did something right

[deerman]

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ones in those pics ...white layer selected breed of leghorn....the brown egg layers look like golden comets to me

 

[Mac in Wisco]

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White egg layers are usually Leghorn strains, while brown egg layers are usually red sex-link hybrids.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

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Not really... They are amazingly crap proof. The yellowing is from dust bathing.

Those have been in there a while. Look at the litter on the floor. That's dried manure, not dirt. If they had just been placed you would see concrete.

Take a look at the photos on my BYC page, those hens were in there for more than six months at that point. I've had comments about how clean it looks in the photos...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2328-wisconsin-layer-barn

 

[deerman]

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Not really... They are amazingly crap proof. The yellowing is from dust bathing in dirt.

that could be also...i'm not knocking the set up ,myself just think they are packed to many......just like caged birds way to many per cage.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

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Well, when you've spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of your money building housing for chickens, it changes your perception of how many is "too many", but there are generally accepted standards for those kinds of systems that are followed rather closely by the producers.

Here is a photo of some perches I put in our hen house this fall. This was 400' of perches installed on one wall and the materials cost around $400. This is just part of the cost of an $80,000 hen house for 2500 hens. How many should I put in there? Do I let somebody else dictate the amount to me because it doesn't "look right" to them?

 

[EweSheep]

Mac, I love the set up! And they do look happy as well!

 

[chickened]

They are still in a cage.
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[chickened]

Mac I would agree with what you say if they were housing a breed not manufactured for confinement. It does not take a geneticist to decide when a hen is content. CX are a good example of a bird that needs confinement and actually perform poorly when not given the goodies they were designed for. They are always breeding new strains of birds to adapt to the cheaper methods of confinement. This should tell one that cages are not ready to go away if geneticists are breeding for confinement.
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I've participated in discussion groups with owners and representatives from several large egg production companies. That argument is often given by those that still use cages or use aviary systems and screened porches to provide token outdoor access for organic production. They feel that keeping the birds off the soil, away from predators, segregated from any manure, in a climate controlled facility is in the best interest of the birds.

Obviously there is more to it than that though... Animals need to be able to express their natural behaviors. For chickens, that consists of scratching, running, jumping, and socializing with the rest of the flock as they see fit. The animal that doesn't have the opportunity for natural behaviors doesn't necessarily adjust to conditions that suppress these behaviors, but reacts with stress and anxiety. While a cage may protect the chicken from disease, chickens that aren't allowed natural movements such as running and jumping also have problems with muscular and skeletal development.

While you may think that this is all emotionally pleasing "fluff", I have attended lectures and personally spoken with some of the top geneticists in the poultry industry. These folks are running the industry breeding programs and are not only breeding for efficiency in production, but are also breeding for behavioral aspects. They understand the behavioral aspects of chickens in production settings better than anybody and will tell you much of the same.

 

[OSUman]

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Well, when you've spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of your money building housing for chickens, it changes your perception of how many is "too many", but there are generally accepted standards for those kinds of systems that are followed rather closely by the producers.

Here is a photo of some perches I put in our hen house this fall. This was 400' of perches installed on one wall and the materials cost around $400. This is just part of the cost of an $80,000 hen house for 2500 hens. How many should I put in there? Do I let somebody else dictate the amount to me because it doesn't "look right" to them?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/2328_dscn0725.jpg

So you pasture the birds you keep in your barn?

 

[chickened]

Deerman I agree with you there are things about raising chickens that only come from personal experience, like me being able to recognise what brown egg came from what breeds I have by its' looks. My wife did not believe me until I proved her wrong.