My superspectacular High SCHOOL agriculture science project :D

[lovinthechickens]

Im a high school student and an active member of the FFA. In order to be an FFA member i must take an Agriculture course, and thus i enrolled in AG biology. So, my project this year is totally based around california's Prop 2.

NOW LISTEN. Im not trying to bash P2 in anyway.

Anyways, we have a 9 acre farm located on school campus, and i have a small flock of 12 egg layers, and another flock of 3 show birds. And so, i decided to double my flock for research purposes. I had 15 GSL's donated from Alan Armstrong. He owns a large comertial chicken ranch near my house...

So, my project's objective is to test the stress levels of three different types of cage types in comertial style egg farming.(the less eggs a bird lays, the more stressed it is)

I have 3 cage types set up:
Battery cages(67 square inches per bird)
Comertial Free range(1.3 square feet per bird)
Prop 2 Standard free range (5 square feet per bird)

There are 5 birds per type.

So far, battery cages have been producing the best with 5 eggs every day.
CFG has about 3 a day.
P2 has had about 1-2 a day...


weird huh... feed back?

 

[eaganchickens]

Cool experiment! I would expect the opposite result!

 

[sandypaws]

glad you are in FFA.. i wish i was in it growing up...

why are you doing the project???
and what are you trying to prove???
i assume all the chickens are from the same "hatching" ,, same parents,, same food,, same light,, ect...

 

[sandypaws]

again.. i am glad you have an interest and are doing this project..

i voted to pass it... i dont care what the egg production results are.. i grew up around the corner from an "egg ranch" and to see the condition of those poor birds,, day after day after day after day...
i am NOT a "humaniac".. i am NOT for "animal rights".. i think we should be able to use animals as we see fit BUT we need to keep them comfortable and in decent care untill their end...
it is really sad we have to pass laws forcing people to treat animals kindly..

things i saw were horrible...
nails so long the curled around and hooked into the cages,, if the hen panicks, she breaks a leg..
poop pileing up, stinking really bad
dead hens in cages with other hens eating them
4-7 hens in ONE tiny cage.. they cant turn around without bumping into another hen..
toes so curled the hen could not even stand..
and alot more..

if i HAVE to buy eggs from the store ..i always buy the $5 cage free browns...

 

[lovinthechickens]

Quote:
Well, im doing it because i was getting really angry that i couldnt answer a question that people often asked me (im known as being the chicken dictionary in AG. lol) "What is Prop 2 trying to do?"
and i would always have no answer.... i didnt know if prop 2 was good or bad. so, i started this

im trying to prove that prop 2 is unnecessary. caged birds are much less stressed than birds with more room to roam.

and yes, they are all sister birds

 

[lovinthechickens]

Quote:
Ya, ive seen the same thing. its horriable...
but i think that prop 2 should have just made battery cages cleaner and safer. not eliminate them all together... in this economy, we cant afford to have egg prices rise. and they will with prop 2. all the birds in cages will either be killed or taken out of the country, and the CFR birds with 1.3 Square feet of space will need 5 square feet of space, forsing farmers to exspand, leave the country, or eliminate most of the flock. egg prices will soar now that there are less chickens per FR building.

so, im torn...

 

[sandypaws]

good for you.. dont think i am drilling you because i am upset.. i am just trying to help by throwing out questions to you, you should cover in the project

i am NOT upset about the birds being caged.. i just think there should be LESS birds per-cage.....

how are you testing "stress" levels??? egg production only???
my thought is.....
there is nothing better to do,, so they eat more =more eggs
and the cages are usually lit (artifical light) more light= more eggs..

 

[lovinthechickens]

Quote:
Ya, im only testing stress through egg production.
And all cages get full light from 5am to 9pm, i think. (its on a timer that was set up for me)
and they all have continuous feed

 

[sandypaws]

hate to keep bugging you.. but if you want this project acurate.... let me know if you want me to stop bombarding you.. OK???

are you weighing to food ?? and taking notes on consumption???
are you planning (after a set time period) to swap the chickens around?????... put the caged to freeroam,, and the P2 chickens into cages.. ect..??


and i would love to know all about the outcome when it is done...

 

[lovinthechickens]

Quote:
no, the questions are really helpfull

No, i was told to free feed, and i write notes on consumption when i can.(when i feed i check the feeder level to see if thy eat less or more, empty it into my feed barrel, and fill with 2 scoops of lay mash)

And i wanted to do the switching thing but i was told it was a bad idea by my sponser, because the birds would get really stressed and stop laying eggs all together.