Official BYC Poll: The Worst Predator

[PepsNick]

Man kills billions of chickens every year for their taste buds.

 

[Churkenduse]

You are right, it is the way the poor things live before they die is what upsets me. I even understand why hawks and fox etc kill. But for the intelligent man to treat their food that way is deplorable

 

[HAL_9000]

Quote:
It is all about the almighty $$$

it is ugly what they do to these chickens.. but look at from a business perspective.. the are raised solely to be eaten.. they are bred so that they can't even survive much longer than it is time to slaughter them... they are well fed on a diet of grain.. and billions of them are needed to feed the masses... if they took the time and effort to care for them the wa we care for ours.. the price of chicken meat would be astronomial.. I pay around 1-2 dollars a pound for chicken depending on the cut.. if they were to treat the chickens nice... that would be 15-20 dollars a lb. be thankful that there are farms out there that can crank out the meat chickens.. otherwise you would not be able to afford to eat it.. unless you are a vegatarian then you can disreguard this rant..


just saying think of these chickens as eggs.. eggs are merely unborn chiken... the ones that we eat later on... they are raised in cages for no other reason than to be consumed... they are not pets, they are livestock.. they are debeaked so that they cannot hurt each other, they just need to be kept alive and healthy for 2 months till the axe drops (or whatever method they use) and can be bagged up and sent to a store near you...

humans are not predtors in that sence.. we create the chickens we eat.. we don't steal them in the night...
but if the price of meat were to go way up.. someone very well might steal your birds...

 

[HAL_9000]

anyone else out there have Raven issues?? I get ravens in my coop occasionally.. they don't actually mess with the chooks.. but they sure have a penchant for stealing eggs right out of the nest... and they are smart buggers.. they leave scouts in the trees while the others are ripping me off... if I come outside the scouts warn the others.. but the ones in the coop don't fly away too quick... but if I come out with a shotgun in hand the scouts make a different noise and they all split FAST.. think they know what a shotgun is.. I am sure they learned about shotguns from someone else too.. I have never fired a shot at them (usually way out of range) yet they are fully educated in the shotgun.. so weird.. smart birds... annoying birds.. egg theives... dumb roo doesn't even confront them...

 

[Churkenduse]

Hal, you are 100% correct, unfortunetly. I was a vegan ofr 5 years then a vegetarian for about 12. Now I feel I deserve to eat meat now and again, I do eat mostly chicken. I do feel guilty a bit when I do. I know the chicken "farmers" are starving also. But ikt still doesn't mean we ahve to like it. It is a horrific way to exist. If you consider all the people that consume chicken it is mind boggling. Just stand in line at your favorite chicken licken' take out joint. Multiply that by millions, how many chickens have to lose their lives to feed us.
I cannot imagine having deal with all those critters going after my girls I probably would give up. I give you credit.

 

[SamuelMcF]

I have lost WAY too many chickens to raccoons. They are awful!

 

[MamaChic21]

I guess it depends where you live, your predators changes. What about owls and vultures, they love chickens, unfortunately. I live in South New Jersey and we have everything from snakes to eagles, possums, foxes, but haven't seen a racoon yet, hope I will never do ! But I've lost 22 chickens in 1 night to foxes, it was just a nightmare. I read somewhere that sinle fox can wipe put 100 chickens in 1 night, scary ha ?

 

[BuffOrpington22]

DOGS!!!!! I have lost chickens this past year to dogs. Stray dogs, neighbor dogs you name it. We don't have close encounters with skunks, minks and I am so glad.. WHEW!!!But we live in the country area with trees lots of it but they never come around and I keep good count of my hens. So dogs would be the only problems I had. I lost 17 ducks in one night because of a dog. Its really sad.

 

[CrazyerThanAverage]

My worst predator is hawks. Harris Hawks to be specific. (Really big hawks that hunt cooperativly.) Four of them caught my flock in a horse coral near their coop Monday and slaughtered six of my seven chickens. We think the lone survivior slipped through a partly ajar stall door unnoticed. I have had a dog go after one chicken before (she lost some tail feathers), and we have TrailCam pictures of bobcats nosing around the coop at night, but nothing has killed one before. I get nature; preditors have to eat. I don't get why they had to kill all six chickens and then only eat off 3 of them. Now they have been hanging around all week screeching about my stealling THEIR food and eyeing my lone survivor. I don't think crows would stand a chance agains these guys!

 

[farmerjan70]

Time of year seems to affect the "worst predator status. Fall/winter we seem to have more problem with the hawks. Summer it is a whole lot, hawks, coyotes, foxes, raccoons, dogs that the owners swear it just couldn't be "fido" when they are left out to run all day when they are at work ( we are having some major problems with the dogs in the sheep). Also, oppossums. We have an eagle that has been preying on a neighbors' boer goat kids (40 lb size). Owls seem to be more active in the spring/summer. Spring seems to be more of foxes (with dens). Does it ever end??????? Feral cats. There is a neighborhood bobcat that has been seen by several people early in the morning, but I don't let the birds out until after 10 or so , so he has not bothered them. The hawks are the worst to get control of, as you can trap, shoot, or even poison most everything "legally", but the winged predators.