Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Shadrach]

That makes me feel sick...

I do not understand how people can support hatcheries.

 

[Shadrach]

I'm not entirely sure. Fox, I think, initially because they roosted too low, or came down too early.

Down too early did for a couple in Catalonia.

 

[Shadrach]

This made me chuckle. For a moment it looked like she had a hand in the watering can feeling about for something with her eyes closed for concentration.

Too hot for me again today. My Polish friend was already waiting for me at the allotments when I arrived.

Matilda is still not going to roost with a full crop. She seems to have gone off the pellets mainly. She'll eat other things.

15 in the coop this evening.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I do not understand how people can support hatcheries.

Honestly, it was an accident for me. Where I lived before - a suburban neighborhood - the only places I knew about to get chickens were feed stores, which, of course, carry hatchery chicks. And there were breeds I wanted, so I then learned about ordering. Now that I have an established flock, I don't want to bring in illnesses if/when I add birds so my choices are: let my broodies hatch them, or buy from an NPIP breeder. Well, there aren't any NPIP places that I can find anywhere near me, and I really can't have more roosters. No one wants roosters, sadly. And I don't eat chicken. And I can't kill something I've raised. So I'm left with feed stores (i.e. hatcheries).

It's something that has led me to decide not to replenish my flock. As my birds pass away, I won't be replacing them. No more chickens for me.

 

[TheFatBlueCat]

A beautiful day here, although a chilly frosty start. I got stuck into some gardening preparations. The flock has had a fantastic day assisting me with laying out the linseed mulch.

I have much tax! Squeaky has now been given the name Wendall, no longer a temporary name!

 

[ManueB]

This is how I mainly get mine, or add some from my incubator to her. However it's not cost effective. I figured out in 2017 it cost around $7 USA a lb in feed cost. That was non GMO feed to keep 6 hens, a rooster and raising the chicks to 16 weeks. What eggs I ate or sold was deducted from feed cost, which was $4 USA a dz feed cost. I was paying 33 cents a lb for non GMO feed, it's now conventional feed at 70 cents a lb. The farmer I was getting it from sold out.

The local farmers market sold pasture CX fed non GMO for $6 a lb and $5 for brown eggs. ... Not as good as mine but acceptable.

Grocery store sells organic CX for around $3.50 a lb, and the same for organic eggs... but not anywhere close to farmers market items.

I'm not sure I understood correctly. Are you also selling Cornish Cross ?
I wonder how the grocery store can sell them for so cheap with the price you mention of organic feed ...does organic means pasture raised for Cornish X or not necessarily ?

Photos of the linseed straw:

View attachment 3220817

View attachment 3220818

It's cut very short indeed and therefore it should work nicely, you'll let us know! We use the hay my partner cuts in the coop and I'm never going to find the correct translation but depending on whether he uses an engine that only cuts the grass or that grinds it, the hay isn't the same length, and I find shorter cut hay works way better- absorbs more, easier to clean, not as rough on the hen's feet.

I do not understand how people can support hatcheries.

Honestly, it was an accident for me. Where I lived before - a suburban neighborhood - the only places I knew about to get chickens were feed stores, which, of course, carry hatchery chicks. And there were breeds I wanted, so I then learned about ordering. Now that I have an established flock, I don't want to bring in illnesses if/when I add birds so my choices are: let my broodies hatch them, or buy from an NPIP breeder. Well, there aren't any NPIP places that I can find anywhere near me, and I really can't have more roosters. No one wants roosters, sadly. And I don't eat chicken. And I can't kill something I've raised. So I'm left with feed stores (i.e. hatcheries).

It's something that has led me to decide not to replenish my flock. As my birds pass away, I won't be replacing them. No more chickens for me.

My first reaction was that anyone who buys chicken at the store, even pasture raised, probably supports hatcheries. I don't think many of the bigger places raising broilers actually do their own hatching. @Aunt Angus it's a courageous but sad decision. If I may ask, why not buy eggs from a breeder that ships them and have a broody raise them ?
It's not a choice I would personally make because of the risk for the egg, but I don't feel mishandling an egg has the same inhuman aspect as mishandling a chick, and I believe I maybe would do it if there was no other option.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I'm not sure I understood correctly. Are you also selling Cornish Cross ?
I wonder how the grocery store can sell them for so cheap with the price you mention of organic feed ...does organic means pasture raised for Cornish X or not necessarily ?

It's cut very short indeed and therefore it should work nicely, you'll let us know! We use the hay my partner cuts in the coop and I'm never going to find the correct translation but depending on whether he uses an engine that only cuts the grass or that grinds it, the hay isn't the same length, and I find shorter cut hay works way better- absorbs more, easier to clean, not as rough on the hen's feet.



My first reaction was that anyone who buys chicken at the store, even pasture raised, probably supports hatcheries. I don't think many of the bigger places raising broilers actually do their own hatching. @Aunt Angus it's a courageous but sad decision. If I may ask, why not buy eggs from a breeder that ships them and have a broody raise them ?
It's not a choice I would personally make because of the risk for the egg, but I don't feel mishandling an egg has the same inhuman aspect as mishandling a chick, and I believe I maybe would do it if there was no other option.

What to do with the inevitable cockerels? That's a big issue here. And that's not the whole of it. I've had a helluva time with illnesses this summer. I'm kind of exhausted.

Ducks are easier to find and heartier. I may just stick with them for humanely sourced eggs.

 

[TheFatBlueCat]

Honestly, it was an accident for me. Where I lived before - a suburban neighborhood - the only places I knew about to get chickens were feed stores, which, of course, carry hatchery chicks. And there were breeds I wanted, so I then learned about ordering. Now that I have an established flock, I don't want to bring in illnesses if/when I add birds so my choices are: let my broodies hatch them, or buy from an NPIP breeder. Well, there aren't any NPIP places that I can find anywhere near me, and I really can't have more roosters. No one wants roosters, sadly. And I don't eat chicken. And I can't kill something I've raised. So I'm left with feed stores (i.e. hatcheries).

It's something that has led me to decide not to replenish my flock. As my birds pass away, I won't be replacing them. No more chickens for me.

Have you considered finding a family or community group that would eat your cockerels on your behalf? I don't have it in me to actually kill mine, at least not yet. I give them to a couple of local families and they eat them. I feel good that they have had a very good life, and a meaningful death providing very nutritious food for a family who appreciates getting to eat 'real' chicken.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Have you considered finding a family or community group that would eat your cockerels on your behalf? I don't have it in me to actually kill mine, at least not yet. I give them to a couple of local families and they eat them. I feel good that they have had a very good life, and a meaningful death providing very nutritious food for a family who appreciates getting to eat 'real' chicken.

I appreciate that. Honestly, I do. But I have the unpopular opinion that animals shouldn't be eaten. It's a religion thing. I would never ever expect others to follow suit if it's not their way, but I cannot in good conscience give one of my animals over for that purpose.

Really - it's all good. I'm muddling my way through life trying to align the way I live with my values.

 

[ManueB]

I'm muddling my way through life trying to align the way I live with my values.

I feel the same both for the cockerel and the values, though mine aren't religious, and I don't think I'm doing very well .

Gaston crowed for the first time this morning and I don't want him to become anybody's supper. I fully respect the choice of turning them into nourishment but I'm not able to do it.