Strictly pet chickens! Anyone??

[ChooksChick]

Oh, heck, yeah, they're pets! I have a rooster I'm not supposed to have that I can't re-home just now...because he has a prosthetic lower beak and has to be spoon-fed 4 times a day.

I have a hen who broke her pelvis and got X-rays and vet care...but I was prepared to have her euthanized should she not be able to heal. She did heal up and now has a slight limp.

My girls are part of the family and have the extra perk of giving me eggs- a lot more than my dogs give me, let me tell ya!!

When they stop laying I'll let them retire with their pals... the one with the broken pelvis hasn't laid an egg since she got injured, and we don't know if she ever will, but it's okay- she's our dear friend.

Occasionally I'll let the girls bring one in to hang out- they love to sit on laps and just be petted, fighting over lap space. It's funny that they come running to be held when we go outside- a big flock of clowns tearing full-tilt at us...

We live in the middle of town, on a 9000 sq ft lot, with neighbor's houses less than 20' on one side, 45' on the other.

There are 19 birds here now...we technically have a limit of 20...but will anyone ever be able to count?? Hmmmmm...

 

[SheeReno]

Our 5 are only pets. They roam around in the house every now and again (at least the older 2 do) but they don't live inside or anything like that. They will never be food, though we will collect some eggs.

 

[cap1717]

Definatly "pets" here. . . I re-home the roos, due to city regs and no desire to acquire more than I can care for in my small coop / yard, but no animal that gets named, gets eaten! Years ago when I had geese, my pet "Baby Dragon" was stepped on by a horse and had to have his wing amputated! I loved that goose!

 

[Hoosiermomma]

Quote:
I share your views...
Our chickens are our pets. They will live their lives out here even after they are finished laying. We are semi-vegetarians (hoping to make the jump to total non meat in the near future). I have been involved in animal rescue (of any type) so my love of animals of any species goes really deep.

 

[BroomFarm]

I am forever fascinated by the human condition. We have evolved enough as a society, in the production of various food products, both plant and animal, to change the dynamic between ourselves and the creatures we have domesticated. At least in the US, and in most first-world countries, there is little or no need to eat meat, let alone hunt for or harvest it ourselves. Dogs which once protected and hunted alongside us are now bred for appearance (see Golden Retriever) and the symbiotic bond between vermin-eating cats and humans has become much more docile and one-sided, in nature.

Which brings us to chickens and what they offer the modern-day keeper of the flock. As a species, they have been more intensively bred than any other I am aware of, in the animal world. They lack the ability to survive on their own, except in locations that are both temperate and kept free of virtually all predators. Even in those places, without the food offerings from man, they would not be able to forage sufficiently and would be extirpated in a few short generations. What this means is that chickens are wholly dependent on their keepers to care for them and provide for their needs.

In return, chickens offer us several benefits. The most obvious is their production of food, in the form of eggs and meat. To be frank, these are the only two things most chicken types have been bred for...and they excel at efficiently providing both. However, as all of us BYC'ers know, chickens also enrich our lives with their silly antics and distinctly unique personalities! There is no question that chickens can be enjoyed and appreciated as pets, just like our dogs and cats.

However...(this is where I will probably get myself in trouble!), I think that the recent choice of our society to become far more benevolent in our association with various animals, both domesticated and otherwise, is, perhaps noble, but more likely, simply misguided. We are no longer cavemen, but neither are we exclusively sentient beings, devoid of physical and instinctive needs. Biologically speaking, our bodies still require (and are healthiest with) a diet that is primarily protein. The availability of very high levels of carbohydrate in our diet is a very recent phenomenon, which has led to epidemic obesity. In short, if more people kept chickens and ate more of their eggs and meat, instead of the massive quantities of highly refined grain products, they would be much healthier. The only thing that would allow a person in today's society to eschew all meat products is the availability of protein from intensively-farmed agricultural products.

To my way of thinking, a 6,000 acre field that has been chemically treated to produce soy beans, to the exclusion of all other life, whether weed or weevil, is not much better than the 6,000sf chicken house where a bird spends 90% of its life without its feet ever touching soil.

I am glad that we enjoy the freedom to believe as we wish, and to express those beliefs in a forum where we can show mutual respect for one another. I feel confident that I will not alienate myself by dissenting from the bulk of members who have posted to this thread. My family and I give great care to our chickens, look forward to the bounty of eggs they will bring and also will quickly, respectfully, humanely harvest them, when the time is right, to provide sustenance in the partaking of their flesh.

I do not propose to intellectualize the physiology, psychology, or biology of man. I just think chicken tastes good and see no logic in divesting myself of the obligation to address all of the "yucky stuff", especially when that leads to the proliferation of the horrors found in the commercial chicken industry.

 

[Quillgirl]

My six are pets. We have them for eggs and entertainment, and free fertilizer for the garden. When they stop laying, I guess we'll just have to add to the old flock, or start a new one.

And I happen to agree with post 145. I have no problem with eating meat, chicken, wild game, etc. Chickens at their healthiest, and when allowed to forage, eat meat (insects, small reptiles and mammals) as well as veg. This is their nature, and I believe it is also ours. We are omnivores, just like our chickens. We come equipped with sharp canine teeth for ripping flesh. Nothing to be ashamed of or deny, though we may seek to repress or challenge that within ourselves. If so, that's your right and I support your decision, but it does not need to be everyone's decision.

 

[foweler]

My chicken's roam the backyard while a Foster Farms bird goes round in the Ronco rotisserie (highly recommended BTW) on the table on the back porch.
They even appear to want what's cookin'.

I feel a little weird as I'm in the kitchen prepping the bird and watching my girls out the window at the same time, but hey, I like chicken!

If I had to eat my girls I guess I would even though under conditions that made that a necessity my 3 birds wouldn't buy my family more than a few days relief from starvation.

I wanted pet chickens and don't have enough land for a larger flock.

If I did however, I would have many more and probably eat a lot of them. I know raising them the old fashioned way for both eggs and meat is better for the bird and better for the human. Watching videos of battery hens makes me ill. Not to mention if I'm going to eat meat I should experience what it takes to get it to the table directly, at least once anyway.

What I would have a problem with would be killing them in front of the rest of the flock. I would find a place out of sight for that.

 

[nekomi]

My flock of 14 are all pets, and won't be eaten. However, I have no problem culling extra roos and using the meat, or raising strictly meat birds in the future. But my egg layer hens? No way! They are my "girls" and that's how it was decided from the start.

 

[SeramaLife]

My large flock of 120 something are all named pets with benefits. My seramas are breeders, although I don't cull, I sell culls as pets. We keep our chickens until they die, our oldest being 9 1/2. We have a footless rooster(perfectly happy, frostbite) a blind hen, a senile old girl, and several chickens with crippled feet.

 

[Buugette]

This is how my baby helps me one the days I work from home...

Pets, totally pets... can't eat what I love!