Strictly pet chickens! Anyone??

[Chicks R Friends NOT Food]

I keep my chickens AND my turkeys as pets.

People understand mostly about the chickens (they feel it's okay because they give eggs), but they can't seem to get why turkeys aren't for Thanksgiving.

 

[BlackBart]

Me. My chickens are pets that lay eggs.
The older chickens teach the younger chickens the routine.

I am going to have trouble with some extra Roosters I have. They are purebred and some are SQ.
I will offer them for sale but kill them? I don't think I could do that or send them away to be killed, nope.
By the time they are big enough to be processed, I will recognize their personalities and they will have names.

 

[bawkbawkbawk]

It's my plan to keep my chickens as pets for their entire lives, but they're only 6 weeks old so I shouldn't be counting eggs before they hatch, so to speak.

I'd like to add to my little flock of four next year or the year after - want some bantams but can't have roosters, so if I do end up getting boys I'll have to give them away.

Otherwise, like every other animal that crosses the threshold here, we make the commitment that they're guaranteed food, shelter and spoiling all the days of their lives.

(Wish I'd known cockatiels live forever before I got one of those)

 

[Heavy D]

I'm betting that most chicken pet owners are city/ suburb dwellers and not farmers. Real farmers have a different take on the animals they raise.
We have three chickens totally as pets (all have names) that we got to provide delicious fresh eggs for us. As the new T-shirt on the forum says "My PET provided my breakfast" you don't eat your pets.

 

[rebecca10782]

Hey! I was wondering the same thing. I feel exactly the same way as you. At least this forum keeps the killing seperate. I was on another forum that would randomly post guides on butchering you chickens. I can't see that stuff, it enrages me.

 

[Hazelnut]

Our chickens are pets just like our other pets (dogs and cats). I am a vegetarian and even if my chickens never laid any eggs, that wouldn't bother me. I just love them. I didn't get them because I wanted egg layers, I got them because I love them.

 

[RasMama]

can I join the club??

I've been vegetarian since I was 7, of my own choice. We lived on a farm & raised sheep, every year a family would come to choose a lamb so that it could be slaughtered for some religious ceremony & it had to be raised & killed a particular way. That was when I knew that meat came from animals & I liked the animals alive better than as my dinner. My mom actually brought me to the doctor to try & have him convince me it was unhealthy (that plan backfired big time on her

). Animals have always been my passion, I studied primate behavior at University & have worked at many different primate rescue sanctuaries. I've toyed with veganism (and freeganism, but not including meat), but when I got pregnant I really wanted cheese so I caved & now it's just too hard to go back (or I can't get it free). My issues with animal consumption are mostly the factory farming practices, which is why I got my own backyard flock for eggs. I may still eat cheese but my eggs aren't coming from those horrendous conditions. I try to make as much food as possible myself so as to avoid unnecessary animal ingredients in prepackaged stuff. Now I just need to convince DH that a mini milk cow is appropriate on our double lot in town

... it does have a privacy fence, that makes would keep it private, right

? I plan to keep my girls as long as they'll let me. They have names & personalities & even when their egg laying days are done I'll let them enjoy their days in the sun with plenty of good food & grass to forage through.

I have to say I'm really glad to see so many pages of like-minded people. I even saw a woman on the first page who became a vegetarian at a young age on her own as well... it's not often I find somebody who I can compare "vegetarian age" with

 

[SurprisingWoman]

I just read this article this morning:

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Sustainable-Farming/Raising-Chickens-For-Meat.aspx

and while it was interesting I still couldn't eat any of my "babies."

If we get a roo and I can't rehome him to a nice "farm" in the country where he would have lots of hens then I would give him to a friend fo mine. They are from Romania and really hate the chicken in America, it's too bland and tender. I would have to make a proviso that he never tells me about it after.

It's difficult to know what to do.

 

[kristen2678]

Pets only here. This is our first go around with chickens. We have just three. In the years to come when we have more land we will expand the flock. Even then they will be just pets with the added egg benefit.

It's not my business if someone is using their birds for food but we could never do that. We buy our meat and produce from local farms. We're pet people, they are farmers. We like to keep it that way.

 

[chickenbottom]

mine are pets actually they are family lol if they didnt lay one egg i wouldnt care. i get excited when they do lay but thats not what i got them for i love chickens i always have i think they are like feathered tiny dogs. except i dont like dogs to much. my chickens are spoiled. snacks everyday i give them hugs and kisses (i know thats weird) lol. i go sit with them for hours just to see them. they are my kids all 14 of them. i wouldnt change that for the world. if i had to chose between a million dollars and them. i wouldnt hessitate to chose them. i think im a little nuts about how i treat my babies they have a great life and they seem to appricate it and me they jump on me they make loud noises when they see me they love free ranging which they get 2 to 3 times a week now. i love them like i gave birth to them i dont understand what they are saying but does anyone ever understand what a baby is saying lol. i could just go on and on about how i love them but that would be tiresome for everyone to read ahaha