The dark side of backyard chickens

[Narragansett]

This lady has a few of her facts wrong, but the basic premise of her article is true. Many backyard chicken breeders display a blatent disregard for the ultimate fate of the birds which they breed. If they bred dogs or cats, or many other animals for that matter, with no planned intention for their final disposition, they'd be called puppy mills, hoarders or irresponsible breeders. Why is it overlooked or even encouraged because these animals are "only" poultry? She brings up a few points that poultry breeders who do not eat their culls or have an otherwise ready market for them aught to consider when thinking about the overall welfare of the animals which they keep and breed.
http://www.chow.com/food-news/104627/the-dark-side-of-backyard-chickens/

 

[ChicKat]

Interesting article, somewhat one-sided. It certainly generated a wealth of comments all through the spectrum of back yard chicken reactions. thanks for posting.

 

[punk-a-doodle]

The article is heavily slanted, and has an AR message (note where it talks about humane treatment equaling keeping hens for their natural lifespans...that is AR, not animal welfare). Educating people on what it takes to raise something that has been so far removed from most of our lives is key...but this article sadly fails at that.

 

[janinepeters]

Yes, the author of the article appears to be an animal rights activist. But the upshot of the article, that people often do not understand what they are getting into when swept away by the backyard chicken craze and end up neglecting their birds, is right on. I've seen too many backyard chickens kept in squalid, crowded conditions by people who think they should be able to keep as many as they want no matter how little space, and shouldn't have to provide more than a half hour per week of care. Or think they shouldn't have to spend any more money in producing these eggs as the cheapest eggs in the supermarket cost. They don't understand that sustainable, humane farming can be expensive and/or time consuming.

Now I know to answer "yes, they do" when people ask me if keeping chickens takes much time. I worry about the backyard farming movement, not because I think all chickens should be allowed to die of old age, but because most people aren't really interested in taking good care of them. Also, some are completely ignorant about predators, which puts them at war with the local wildlife, with "war" often meaning guns, traps, and poison. That's not exactly "sustainable" or "humane" behavior in my book.