I took a trip out of town for a couple of days with a friend and we visited his relative that has chickens. I cannot tell you how horrified I was when I saw his chickens! Im sure there were about 35 to 40 chicken in the coop and run, and they looked terrible. Most of the birds had feathers missing (bare skin showing most around the rear area) one poor bird had only wing feathers. Im new to chickens, but I dont think this is normal. I wonder if its because there are too many in one coop and are pecking each other? Are they molting? And another thing, I didnt see any food in the coop. He had young and old birds alike in the same coop. I thought young birds need a constant supply of food? Also, I didnt see crushed oyster shells for the laying hens and their water supply was horrific. These birds do not free-range at all which was very depressing to me! This person is an older gentleman and, out of respect for my friend I didnt say anything. I do think that his generation views keeping chickens in a very different light than we do here on BYC.
Unfortunately, that's how some people do keep their chickens. Some could be molting, but that sounds like more than just normal molting. And dirty water? Wonder how HE'd like to drink that, huh? Sounds like the way my sweet Hawkeye was kept when I rescued him. If they can't make the effort, they shouldn't have chickens. I love to see healthy, robust birds and even when they molt, they should have more than wing feathers.
It is very sad to see chickens in that type of environment. I just resently went to a so called farm where people PAY to see chickens in that type of condition. I personally don't free range but my chickens have a lot of room to roam around in their chicken yard. My parents came to my house today to visit with the chickens (they haven't seen them in about a month or more) and they kept saying that people back in their day didn't care for chickens the way I do. Some folks just view them as a food source. I think most of us here on BYC view them as beloved pets that we love and care for.
It sounds very sad. I know since my parents are older they don't pay attention to things the way they use to. jackie
