Well said, and being unkind is bad for us all.I tend to view the chickens in much the same way as I do the cattle: they're co-workers, and deserve respect for the jobs they do, and kindness because being unkind is bad for me. I'm into prophylactic treatment, especially anti-parasite treatment and with the cattle, vaccinations: I'm coming around to the differences between cattle and chickens having to do with reproductive potential, body size, and interspecies transmissability. On the latter point: I'd vaccinate chickens for salmonella if I could, and feed anti-coccidiosis feed to chicks because that disease CAN jump species and cause death in calves (something I know from listening to another 4-Her's demonstration over and over and over again as we proceeded from project meetings to the community club to county to district to state).
I don't like losing any animal when it's a result of a failure on my part, and need a lot of proof before I can accept it's NOT my fault. I get really frustrated when I loose breeding stock in any form: I'm a blood stock breeder at heart, and want to continue good bloodlines even if they're represented by a heifer who gets her head stuck in an eight bottom breaking plough.
But I helped slaughter my first steer when I was... maybe seven? I cleaned a hen who was diagnosed as egg bound and slaughtered before she got sick when I was five, and enjoyed the chicken and dumplings after. But I know not everyone is a farmer and try not to get snarky over these things (because being unkind is bad for me).
I agree 100% on all you have said for your livestock...it is appropriately named, "Live-stock".......I too take it personally, and do all I can do vaccinate, irrigate, rotate fields, whatever necessary to ensure our livestock "children" will survive, and survive well.