When is it all too much?

[surfchicken72]

Quote:
While I respect your opinion, I cannot agree with this. Consumption for the sake of satisfying an emotional need on your part has devastating consequences around the world.


What is the "emotional need" I am satisfying? You're painting with a VERY broad brush.
Please tell me how my coop choice causes problems around the world, and yours does not.
Do we have pics of your coop to see where we all went wrong?
I too, would like to save the planet as you have.
(I can't believe I'm replying to this again, but you did "call me out")

 

[n3kms]

Quote:
Why does it have to be one or the other? Really, I just can't understand the polarity that this discussion seems to bring out. On the one hand we have people spending their hard earned money in whatever way the see fit because it is their right to do so. On the other hand, we have lazy good for nothings milking society. Does this extreme really exist in the U.S. or is it a convenient simplification? {Please don't flame, this is a genuine question}.

The extreme really does exist. You might think you know about haiti but you don't know anything about the U.S. I see this every day in my job. I've been a nurse for 26 years and I have never been so discouraged by our societal norms as I am today. Millions have been given to Haiti and many docs and nurses I know have gone to help them. They are very little better off. The people that are working can't sell their goods because the people are getting free stuff. Throwing money at a situation does not solve the problems. Sometimes monetary help is needed and our country has given and given. That over abundance has not always been helpful.

 

[mlorne]

Quote:
I thought I made my myself clear but apparently not. Having studied philosophy in university, I am constantly looking for the meaning, the back story, the motivations, the underlying concepts. When I viewed some of the threads on this forum, a thought came to me that I wished to share with others. Some have shared similar thoughts, others have not. Why they do or don't share similar thoughts is interesting and this discussion has raised some poignant and insightful dialog.

It has also become quite personal. I joined this forum to share information and learn from the experience of others about raising poultry. I was under the understanding that this forum was populated by nice, generous and thoughtful individuals. That opinion has NOT changed despite some of fairly personal posts and some of the questionable private messages. Perhaps I asked for it without knowing. In the future I shall confine my posts to the matter of raising poultry.

Thank you,
Michael

 

[chickp]

Hi there, I did not read through this whole thread so excuse me if someone already suggested this.....but my family has bought animals for people in other countries through the Heifer project and through our church's project like this (Good Gifts). We usually do this for Christmas for our extended family (along with a few gifts to open). Since this is our first year getting chickens, we thought we would buy everyone a chicken! It is about $10 to sponsor a chicken through Good Gifts and coincidentally that's how much our chickens were with shipping from MPC.

Since it was relatively easy and a hobby for us to have chickens, I feel like if we can give the same amount to someone who will survive because of the chickens or have a better quality of life, that's what we want to do. I am an ordained minister and trust me, I KNOW that you can't help everyone. But this is what our family decided would be helpful and kind of fun for us to know that someone else gets chickens!

 

[bigdaddyabc]

Seems to me after reading all the posts on the whole thread (it took a while) that it boils down to some pretty simple truths. Whether you spent thousands of dollars on your coop, or like me built a coop using the framework of my old greenhouse and all recycled stuff we all love our chickens. Our chickens all give us some reason we keep them. Stress relief, the fun of watching them, something to care for, whatever. In the end whether they live in a hodge-podge hut or the Cluckity Taj Mahal, I will bet they all lay eggs. I'm no Paris Hilton with a dog in a purse that wears a collar worth more than my house, but I will defend her right to keep that dog if that is what she chooses to do!!

 

[n3kms]

Off topic post removed.

 

[sydney13]

our coop is a bit over the top and our neighbor always jokes that if he ever has a fight with his wife he is going to move into our coop

we were planning on building it smaller and less fancy so it cost more then i thought but i still think its worth it. we live in a town were very few people keep chickens but after we built the coop and then got the chicks half of our neighbors are starting to consider getting some hens and building their own coop. we could have built it for a lot less money and it still probably would have looked fine but if it wasn't that presentable i doubt people who see it would also consider getting chickens.

 

[Thundrr-Chicken]

i'll chime in i guess... when it came time to have a coop for our house... and after reading and looking at hundreds of posts and pictures and threads about chickens and coops and predators on this site... i felt i had an obligation to my animals.. that if indeed i was going to keep them... i'd better provide for them the best i could... and in providing for them.. i had to make the coop and run big enough and safe enough so that they could live a good life... and it also had to be accessible for myself... and in turn... if and when we decide to sell this house and move out to the country... i'd need to be able to convert the coop into a backyard shed for the next home owner without much effort... i believe thats what i've done with what i had built.. the run is big enough to support the number of chickens we want... and the coop is big enough for that as well.. its also big enough for me to walk into and clean it.. i have a responsibility to all my animals.. if im going to keep them... i have to provide as best as i can... i take that same approach with my family... i have provided a house large enough in a location that is good enough to raise the family the best i can... you can take this thread and make it political if you like... or try to make it about being your brother's keeper if you like... i find it kinda funny that you think the people that spend a lot of money on their coops and runs dont spend money on taking care of others in need... to me... i think you have it backwards... if someone is willing to give to make their animals lives better ... you think those arent the same people that try to make other humans lives better???? lol... now that i find funny... you think that because we buy new wood that we dont recycle in other ways??? you seem to make some pretty broad generalizations... and to try to link my chicken habitat to the way people in haiti are living is just ridiculous ...

 

[TyrannosaurusChix]

this topic goes far beyong chickening. i like to spend what money i do have on the most i can get for it, and still be happy about it.

When we bought this place, the garage had a dilapidated addition to it- i spent more on fixing that up which still leaks but is managable.. and foudn out the chickens couldnt stay there than on building a brand new structure that resembles a gambrel style shed kit from lowes. .. they wanted a grand, i didnt want to pay that much. i looked it over and built one myself. not Exactly the same thing, but half price, and i tarped the roof. i dont think its UGLY UGLY, but it sure doesnt look like a pile of dung , either. shingles will come later if the tarp fails.


There are people up the road thar built a teepee for their chickens and wrapped old feed sacks around it.. they arent made of money but they sure could have given them something else.


i always get asked where i get things.. my reponses are usually..clearance or sale.. or thrift shop and fixed up, or made. mostly people are surprised and pleased at my thriftyness, both others act like they wouldnt be caught dead in a second hand shop! for some reason when i pay retail i feel like im wasting money or that i waste money.. which i occaisionally do..


And i too, spent more on my embroidery machine than my coop. if my chickens are dry and warm and fed i dont think they will be mad that i dont have knick knacks for them to shizah on.


i dont hold it against anyone who does those sort of things, either though.


i have to admit i sort of roll my eyes a little when i see people having a "harvey" about runs needing to be covered.. ideally, yes it would be more protection.. but i am lucky enough to have the space and money to invest on something i thought was a priority.. the chickens having ROOM.. enough not to obliterate grass. i fenced 400 ft of 6 ft fencing and they love it!! knock on wood no predators yet!

 

[Mervin]

Quote:
I thought I made my myself clear but apparently not. Having studied philosophy in university, I am constantly looking for the meaning, the back story, the motivations, the underlying concepts. When I viewed some of the threads on this forum, a thought came to me that I wished to share with others. Some have shared similar thoughts, others have not. Why they do or don't share similar thoughts is interesting and this discussion has raised some poignant and insightful dialog.

It has also become quite personal. I joined this forum to share information and learn from the experience of others about raising poultry. I was under the understanding that this forum was populated by nice, generous and thoughtful individuals. That opinion has NOT changed despite some of fairly personal posts and some of the questionable private messages. Perhaps I asked for it without knowing. In the future I shall confine my posts to the matter of raising poultry.

Thank you,
Michael

I agree with much of your sentiment. It is not a personal attack on anybody. Your simply stating an opinion, the opinion that society has become over consumptive and lost it's way from "take only what you need". I feel the same way a lot of times. It's not just about chicken keeping. It much more wide ranging though.

I believe you did "ask for it without knowing" so to speak. I think there are a lot of practical, down-to-earth folks on here that have much to offer. There are also a lot of folks I wouldn't sit and have a beer with as well. Honestly, I think these forums can be worse than the common bar room. The general anonymity of the Internet means there is no real consequence to lashing out rather than participating in a truly engaging debate.

I wonder how many of the people who have responded so negatively have done so because they feel somewhat guilty due to their own over consumption. I know I do. I am fighting hard to shed the "it's mine, I earned it" mentality that I've been trained to embrace. I can afford more, I could have an extravagant chicken house, but I don't need one. I could afford an SUV that get's 12 mpg, but I choose to drive a compact that gets 35 mpg. Doing more with less makes me feel better about myself. Having more makes others feel better about themselves.

Live your own way, promote your ideas when appropriate. Those that get it will understand, those that don't probably never will.