Why do battery hens have big, floppy combs?

[Davaroo]

Me, fine; you can ignore me all you want. I'll go to the dust being ignored. No prob, babe.

But you can't ignore the Huxley-meister.
The Truth always remains.

 

[holliewould]

I got a question about the growth hormone thingy. Is it just laying hens that are banned from growth hormones? Or all factory farmed meats? I'm just curious.

 

[Wolf-Kim]

Quote:
Quote:
"..meat or eggs.."

-Kim

 

[holliewould]

Quote:
Quote:
"..meat or eggs.."

-Kim

So just poultry meat? Why only poultry? Or is it any meat? Like cattle? What about milk? Sorry guys I'm still curious. >:

 

[silkiechicken]

Might go searching around on the FDA website. Lots of information on there.

 

[holliewould]

Quote:
Yea thanks just went there a bit ago. I'd rather just not eat. It's much easier then trying to understand most of that stuff. If I can't pronounce it, I'm not gonna eat it. That's been my policy for a while anyways. Still was curious.

Thanks for the info. everybody. Learn something new on here everyday.

 

[Guitartists]

Hey Miss Prissy....... saw this thread https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=74377

I see what you mean about those combs!!!!!! They certainly do change and really make you wonder if it has ANYTHING to do with genetics! As a matter of fact, after seeing those pics.. I don't see how it can be.

Says there that it's because they use their combs to cool down????? How does that work?

 

[silkiechicken]

The big pale ones are probably due to the heat they are in. I know my leghorns have big floppy combs, the difference is that they are big, floppy, yet firm, not mushy looking. The birds below free range. Put in over heated crowded conditions, her comb would probably become mushy and distended. Leghorn combs after factory life can be so big they hang over the whole face.

For the use as a cooling system, in the winter, the larger roo and girl combs turn paler and often get blueish tips due to slower circulation. It's like a radiator.

hen

roo

 

[The Chicken Lady]

Quote:
EDITED AFTER FURTHER REVIEW TO INCLUDE THE PREDICTED SOAPBOX:
Not anymore. Outlawed some time ago. This is a holdover scare tactic plied by the eco-foodist alarmists.
Modern layers dont need them. They are bred carefully to be superb layers - your best yard birds pale in comparison. They are carefully fed, tended, and controlled to the very day they will reduce production. Once laying drops off to the predicted point, they go to the processor and new hens take their place. There is little need of hormonal augmentation under such a Huxleyan scheme.

Didnt anyone catch the Huxley reference?

Yes, I did. I thought that was very clever.

By the way, Brave New World is an excellent book. I like dystopian literature.

 

[Harley's girl]

Silkiechicken,
That is one beautiful rooster!!!!!