"Why we have Chickens" Poll comment

[The Chicken Lady]

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That's pretty close to flaming. Some people on BYC think those that eat their birds are nuts.

It really doesn't matter, does it? We all have one thing in common -- that we have a passion for chickens.

When it comes down to it, BYC is about chickens -- and the goal of this forum is to promote "a chicken in every backyard."

Whether your chickens are in your backyard because they are "the pets that make you breakfast," because you are a serious breeder, or because they ARE your breakfast

(or a combination of any of these), we hope that all of our members can find a place for themselves here on the forum. Not everyone is here for the same reasons, and not everyone here has the same experience with and goals for their birds, and that's okay.

 

[Brunty_Farms]

That's pretty close to flaming. Some people on BYC think those that eat their birds are nuts. It really doesn't matter, does it? We all have one thing in common -- that we have a passion for chickens.

Personally, I agree with Jaku... but who am I to tell someone not to put a diaper on a chicken? Seriously... what ever floats your boat right?

They are not chickens as most BYCers think of chickens. They have little to no desire to forage even when presented with the opportunity

Really? Wow.... mine are, they will range up to 100 yards when the opportunity is given to them.

It costs too much. I can not honestly say the satisfaction of knowing where my food came from and how it was raised can compare to my satisfaction in knowing I've saved enough to do something I've been looking forward to.

Out of all of the responses of why people can't raise meat birds.... I understand yours the most. It's a legite reason in my opinion.

We have raised meat birds for years and I can think of about 100 reasons people would not raise them. In a nutshell, they're repulsive. They're lazy, stinky, stupid, PITAs.

Then why would you raise such a bird for such a long time? I feel that if you don't like to do it, why do it?

I find it funny that people find it freakish to raise these birds... but every time they go to the store to buy meat, they support the same thing they are agianst? Wow... total wake up call right? When you eat chicken from a store, restaurant, KFC... ect. It's all from that Lazy, Stinky, Stupid, PITA.... Freaky Chicken... LOL!

Anyhow I see no good in this post as it's already headed for lock up but I'm seriously getting a couple laughs from it on my Sunday night.

Hey and they way I see it.... if everyone raised their own chickens for meat... I would be out of buisness. So as long as people think they are a stinky.... lazy.... whatever other word anyone wants to use is fine by me... I see it as less compition. Because no other chicken will preform like a cornish "freakin" cross....​

 

[Amethyste]

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oh...I hope that wasnt to me

I wasnt meaning to have that comment come across like that, and if so I am sorry. I personally dont have an issue with the meat birds or people who raise them at all. I was just saying it doesnt seem quite right to me to have a bird who is inclined to eat like that... it does not seem like much of an existence. However, I do think they taste wonderful! So, I am of two minds about it... I would prefer to have the dual purpose birds, cos I think the quality of life is better overall for them. But on the other hand, I may get a few of the cornish x one day for freezer camp. Eitherway, as long as they are treated humanely in the end, that is what matters most to me... that they have the opportunity to experience life and enjoy what they have of it.

 

[Tala]

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That's me. I've cleaned deer and turkey, so I figured chicken can't be that hard? It wasn't all that hard, I mean it's not that different than wild turkey, but I'm not up for more than one or two at a time. (I'm not that successful of a hunter either, so one or two a season is just fine with me).

I like dual purpose birds, and there's always extra or mean roosters. That's enough meat for me. I'm not a huge chicken eater, I prefer beef or other meat, and I don't have the space or money to raise cows *shrug*

 

[Xero]

This is my first year with my own chickens and their function keeps evolving. I have dogs as beloved pets and I would never have the heart to eat my goats (I bottle raised one of them after her mother rejected it) and I promised the lady I got them from they wouldn't be butchered anyway. My chickens, on the other hand, are fair game. I'm planning on trying some of those free ranging meaties next year since I can't seem to find a place still selling them out to the public. I would have ordered them sooner but I just now got the materials required to build another pen for them. Besides my husband said no more chickens until I can prove I can kill or sell some.

I plan to go to my uncle when I'm ready to butcher a few of mine. My husband has no problem killing things but he hates being around dead things (almost like a phobia). I have no problem killing things so much as I don't want to do it wrong and end up with wasted meat or a suffering bird. After that I'll try doing it by myself or I'll let my husband do the deed and clean them.

People in today's society are too far removed from their food and the logic of it. They go to a store and see chicken in this shrink wrapped package and that is food gathering to them. This is a luxery people in the US have. They are not required to go out into the forest to gather their food...just a quick trip to the store and they are set. If food wasn't so plentiful and relatively cheap their stance on these things would change.

*edited to add- My original intent with chickens was to get a couple for eggs, have annual meatie flocks, and have some breeding pens set up for rare chicken strains to help preserve diversity.

 

[Olive Hill]

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I didn't say they wouldn't range. I said they have a decreased desire to forage. Big difference. And no, I don't consider 100yds much movement from a free-range chicken.

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Business. And to a lesser extent production rate. I'm not one to throw the baby out with the bath water. We have tested different crosses from a variety of sources, tweaked systems and tested cost efficiency ideas over the years. Business is not static, it is fluid. There should always be evolution of the model, and that evolution should take place over time.

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How very idealistic. If this were the case I'd stop cleaning the toilets, weeding the garden, doing the dishes, folding the laundry and getting up early to get my kids to school and myself to work, too.

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No, not a wake up call at all. I don't buy meat from the store. And even if I did, I'm well aware of where it comes from (which is why I don't buy it). Even then, the breed of chicken has little to do with what MOST people are "against" in conventional meat production, which is the conditions in which the animals are raised. Raising meat birds at home gives people the opportunity to avoid supporting THAT. What breed they choose to raise really has very little to do with it other than enjoyment.

You seem to think just because people have preferences other than THE meat birds, they're opposed to the breed. That's a lot of "reading into" people's words and applying what you want to hear out of it. No one on this thread has said that cornish crosses shouldn't exist or should not be raised by anyone, simply that they personally have reasons or can see reasons why someone would choose not to keep them.

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No good because people have expressed opinions other than yours? I see a lot of good in this post. People who are considering buying meat breeds could glean a lot of information both pros and cons of that decision from those that have raised them and learn the reason others have passed them up. People who have meat birds but aren't sure whether they want to continue with them or not can see why some people have switched, why others stick with it.

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I too would be out of business if all people decided to raise their own meat. But you won't find me assuming only cornish crosses can provide me competition. They produce meat quicker, but with a little work a very good dual purpose flock can provide a wonderful stock as well. Know your market, your product and ALL of your competition.

 

[PortageGirl]

Well said Olive Hill!

 

[Le Canard de Barbarie]

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Some of the chicken coops here look so tiny, cramped and poorly ventilated that they are not that far removed from commercial production facilities.

 

[HickChick Wannabe]

Good timing on this, since I just processed my first birds yesterday, with help (a lot of help!) from a friend.

It's a very foreign concept for me, since I was raised with animals as pets and all meat came from the freezer at the grocery store. I have never been directly responsible for, nor involved in, the intentional death of an animal in order to eat it, before yesterday. It's quite a mental leap and in some ways it was easier and in some ways more difficult than I imagined. I know all the reasons that raising them myself is better, healthier for us, more environmentally sensitive and probably more humane for the chicken than buying them, but it's still a struggle to actually go through with it. It was also incredibly time consuming and, while my neighbor was quite entertained (You might be a redneck if you have headless chickens hanging from a string on your clothesline?), DH would be quite a bit happier to continue buying his chicken from the store. His eggs too, for that matter.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I agree with the original poster. The 7% stayed very constant throughout the poll. I'm not a statistical genius but I do consider the numbers to give a statistically valid result, especially since they did stay constant.

The only thing I can think of that may have skewed the voting is that I'm not sure everyone realized they could vote for two or more reasons. I know it was clearly stated, but... I voted for meat and eggs. That's why I have dual purpose chickens. I did not see it as a question on meaties versus others.

I appreciate that this site is intended for all small flock chicken owners, whatever the reasons for owning them. But I think it also demonstrates very clearly that a lot of people keep chickens as pets. I'd even venture to guess that for a lot of them, the eggs are just a side benefit or an excuse, not a real reason. Maybe that is another poll.

I was raised on a farm where we raised our own chickens for eggs and meat. Mom would tell me to go get a chicken. That meant she expected a whole carcass cleaned and plucked and with the pin feathers burned off. I was also raised that if you caught a fish or hunted, whatever you got you cleaned it yourself. Others might help you eat it and you did not necessarily get first choice as to which piece you ate, but it was always eaten. I don't think most people on this site or in the US were raised that way.