Youtube has completely freaked me out

[In His Service]

Recently, my broody hatched out 5 chicks then had to leave the nest to care for them, leaving 7 eggs. I took them in, 2 were clear, and one hatched the next morning. I took this chick out to see if momma would take it. She snatched it from me in her beak, tossed it over her shoulder and growled at me as if I had stolen her chick. The chick never broke stride, just rolled over to its sibs and started running around. The chick is fine now, and I hatched 3 more of her chicks which she took also, though more gently.

 

[thekid]

I know Meyer And Murray McMurray dont have a conveyor belt. Go on youtube and watch the discovery one with mike rowe.

 

[MissTurkey4]

Quote:
I think this is the vedeo your talking about.

I think the first hatchery video is pretty clear they are a comercial hatchery. Not the kind we buy from.

 

[Time-Out]

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I can't believe something like that actually exists!

 

[caspaintcountry]

I've seen ok videos and horrible videos. Can't judge ALL hatcheries on one video. Boycott if you know the specific hatchery. If you really want to think about how our "world" works google and watch "Earthlings" I am not asking you to watch to change your opinions on anything, just to spread the word on how we live affects everything. I challenge you all to watch the whole thing. I did. Its sad, its horrible. You'll cry, you'll be shocked and discusted, you'll be more aware and maybe even have a new view on things. Many have differant opinions. Please don't criticise me if you do watch it. I was raised on a farm, I hunt and butcher my own livestock.

That's all I will say for now.

 

[MuranoFarms]

It's the hy-line hatchery video that will make you sick! While the video the OP posted does have them being treated differently then I do things here....I can't say it's cruel. The meat grinder and wash cycles in the Hy-line video....that's cruel!

 

[Blue]

I watched the video the OP posted, and I didn't see anything inhumane about it. Chicks are much tougher than they look. I had one mama hen kick her baby clear out of a hole in the wire once (the hole was at least over a foot off the ground), and it was fine. The conveyer belt did look a bit rough, but the chicks seemed none the worse for wear at the end.

Also, this looked like a private commercial farm hatchery, not a hatchery that anyone could actually order chicks from; all of those chicks were rather large and the same color, so I'm guessing some breed of meat chicken. Not all hatcheries run exactly this way, so it's unfair to base a judgement of all hatcheries on this one particular video.

There are also videos out there showing some of the other hatcheries like Meyer, and it would be wise to watch all the available information before condemning all hatcheries like they're some devil spawn businesses that thrive on the fear and pain of helpless animals. /end sarcasm

Some people are so quick to jump on the animal abuse bandwagon, and while I wouldn't treat my chicks quite that roughly (I also never deal with anywhere near that many chicks...I'd go insane if I did!), I didn't see anything in that video that I could actually consider abusive.

 

[Thomasturkey]

Quote:
I can't believe something like that actually exists!

You can see this does not hurt them. Chicks bounce. If they filled those buildings with chicks by hand without spreading them out, they would pile and die. This cannon method of shooting the chicks in the building saves lives.

 

[ChristineR]

My question is this--what do hatcheries do with the "extras"? I've seen a couple who advertise that they do not kill their surplus chicks, so I'm assuming that the others do. I have a hard time with that. I'm guessing it's not done in a very humane way.

 

[DangerChickenHouse]

Because I'm new to chickens, I don't know anything about hatcheries, which is why I started this thread. I would rather buy from a local farmer any day, but if I ever choose to use a hatchery, how do you know which ones are good or bad? Maybe I'm putting human emotions on chicks that may not exist. I dunno.