ForFlocksSake
Songster
I'm brand new at raising chickens and I tend to dive headfirst into new interests and try to learn as much as I can as fast as possible. Researching different breeds has been a big part of my excitement in this new hobby, which of course brings me to playing on different hatchery websites. As Im looking at this sites and thinking about the feed stores I bought my own chicks from I got to thinking how HUGE of a manufacturing process it must be creating and sexing all these chicks. I began asking myself questions about the practices behind breeding, hatching and caring for the animals within the hatcheries. Particularly Mom and Dad.
I came across this post from back in May that @BastyPutt started discussing the fate of male chicks in hatcheries https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...hicks-where-do-they-go.1580189/#post-26844623 and it made me question even more.
Let me pause here. Like @BastyPutt states in their post, I am far from a PETA warrior too - I am a hunter, an angler, and now a chicken keeper. I will raise my chickens for eggs and give them wonderful lives until they have reached a peak laying age. We will then humanely cull and eat the slow producers. Cockerels will also be given a wonderful life until they are large enough to crow and then will also become food for our family. I believe in the importance of knowing where your food comes from. I prefer to eat the meat we get ourselves, but still shop at the grocery store for 90% of our food. I've seen the chicken trucks transporting meat birds many times on the highway and it's heartbreaking, but I still contribute to the problem by purchsing birds at the store. This post is simply a way to understand and explore how hatcheries are run and how others view those practices.
Ok back to the hatchery part. What is the process? How do they keep the hens and roosters who produce those hatching eggs? is it as questionable as the egg industry itself? Are they regulated somehow? Is it possible the parents are treated like a puppy mill situation? Are there more reputable places? Places to avoid?
I came across this post from back in May that @BastyPutt started discussing the fate of male chicks in hatcheries https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...hicks-where-do-they-go.1580189/#post-26844623 and it made me question even more.
Let me pause here. Like @BastyPutt states in their post, I am far from a PETA warrior too - I am a hunter, an angler, and now a chicken keeper. I will raise my chickens for eggs and give them wonderful lives until they have reached a peak laying age. We will then humanely cull and eat the slow producers. Cockerels will also be given a wonderful life until they are large enough to crow and then will also become food for our family. I believe in the importance of knowing where your food comes from. I prefer to eat the meat we get ourselves, but still shop at the grocery store for 90% of our food. I've seen the chicken trucks transporting meat birds many times on the highway and it's heartbreaking, but I still contribute to the problem by purchsing birds at the store. This post is simply a way to understand and explore how hatcheries are run and how others view those practices.
Ok back to the hatchery part. What is the process? How do they keep the hens and roosters who produce those hatching eggs? is it as questionable as the egg industry itself? Are they regulated somehow? Is it possible the parents are treated like a puppy mill situation? Are there more reputable places? Places to avoid?