Re: Chicken Lice?

On 2 Mar, 10:44, "Jill" <n...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:


Many backyard chickens can have far more 'stress' than intensive ones -
most clearly illustrated by the fact that no outdoor bird will lay as much
as one inside.
I'm afraid I have to disagree with you here Jill. The reason outside
birds lay less eggs is NOT due to stress, but due to the fact that in
winiter they lay less eggs, if any at all due to them not being forced
to lay all year round by artificial lighting.Now THAT really causes
stress, yet still they lay.

- they have to cope with constantly changing weather and insufficient
shelter
Nonsense. They have plenty of shelter in the same houses they are shut
away in at night. Sometimes, they simply choose to stay outside in all
weathers.

- they have to cope with high volume, low nutrition food
Like layers pellets?

- they have to cope with overflying birds [which instinctively might be
predators]
I have never noticed any of my birds being stressed or upset by
overflying birds other than chasing the collared doves which land in
the runs. The would no doubt be upset by something up there which was
hovering and not flapping. (typical predator flight pattern)

- they have to cope with humans in their face all teh time
Battery hens have humans much closer to them than most garden birds
do.And most garden pet chickens not only learn that humans are not
predators, but become very very tame indeed.

- they have to cope with constant disease challenges from other wild birds
Hmmm, a free range life able to eat growing grass, scratch for bugs,
dust bathe or sunbathe, or a nice sterile life in a battery safe from
wild bird germs? Which would I prefer?

- they have to cope with the ever changing politics of a flock which can be
downright evil and canabalistic at times. [there are good reasons for the
terms hen-pecked and pecking order]

Not overcrowding and simple husbandry stop this behaviour.

- they have to cope with being poorly bred for their conditions
Don't understand what you mean.

- they have to cope with being rarely treated properly for their ailments
Most pet chicken owners I know, take their pets to the vet at the
first sign of something wrong. Most large scale breeders I know, wring
the sick bird's neck as it is cheaper to do so.

[while most people will happily spend hundreds of pounds on their cat which
they got given; they will not spend ten pounds on taking a bird that they
have actually paid good money for to a professional.]
See above.

- they have to cope with often dying of painful conditions ["HenyPeny who we
wescued went all quiet last week then she died in her sleep, And she had
been laying too" : = Properly translates as a bird that should have been
humane culled at the end of her last lay had an egg crack inside her,
causing a fatal peritonitis to develop which killed her. ]

I agree, ill educated and overly sentimental people abound, but they
abound whatever species of animal they have the care of. It sadly
isn't exclusive to chickens.


The intensive bird has been bred to be very subdued and meek to reduce
aggression
And my pure bred birds are also non aggressive, but are not completely
docile. They are active and interested in their life.

A well run unit will have constant light patterns; constantly regulated
environmental controls, constant high value feed; low noise; disease
prevention measures;
The perfect factory in other words.

A stressed bird stops laying.
No it doesn't. Battery hens have been proven to be stressed due to the
fact that they cannot perform instinctive natural behaviours, and that
the too close confinement with their cell mates means they have no
chance to escape a bully, yet they still lay.

A chicken is hatched with the number of eggs she can produce already inside
her. Modern breeding aims to get as many of these made and out in the first
2 years.
Some lay more than others (shrug) My cochins lay less than my
welsummers or Andalusians but their beauty more than makes up for
this.

One of the consequences of breeding for high production has been a weakness
of the shell in each subsequent lay. This results in eggs cracking inside
and death by peritonitis. This as well as their general weakness and much
reduced productivity in the years after their 2nd year of lay is the reason
for them being slaughtered at this time.
And we humans designed this awful thing. We should be ashamed. Or we
should stop buying battery eggs and stop the filthy business.


There are 40 million chickens in production in the UK and we import a
significant percentage of eggs. This is not a situation that can be resolved
with simplistic theories.

But if every other household was to keep a few pet chickens, there
would no need to import eggs since demand would go down.

Don't get me wrong -- I love keeping birds and working to improve the
breeding of the birds we have and to do our best to keep them as happy and
healthy as possible.
But I have done a great deal of homework and I am VERY realistic about all
facets of the poultry keeping world [and the food industry]
You may know a lot and be realistic (or fatalistic). It doesn't mean
that the industry is right.The more people object to the vile industry
and start shopping sensibly, the bigger chance there is of factory
farming to be stopped. And it would stop if nobody bought what they
produced.


I know that in our climate and location and social structure we cannot
provide perfect conditions for chickens indoors or out.

Really the best places for that are the dry scrubby areas of the world, not
too hot, not too wet, not too windy. Plenty of shelter from the rain when it
comes; and the heat of the day. Lots of spare land to give birds plenty of
freedom. Lots of cheap labour to tend to them night and day; -- parts of
India and Africa would be far better suited than any of us in the Northern
Hemisphere <grin>

They may have originated in the jungle, but pure breeds have been bred
and have evolved to live happily in our cooler damp climate. Certainly
cochins for example seemed to thrive in the very cold winters in
china, hence their feathery feet and fluffy insulating feathers.
Chickens are kept all over the world, including by nomadic tribes in
the Kalahari desert. To say that only chickens which live in as close
an environment as they originated from is nonsense. I don't understand
why your chickens need to be tended day and night. Mine don't. At
dusk, they go into their houses to sleep and I come indoors. Perhaps
egg factory birds need night time attention? I don't know as much on
that subject as you do though so it is just an assumption.

From my own point of view. I have no interest in 'utility' breeds. I
prefer the many and wonderful differences of the purebred birds from
the massive 2 foot tall and one foot across, cochin who is intelligent
and docile, to the strutting popinjay of a teeny tiny 16 ounce dutch
bantam.I may not get loads and loads of eggs, but I get enough for my
needs, and to feed to the cats, dogs and ferrets, plus give to friends
and neighbours.Plus I get the pleasure of watching birds which are
nice to look at.
p.s. Dunno about docile battery hens. I did a rescue a few weeks ago
and all of the bog standard brown hybrids take immense pleasure in
picking up their petticoats and chasing the 2 terrified cocker
spaniels around the yard at every opportunity. :-)

.