Why I Would Raise Chickens • Hacker News Board

Re: Why I Would Raise Chickens

#211

Post by nunb » Thu, Jun 09, 2016, 4:08 AM UTC

paganel wrote: post #133

Houshalter wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it's way more profitable to raise chickens than, say, cows. You need to have a bigger barn for cows, you need to do all the hay thing, which is very time consuming and demands a lot of extra work just for feeding said cows, you need to pay someone to take care of the cows when they go out to eat in the summer on the communal field. This is surprising to me. Of course a cow should be more work to raise than a chicke…

> They might be easier to grow, but in terms of calories they seem much less efficient than, say, potatoes I agree about potatoes, but that only works for relatively cooler climates, i.e. places like Poland or Ireland. It can easily get to 35-37 degrees Celsius in the summer at the place where my parents live (not to mention places like the Indian subcontinent or Africa), at which point storing potatoes becomes a cha…

Goat are great ... funnily enough was just at a small sheep/goat farm yesterday. The goat's milk is salty (great for keto) and my lactose-intolerant gut can stand a glass or two. Plus the cheese is way tastier, milk has more fat etc.

http://www.self-reliance.com/2015/12/why-not-add-a-dairy-goa...

Re: Why I Would Raise Chickens

#212

Post by cmurf » Thu, Jun 09, 2016, 4:14 AM UTC

pc86 wrote: post #102

cmurf wrote: post #100

Impractical to raise chickens in cities where it's illegal to butcher them. The egg laying tapers off at 3 years, but they'll live to ~10 years. That's a pet, or a freeloading chicken you have to feed but don't get eggs from. So...? Yeah, not terribly practical unfortunately.

The inability to butcher the animal is definitely a problem. I'm not well versed in this area, is it typical to butcher a chicken after the egg laying tapers off, or does it typically happen before/much after? If you're doing this for convenience, it may be worth making a trip out of the city to have someone butcher them when the time is right. If you're doing this to save money, it's likely you don't have an easy me…

If it's a male, typically butchered young, 40-50ish days. You only need so many roosters, and they're loud once they get old enough to crow. In most U.S. cities, crowing roosters are illegal, but mainly that's because it pisses off the neighbors.

Butchering elsewhere might work. Seems like a pain. And seems like there could be a limit on how many you can butcher rather than making it illegal. E.g. Denver, I think you can only have eight chickens at a time anyway.

Age wise, eating chickens are always young, less than 50 days. Some people might butcher the egg laying chicken at first molt when it'll stop laying eggs for 1-3 months. Others do it at 2-3 years when it tapers off. These are tougher meat chickens but they stew fine.

Re: Why I Would Raise Chickens

#213

Post by rsync » Thu, Jun 09, 2016, 4:21 AM UTC

Maultasche wrote: post #184

skvale wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The conversion ratio would hold if they ate the same things. Cows can survive on grass, which is often plentiful. Chickens more so on grains, which are harder to come by.

Having raised chickens when I was a kid, I can tell you that chickens will survive on almost anything organic. They're like little organic waste disposal units. There is a reason that no plants grow where chickens are kept in pens: they eat anything that grows. They'll eat any bugs they can find. I've also seen them eat other chickens that had died of some natural cause. Chickens usually get fed grain because grain i…

"We used to throw all our food scraps (bit of bread, fruit, vegetable peelings) in a container and throw it to the chickens at the end of the day. They loved it, and would eat it all."

This cannot be overemphasized. You can very efficiently dispose of all of your kitchen waste (minus banana peels) by throwing them at the chickens who will turn them into eggs.

In fact, years ago when we first started keeping chickens, there was a period where I would see food waste at cafes and restaurants and be seriously tempted to pack it up and take it home because, after all, I could turn this into eggs.

Re: Why I Would Raise Chickens

#214

Post by rsync » Thu, Jun 09, 2016, 4:27 AM UTC

developer2 wrote: post #142

Houshalter wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it's way more profitable to raise chickens than, say, cows. You need to have a bigger barn for cows, you need to do all the hay thing, which is very time consuming and demands a lot of extra work just for feeding said cows, you need to pay someone to take care of the cows when they go out to eat in the summer on the communal field. This is surprising to me. Of course a cow should be more work to raise than a chicke…

I'm going to provide an entirely uneducated guess regarding cows. I would bet that the average person without any training or resources is capable of raising chickens, whereas the average person would have their cows die before maturing. I'm not commenting on the "average African". I'm talking about my own first-world Caucasian self. I bet you I could raise chickens with very few resources. I also bet I couldn't do t…

"I'm going to provide an entirely uneducated guess regarding cows. I would bet that the average person without any training or resources is capable of raising chickens, whereas the average person would have their cows die before maturing. I'm not commenting on the "average African". I'm talking about my own first-world Caucasian self. I bet you I could raise chickens with very few resources"

Your instincts are incorrect - at least in a rural, or semi rural setting.

Your chickens may be very safe and easy to raise in an urban environment that is free of small and medium sized predators, but outside of that environment there are many, many things that will very quickly dispose of all of your chickens - sometimes in just one night.

Raccoons, weasels, foxes, coyotes, large birds (vultures, hawks, owls), bobcats ...

In our rural area (west marin county, california) we need to be on our A game to keep the chickens alive ... raccoon traps set, elevated coop, hens locked up nightly, wings clipped so they can't get out of the run, high fence, three hot electric wires, etc., etc.

A cow on the other hand is too big for most of those animals (a hawk can't carry away a calf) and the mother (and other mothers) are nearby. They're big.

Re: Why I Would Raise Chickens

#215

Post by nandemo » Thu, Jun 09, 2016, 4:29 AM UTC

TrainedMonkey wrote: post #83

nostromo wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unintended consequences are one thing to consider, another is opportunity cost. Gates should have two control groups: A) Gets a bunch of chickens B) Gets the money the chickens would cost (including all project overhead) C) Gets nothing My guess is that B would in-fact have the best outcomes for the simple reason that Africans probably know what they need to improve their lives better than do foreign central-planners…

Option B is liable to cause inflation if not executed extremely carefully.

Option A increases the supply of chickens, so other things being equal the price of a chicken decreases. But people (aid recipients) are better off since they can eat more chicken.

Option B slightly increases the supply of money, so other things being equal prices of basic goods increase a little. But people are still better off since they can buy more stuff.

Re: Why I Would Raise Chickens

#216

Post by cplease » Thu, Jun 09, 2016, 4:39 AM UTC

> They empower women. Because chickens are small and typically stay close to home, many cultures regard them as a woman’s animal, in contrast to larger livestock like goats or cows. Women who sell chickens are likely to reinvest the profits in their families.

Uh... this is empowering???

EDIT:

> If you read this article, watch the video above, and answer one question below, I will donate—on your behalf via Heifer—a flock of chickens to a family in poverty.

OMG, it's finally happened for real. Anyone remember this?

"Hello everybody,

My name is Bill Gates. I have just written up an e-mail tracing program that traces everyone to whom this message is forwarded to. I am experimenting with this and I need your help. Forward this to everyone you know and if it reaches 1000 people everyone on the list will receive $1000 at my expense. Enjoy.

Your friend, Bill Gates"

Re: Why I Would Raise Chickens

#217

Post by mackal » Thu, Jun 09, 2016, 4:52 AM UTC

cplease wrote: post #216

> They empower women. Because chickens are small and typically stay close to home, many cultures regard them as a woman’s animal, in contrast to larger livestock like goats or cows. Women who sell chickens are likely to reinvest the profits in their families. Uh... this is empowering??? EDIT: > If you read this article, watch the video above, and answer one question below, I will donate—on your behalf via Heifer—a fl…

In cultures where it is "considered woman's animal" the chickens provided by Heifer will most likely be raised by them. These woman will help bring in money for their families. That is what is empowering.

Re: Why I Would Raise Chickens

#218

Post by himlion » Thu, Jun 09, 2016, 4:55 AM UTC

paganel wrote: post #133

Houshalter wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it's way more profitable to raise chickens than, say, cows. You need to have a bigger barn for cows, you need to do all the hay thing, which is very time consuming and demands a lot of extra work just for feeding said cows, you need to pay someone to take care of the cows when they go out to eat in the summer on the communal field. This is surprising to me. Of course a cow should be more work to raise than a chicke…

> They might be easier to grow, but in terms of calories they seem much less efficient than, say, potatoes I agree about potatoes, but that only works for relatively cooler climates, i.e. places like Poland or Ireland. It can easily get to 35-37 degrees Celsius in the summer at the place where my parents live (not to mention places like the Indian subcontinent or Africa), at which point storing potatoes becomes a cha…

> They feed practically on everything (cows are a lot more picky)

While technically true, if they don't get their preferred foods they are a lot more prone to parasites which decreases the amount of goats you can hold on the same plot.

Re: Why I Would Raise Chickens

#219

Post by cplease » Thu, Jun 09, 2016, 5:25 AM UTC

mackal wrote: post #217

cplease wrote: post #216

> They empower women. Because chickens are small and typically stay close to home, many cultures regard them as a woman’s animal, in contrast to larger livestock like goats or cows. Women who sell chickens are likely to reinvest the profits in their families. Uh... this is empowering??? EDIT: > If you read this article, watch the video above, and answer one question below, I will donate—on your behalf via Heifer—a fl…

In cultures where it is "considered woman's animal" the chickens provided by Heifer will most likely be raised by them. These woman will help bring in money for their families. That is what is empowering.

I get what the words say. What I am remarking on is that engaging in domestic, socially-acceptable and conventionally female work around the household for the economic benefit of ones family (as opposed to oneself) is a highly strained interpretation of "empowering."

Yes, if the alternative is wallowing in penury and being completely economically dependent, it is certainly better. But empowering?

Re: Why I Would Raise Chickens

#220

Post by andyjdavis » Thu, Jun 09, 2016, 5:40 AM UTC

Maultasche wrote: post #184

skvale wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The conversion ratio would hold if they ate the same things. Cows can survive on grass, which is often plentiful. Chickens more so on grains, which are harder to come by.

Having raised chickens when I was a kid, I can tell you that chickens will survive on almost anything organic. They're like little organic waste disposal units. There is a reason that no plants grow where chickens are kept in pens: they eat anything that grows. They'll eat any bugs they can find. I've also seen them eat other chickens that had died of some natural cause. Chickens usually get fed grain because grain i…

>In the evening, they'd return to their chicken house in their pen and go to sleep.

>If you have enough vegetation around, you don't need to feed them at all.

These two things are why you frequently see free roaming chickens in villages in poor parts of the world. They don't need feeding and minimal care or supervision is required.

In a rural setting whether there is plenty of vegetation available and few predators chickens are very close to being free egg and meat producing machines as there is virtually zero time or money required from their owners.