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Egg prices are soaring. Are backyard chickens the answer?

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Re: Egg prices are soaring. Are backyard chickens the answer?

#291

Post by atq2119 »

johnbatch wrote: post #283
gadders wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it is the distinction between "livestock" and "pets". I would also be very surprised if any vets ever managed to treat a hen successfully. They tend to hide any illness until very sick.

My neighbor‘s dog bit one of our chickens. We ended up taking her to the vet and got some antibiotics. she made a full recovery. And yes, there’s a bit of the mix of pets and livestock. We only have five hens, and they all have names. If you’re naming your animal, is it a pet?

Farmers around here have a few dozen cows and they still all have names. They're not pets.

Re: Egg prices are soaring. Are backyard chickens the answer?

#292

Post by KineticLensman »

technothrasher wrote: post #233
KineticLensman wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But the biggest, nastiest, deepest problem with anything animal is ... shit. Yes. I volunteered at a Raptor conservancy. Fantastic animals and being trusted to help fly them in a display was one of the best things I've ever done. It made up for all of the poop cleaning. At least owls have the courtesy to cough up pellets containing the little bones of their prey - it reduces the poop volume and the pellets dry into…

> At least owls have the courtesy to cough up pellets containing the little bones of their prey As soon as somebody showed me this as a kid, I would constantly be looking in pine groves for pellets. There was something fascinating about pulling them apart and finding the little mouse bones. Whenever I have a chance now, I point it out to kids. Some of them are fascinated like I was, some of them can't understand why…

> Some of them are fascinated like I was

At the Raptor place, we used owl pellets as part of kid-focussed activities. We'd give them a couple of pellets, a pair of tweezers and a chart of bone outlines, and say "see what animals you can identify". Tiny little jawbones were always popular.

Re: Egg prices are soaring. Are backyard chickens the answer?

#293

Post by mrbadger »

gadders wrote: post #222
latexr wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It makes no sense to get a £80 vet bill on a chicken that cost £20. This logic is confusing. You are taking a purely transactional view when it comes to the chicken’s health, but you also admitted they don’t turn a profit. In that vein, it makes no sense to get the £20 chicken in the first place. Your utilitarian view is also the opposite of what the person you’re replying to is describing. Do you believe that if o…

I think it is the distinction between "livestock" and "pets". I would also be very surprised if any vets ever managed to treat a hen successfully. They tend to hide any illness until very sick.

Really? I have taken chickens to the vet twice (in 8 years).

First was one taken by a fox. My wife chased the fox and he dropped the chicken (she was too heavy for him). She had a broken leg and a broken wing. Both perfectly treatable and she went on to make a full recovery, resumed laying. As result of her closer contact with people during her recuperation she became very tame and socialized with visitors on the deck in the evening. Arguable she became a pet after her vet treatment.

Second was one with an eye infection (eyelids swollen so she couldn't see). She also made a full recovery.

I don't take every sick chicken to the vet, but if you've kept chickens for long enough you get an idea when it's likely to be mworthwhile (it's never financially worthwhilte). What's worthwhile will vary according to what you can afford and how you relate to your flock generally, the age and health of the hen and likelihood of recovery.

Re: Egg prices are soaring. Are backyard chickens the answer?

#294

Post by [deleted] »

pulkitsh1234 wrote: post #106
qq99 wrote: post #93

As someone who once built a large coop [1] then just bought a pre-built shed for the 2nd coop, it's definitely _not_ the _monetary_ solution. You will probably lose money overall for quite some time. I'm still probably underwater. BUT, there are definite upsides: - Chickens are very sweet animals, and are quite intelligent. You will grow to love all the silly things they do. You can pet them, they are super soft, and…

> If you really like eating chicken, you may end up finding it difficult to eat them again in the future after you develop a bond with them. I used the believe the same, but as I found out on HN, there are a lot of people who won't bat an eye killing animals raised on their own land. Maybe they just never develop a bond with these animals. But then the question should be is it just the "bond" which is holding someone…

[deleted]

Re: Egg prices are soaring. Are backyard chickens the answer?

#295

Post by wezdog1 »

alecco wrote: post #274
wappieslurkz wrote: post #262

No. The answer is to stop consuming eggs. Better for yourself, the animals and the planet.

Vegan diets are only OK if very, very well calibrated for macro and micro nutrients.

This rhetoric is old. You can thrive on a vegan diet very easily without this careful calibration you speak of. The same could be said for common western diets with poor nutrition.

Re: Egg prices are soaring. Are backyard chickens the answer?

#296

Post by ozmodiar »

qq99 wrote: post #93

As someone who once built a large coop [1] then just bought a pre-built shed for the 2nd coop, it's definitely _not_ the _monetary_ solution. You will probably lose money overall for quite some time. I'm still probably underwater. BUT, there are definite upsides: - Chickens are very sweet animals, and are quite intelligent. You will grow to love all the silly things they do. You can pet them, they are super soft, and…

My neighbor has chickens and the predators are no joke. Raccoons constantly trying to weaken their coop, weasels always ready to slip into any little hole, hawks and other birds of prey circling overhead. They've lost a lot of chickens despite keeping a close eye on them and trying to keep a very sturdy coop. It's like a signal goes out to all the wild animals "COME GET TASTY CHICKENS HERE!" Of course we are in a pretty rural area. You can get some pretty cute fluffy chickens though.

Re: Egg prices are soaring. Are backyard chickens the answer?

#297

Post by koolba »

Yiin wrote: post #278
koolba wrote: post #270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Chickens are very sweet animals, and are quite intelligent. You will grow to love all the silly things they do. You can pet them, they are super soft, and can become quite tame. They can purr. Chickens are ruthless and will not hesitate for a moment to kill and then cannibalize their coop mates. The best way to avoid it is to have a single breed as they tend to start by attacking anything different, literally spots…

You write in absolutes when talking about your own opinion as if it's generally accepted to be a fact, which makes even interesting looking bits look suspicious when you encounter something clearly biased.

Cannibalistic behavior in chickens is not an opinion: https://extension.psu.edu/poultry-cannibalism-prevention-and...

It’s one of the reasons factory farms clip the beaks.

And regarding egg taste, have fun reading this: https://www.seriouseats.com/what-are-the-best-eggs

Re: Egg prices are soaring. Are backyard chickens the answer?

#298

Post by selfmodruntime »

ozmodiar wrote: post #296
qq99 wrote: post #93

As someone who once built a large coop [1] then just bought a pre-built shed for the 2nd coop, it's definitely _not_ the _monetary_ solution. You will probably lose money overall for quite some time. I'm still probably underwater. BUT, there are definite upsides: - Chickens are very sweet animals, and are quite intelligent. You will grow to love all the silly things they do. You can pet them, they are super soft, and…

My neighbor has chickens and the predators are no joke. Raccoons constantly trying to weaken their coop, weasels always ready to slip into any little hole, hawks and other birds of prey circling overhead. They've lost a lot of chickens despite keeping a close eye on them and trying to keep a very sturdy coop. It's like a signal goes out to all the wild animals "COME GET TASTY CHICKENS HERE!" Of course we are in a pre…

I lived with backyard chickens for a time. It‘s surprisingly hard to keep predators away. These animals are clever and very determined when it comes to a freely presented meal. After all, better enclosures also give chickens no means of escape.

Re: Egg prices are soaring. Are backyard chickens the answer?

#299

Post by portaouflop »

qq99 wrote: post #93

As someone who once built a large coop [1] then just bought a pre-built shed for the 2nd coop, it's definitely _not_ the _monetary_ solution. You will probably lose money overall for quite some time. I'm still probably underwater. BUT, there are definite upsides: - Chickens are very sweet animals, and are quite intelligent. You will grow to love all the silly things they do. You can pet them, they are super soft, and…

My dad used to have around 15 chickens — but then a fox somehow burrowed under the fence - which was buried in the ground around 20 cm - and slaughtered them all.
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