i feel i need to say sorry (again).......

daveindeal · Post by **daveindeal** » 11 Feb 2009, 20:11

i belive that i have offended a few people with a comment about eating our chooks when the time comes that they stop laying.

i apologise now to all .

upon reading peoples upset and comments regarding this i have made an agremennt with a local farmer with over 150 birds, that when mine stop laying they can be added to her flock.

they all free range her land and most are old girls that dont lay anymore, they have acces to a big barn that they store the bales from the fields

so they will have pleanty of company to live out the rest of there days.

stace · Post by **stace** » 11 Feb 2009, 20:26

Thankyou Dave

There are lots of people on here that save ex bats as you know, and some that raise birds for eating! Those hens always get a good life from the people on here, and are very passionate about what they do!

Thanks again!

Stace

juicylucy · Post by **juicylucy** » 11 Feb 2009, 20:36

Oh dave thats great news.
Personally i have no problem with anyone who raises their birds for meat...IMO that is the best way to go as the birds will have had a lovely life and will be slaughtered humanely.
The problem i have is if people consider eating an ex batt lady..it just doesnt sit well with me as the poor ole girls have been through so much and deserve to just retire gracefully and not go into a pot when they stop laying...they have done enough laying to earn that peaceful retirement )t'

kate egg · Post by **kate egg** » 11 Feb 2009, 21:27

I am probably a bit wet but I couldn't eat a chicken that I had kept - when the time comes they will get a proper burial (very deep so the fox cannot get at them).

Dave your lady farmer sounds a real star >STARS<

Post by **wendy** » 11 Feb 2009, 22:51

I also have no problem with people raising birds to eat, although I couldn't do it.
I think though the bird will be extremely 'rubbery' if it is an older bird.Birds for the table are youngsters.

I would also be horrified if someone even thought of eating an ex battery girl. They have been through more than enough. People who rescue them, should do so to give them a long retirement, with eggs being a bonus. Certainly not entertain eating them !!
Wendy

Post by **p.penn** » 11 Feb 2009, 22:59

I think I could grow a chicken to eat - but couldn't do the dispatching and plucking!

I certainly wouldn't eat any of my girls though -whether my rescue girls or my hybrids. They have done more than enough by providing so many eggs. And they are my friends!

sandy · Post by **sandy** » 11 Feb 2009, 23:35

well done, your choice I know but think you^ve made the right one now,sorry to go off topic a bit again, but love your new aviator or whatever its called, you know piccie thingie.. :-D

Teasal · Post by **Teasal** » 12 Feb 2009, 00:00

I could not eat any of my hens. Most are ex battery hens, and the others are what I have taken in because other people are unable to keep them. They are all here for life .....if they lay, great. If not, well, they enjoy their days free ranging with the others.

Having said that, I feel we all have to respect each others views, as we obviously do not all think the same way.

Post by **AL37** » 12 Feb 2009, 00:56

This is something myself and Mrs Al have discussed at length, I and my 6 yr old daughter are animal mad and we will both get attached to the hens when we eventualy get them.
So I do intend to have birds for meat so these would have to be a seperate flock to the egg layers.
Also I would just love to hatch some chick of our own therefore it would make sence for the hens to be kept as egg layers and the c_cks to be kept for meat.
However, I have in the past had reason to despatch various wild animals for humane reasons and not had a problem doing it, in a way its an act of kindness to end suffering.
But I have only once killed an animal that I ate and to be honest I didn't realy enjoy eating it.
Here we go this is just typical. one minute I convince myself I could do it and the next I am thinking of that proud strutting c_ckeral that I have spent many hours admiring.
What a dilemer

bluebell · Post by **bluebell** » 12 Feb 2009, 01:01

Something I would say to anyone wanting to take on ex-battery hens, most organisations who rehome ex-batt do have terms and conditions of taking these birds on.

I have hens who no longer lay eggs, I would not dream of parting with them.

Post by **Richard** » 12 Feb 2009, 01:33

One thing is that if you have a few chickens, ex-batt or not, it's very hard to determine which one, or one's, aren't laying.

Excuse the way I write, but I've had lots of ex-batts die and I really don't know if they were laying or not. You get into the habit of just going up the garden a couple of times a day, fetching the eggs and nothing else really goes through your mind.

You often read on here eg. "I get 6 eggs a day from my 10"., but I bet almost all the writers don't know which chickens laid them, unless you have a hybrid who lays terracota.

It isn't something you plan, usually nature sorts it out in it's own way.

Finally, any chicken which has laid for more than a year is going to be pretty awful meat. 'Spent' ex-batts at Factory Farms go to Pet Food and cheap'n'nasty Chicken Pies.

Also, think about doesn't the fact the chicken you buy to eat always has a parsons nose!

Good luck with it all, we all adapt and change as we go n.

Richard

bluebell · Post by **bluebell** » 12 Feb 2009, 08:55

Agree with what you say about knowing which hens aren't laying anyway, Richard, only reason I found out was because my hens are in different runs.

Teasal · Post by **Teasal** » 12 Feb 2009, 11:35

I do honestly think ex battery hens are the sort of hens you would eat. If you are going to do it, I would go for the ones that are bred for eating, and grow within weeks. I still cannot get my head round eating my present hens!!!!

Post by **wendy** » 12 Feb 2009, 14:24

Do I assume you mean 'wouldn't ' eat Teasal ? LOL
Wendy