Chicks for Battery Farms

[MaureenHall]

One thing has puzzled me for a long time. We hear about hens kept in cages from when they're about 18 weeks old for about a year until they're "spent" and either rescued by people like us, or they're slaughtered to go into pet food or cheap chicken pies etc. But what about that first 18 weeks? Where are they? How are they raised? How are they treated?

I assume that they are sex-linked at hatching and all the boys go to the gas chamber and then used as reptile food or something along those lines. Where do the girls go to grow on though? It's really bugging me!!!!!!

[di]

Not sure if it's the same for all Maureen,but when I was little we had friends in the business.....I was given a treat one day to go see all their ickle chicks.Basically a big (huge)warehouse type affair with a mass carpet of yellow!

[Bramble-Poultry]

Yep di thats it - a blinking big barn/shed/warehouse - cover the floor in a good layer of sawdust chuck them in by their 1000's (and that litrally is chuck!) and leave them. walk the house everyday and cull any that have been squashed by others or aren't growing as well or are ill or lame etc etc.

Water is an automatic drinking system and food is delivered daily into big feed troughs also through an automated system, the house is cleaned when tehy go in and cleaned again when the come out but never inbetween.

So sorry Mo they start their life as they are meant to go on - CRAP!!!

[Snadger]

I bought mine from a guy who does battery farming and free range farming using the same birds. I think he buys them in as day olds and keeps them in until POL
I was taken to a large barn with a deep litter floor covered in woodshavings.
There were no windows but light bulbs were suspended close to the floor as a heat source and a light source I imagine
The place was very clean, not smelly at all, but had no natural daylight!
The birds were healthy also.

[pdblake]

Not sure where they come from but this is where the person who got me mine aquired them, this side of the battery farm.

[MaureenHall]

It's got me thinking even deeper into this!! It seems that there's various different systems for raising the chicks, some good (ish!!) and some really bad! What age to they clip the beaks as well? Is it just before they go into the laying cages?

[Bramble-Poultry]

Only some hybrids get their beak clipped not all - and actually its not clipped its burned off on a hot plate. and it is done around the time they go into the "system"

[Suechooks]

It's got me thinking even deeper into this!! It seems that there's various different systems for raising the chicks, some good (ish!!) and some really bad! What age to they clip the beaks as well? Is it just before they go into the laying cages?

I bought 4 POL Warrens a few weeks ago (Jennie knows them) and they've had their top beaks cut back - not as in debeaked but definitely clipped. I think he kept them indoors too as their faces were very pale but have reddened up now.

[Bramble-Poultry]

The guy you brought from Sue is the same one we did - he keeps them in large sheds, he literally breeds them en mass to sell at the game fairs etc. Clipping the beaks is required on shed chickens as they will grow too long as they are not wearing them down naturally. My white starts I got from him are picking up - they have took a while - I was surprised.

[Suechooks]

The guy you brought from Sue is the same one we did - he keeps them in large sheds, he literally breeds them en mass to sell at the game fairs etc. Clipping the beaks is required on shed chickens as they will grow too long as they are not wearing them down naturally. My white starts I got from him are picking up - they have took a while - I was surprised.

I actually returned the first 4 as they were sneezing! He met me within 30 mins of my call and swapped them. The new ones started laying within a week and are really lovely - very tame and easy to handle - in fact they come for a cuddle! He told me he buys them in at about 2 weeks as the hatchery has done all the vaccinations by then rather than day olds.

[LilyRose]

The guy you brought from Sue is the same one we did - he keeps them in large sheds, he literally breeds them en mass to sell at the game fairs etc. Clipping the beaks is required on shed chickens as they will grow too long as they are not wearing them down naturally. My white starts I got from him are picking up - they have took a while - I was surprised.

So we were given 2 Black Rocks that came from a guy who bred them for battery life. (These are the ones I sought advice for previously, BP) Well they are not the best of temperaments, and one is still very bald. You can tell that they didn't start off life as well nurtured as the other 3 we bought from a breeder. Do they still have a chance to pick up? We have had them 2 months now and they are still scraggy ( but lay most days)

[Bramble-Poultry]

they will come around eventually - it can take 12 months for ex-batts to be fully feathered so other hens with feather loss will be exactly the same. They may be scraggy but I bet you love them just as much!!