Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You cn take them to local butchers to carve them up when they stop laying.
They can die easily from disease, so don't get super attached.
If you want high omega eggs you need to let them eat lots of insects and worms.

I assume you can't take a live chicken into the butcher's, unless you live in some rural area, i.e. not in DC. Plus, I doubt the butcher is going to pluck it for you, unless for an astronomical hourly ratel. So what would be the point of having the butcher do the carving after you've already done the difficult parts?

I grew up on a farm and never knew anyone who took a chicken to the butcher. We took cows and hogs to the slaughterhouse and that's where they were killed and butchered. Chickens don't need to be cut up. Also, there are machines that do the plucking http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNvdWcEDpJ0&feature=related (it seems some of these machines are DIY but I don't remember where ours came from).

Finally, there are a lot of ways to increase omega fatty acids in eggs but it's typically done by adding flax or other oils to the feed. It's unlikely a suburban chicken could get enough food from foraging and shortages of food have a direct link on egg production. I also am not fond of the meat from a chicken which is unable to lay eggs any more. I find it tough and stringy. Unless you're going to kill/pluck it yourself, it's probably cheaper to buy chicken at the store.

Anonymous wrote:You cn take them to local butchers to carve them up when they stop laying.
They can die easily from disease, so don't get super attached.
If you want high omega eggs you need to let them eat lots of insects and worms.

I assume you can't take a live chicken into the butcher's, unless you live in some rural area, i.e. not in DC. Plus, I doubt the butcher is going to pluck it for you, unless for an astronomical hourly ratel. So what would be the point of having the butcher do the carving after you've already done the difficult parts?

You cn take them to local butchers to carve them up when they stop laying.
They can die easily from disease, so don't get super attached.
If you want high omega eggs you need to let them eat lots of insects and worms.

Where are the family farms where the animals are treated humanely? My kids have recently decided they have to be vegan b/c they watched some PETA movies. I might at least be able to get them to eat dairy, which would simplify my life, if I could find such a farm.

Anonymous wrote:"Are you a dog who can type, and you just got access to your master's computer???" No kidding! What a lunatic!

If PP was my neighbor, I would have more and more chickens. My cameras (which she does not believe anyone has) would catch everything on my property (no dumbf*ck, it's not a traffic camera so stop asking) - she would be in serious trouble! SO worth it!

OP, they absolutely are legal. Ask your lawyer.

What are you rambling about? Having poultry is not a right, it all depends on where you live. You don't need a lawyer to look up city ordinances.

"Are you a dog who can type, and you just got access to your master's computer???" No kidding! What a lunatic!

If PP was my neighbor, I would have more and more chickens. My cameras (which she does not believe anyone has) would catch everything on my property (no dumbf*ck, it's not a traffic camera so stop asking) - she would be in serious trouble! SO worth it!

OP, they absolutely are legal. Ask your lawyer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LOL! Not sure the kill-what-you-eat crowd are Wiccan. But they sure have a take-no-prisoners, shoot first and ask questions later, persona on this thread.

Wiccan? Uh, try American farmers.

There is no rule that says you have to kill your own food. But if the notion is so upsetting, to either you or your kids, then you really are a hypocrite. You can't bear to eat a creature you knew, but as long as it is nameless and faceless and packaged for you, it's fine. You don't see what's wrong with that?

How in !@# did we get from "OP wants chickens" to "If OP lets the chickens live out their lives instead of serving them to her kids, then she's a hypocrite?" Oh right, DCUM posters.

I like the are you a dog? posters.

Uh, (a) that's not what I said in my prior post, and (b) I am also the "are you a dog" poster.

Being around chickens makes me consider not eating chicken any more - not because they are so cute, but because they are nasty animals. According to the NPS ranger, they constantly peck at each other, even when they have sufficient room and outdoor space.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LOL! Not sure the kill-what-you-eat crowd are Wiccan. But they sure have a take-no-prisoners, shoot first and ask questions later, persona on this thread.

Wiccan? Uh, try American farmers.

There is no rule that says you have to kill your own food. But if the notion is so upsetting, to either you or your kids, then you really are a hypocrite. You can't bear to eat a creature you knew, but as long as it is nameless and faceless and packaged for you, it's fine. You don't see what's wrong with that?

How in !@# did we get from "OP wants chickens" to "If OP lets the chickens live out their lives instead of serving them to her kids, then she's a hypocrite?" Oh right, DCUM posters.

I like the are you a dog? posters.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree that chickens are effing dumb. But that makes them wicked fun to terrorize.

In my late 20's, I moved to a tropical island that was overrun with feral chickens. My next-door neighbor would feed them. I loved pulling in the drive and seeing them in my yard. I would run at them while flapping my arms and corner them as they tried to ram their fat bodies through the holes in a chain-link fence. Once I chased a chicken into the path of an oncoming car driven by a speeding teen.

Now I have sons. Oh the fun we'd have if our neighbors started raising chickens.

Are you a dog who can type, and you just got access to your master's computer???

[b]
I literally laughed so hard at this. Thank you PP!

Click Clack Moo! (or woof!)

On the internet NO ONE knows you are a dog
http://www.flickr.com/photos/valerioalbano/5833739156/