Chicken question

[elephantnose3334]

Do chickens really need dust baths like the animal rights organisations and some websites say?

 

[Colin_T]

Yes. They use the dust/ dirt to help remove mites, lice and ticks they pick up. They also seem to enjoy it. My quails did too.

 

[elephantnose3334]

Yes. They use the dust/ dirt to help remove mites, lice and ticks they pick up. They also seem to enjoy it. My quails did too.

I don't know why animal rights organisations use this as a fun fact and saying chickens never have dust baths in factory farms?

 

[Colin_T]

If it's an egg laying chicken farm, the hens are kept in wire cages their entire lives and don't have access to dirt.

Some meat chicken farms keep the birds in small enclosures with sawdust on the floor. This gets really gross and messy over time and isn't normally replaced until the birds are sent off to slaughter. Then the sawdust is removed and new stuff brought in. Other meat chicken farms let the birds out to roam around paddocks and these usually have areas of dirt the birds can roll about it.

 

[elephantnose3334]

If it's an egg laying chicken farm, the hens are kept in wire cages their entire lives and don't have access to dirt.

Some meat chicken farms keep the birds in small enclosures with sawdust on the floor. This gets really gross and messy over time and isn't normally replaced until the birds are sent off to slaughter. Then the sawdust is removed and new stuff brought in. Other meat chicken farms let the birds out to roam around paddocks and these usually have areas of dirt the birds can roll about it.

But all the birds are killed regardless of types of farms and male chicks, usually a day old, are waste products, therefore they are killed because they have no production value, including free range. Check out this article about egg labels.

How much do labels really tell you about how eggs are produced?

RSPCA approved, organic, barn laid, free range: let's dive into what these labels really mean for hens and chicks.

animalsaustralia.org

 

[GaryE]

I visited an egg farm when I was 18. They had hundreds of thousands of hens in cages about the size of a 10 gallon. They couldn't turn around, as that would keep the eggs from falling on the conveyor belt. I assume they've improved their control of the hens in the years since.

If there are gods and they're chickens, we are going to pay.

 

[Colin_T]

But all the birds are killed regardless of types of farms and male chicks, usually a day old, are waste products, therefore they are killed because they have no production value, including free range. Check out this article about egg labels.

How much do labels really tell you about how eggs are produced?

RSPCA approved, organic, barn laid, free range: let's dive into what these labels really mean for hens and chicks.

animalsaustralia.org

If they were smart, they would keep the males and use them for food because they grow bigger and faster than females. But they do all get killed in the end and much earlier than they would if kept at home with someone who cared about them.

 

[ForBettaOrForWorse]

As someone who has about twenty of them chilling in my front yard, they do need dust baths.
And factory farms are never something you want to copy when owning a chicken. Free range is the healthiest for them.

 

[Back in the fold]

I like a good dust bath myself . Saves on soap .