All My Chickens.... .

[Spot & Bubby]

All my chickens laid an egg yesterday. What was a first. Morticia was the last to start producing by over a week ... almost two weeks. Wobble, The Widdle and I ate a six-egg dinner to celebrate the six-egg day.

 

[Ouachita]

Well, you better get them fattened up, cause I see you'll be having a few two dog nights coming soon. Maybe a three dog night.

 

[Ky hills]

We're starting to get several eggs again too, young pullets are starting to lay.

 

[4hfarms]

I have to many males and plan to clean a dozen for the freezer.
(ducks and chickens)
My wife bought me a defeatherer(?)
The ducks gave up laying eggs until spring. Time to try smoked duck...

 

[Dave]

Wife didn't like that our old chickens stopped laying when the days got short. So one day while I was gone she played French revolution, off with their heads. So it will be spring before we can get any chicks and next fall before they start to lay. And eggs here have gone up to $5.80 a dozen.

 

[greybeard]

Wife didn't like that our old chickens stopped laying when the days got short. So one day while I was gone she played French revolution, off with their heads. So it will be spring before we can get any chicks and next fall before they start to lay. And eggs here have gone up to $5.80 a dozen.

Oregon has a free range chiken law now.

Oregon's laws for free-range chickens include:

• Cage-free production
  Commercial egg producers with at least 3,000 egg-laying hens must use cage-free production practices. This includes prohibiting battery cages, enriched colony cages, and other confinement systems that restrict the hens' natural behaviors.
  • Space requirements
    Hens must have access to unrestricted roaming and enrichment areas, such as perches, nest boxes, scratching areas, and dust bathing areas.
    
    
  • Egg distribution
    Eggs and egg products sold in Oregon must come from cage-free producers.
    
    
  • • Inspections
      The Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) can inspect commercial egg farms to enforce the law.
      
    • Penalties
      The Director can assess a civil penalty of up to $2,500 for each violation.
      
  The law went into effect on January 1, 2024. Some exemptions apply, including for state and county fairs, rodeos, 4-H program exhibitions, and veterinary care needs.
  

 

[simme]

These states that make laws attempting to control what is done in other states - sometimes I feel like just let them produce all their food in state. No pork, chickens or eggs from out of state. Seems like they are mostly in the west.

 

[Spot & Bubby]

Well, you better get them fattened up, cause I see you'll be having a few two dog nights coming soon. Maybe a three dog night.

They fluff up pretty well on the roost. I added another bar, higher, for them. It's just long enough for them all to be on it without anyone having to touch the wall. They should be just fine.

Plus, I give them a little corn in the evening when it will be cold. It turns their crops into internal heaters.

 

[Spot & Bubby]

Oregon has a free range chiken law now.

The Director can assess a civil penalty of up to $2,500 for each violation.

Is that a per chicken violation?

I'm not even mad about that law. Commercial poultry is horrible.

 

[Spot & Bubby]

These states that make laws attempting to control what is done in other states - sometimes I feel like just let them produce all their food in state. No pork, chickens or eggs from out of state. Seems like they are mostly in the west.

You're mad about the less inhumane treatment of chickens?

Who hurt you?

 

[Ouachita]

They fluff up pretty well on the roost. I added another bar, higher, for them. It's just long enough for them all to be on it without anyone having to touch the wall. They should be just fine.

Plus, I give them a little corn in the evening when it will be cold. It turns their crops into internal heaters.

I'm sorry. I thought Wobble and Widdle were dogs. I was suggesting it beneficial to fatten the dogs before the bitter cold weather moves in. Depending on temperature, it may be nice to sleep with a warm dog, hence the term Three Dog Night (or one, or two).

 

[Spot & Bubby]

I'm sorry. I thought Wobble and Widdle were dogs. I was suggesting it beneficial to fatten the dogs before the bitter cold weather moves in. Depending on temperature, it may be nice to sleep with a warm dog, hence the term Three Dog Night (or one, or two).

Oh! They are my dogs! I thought you meant fatten up the chickens!

It's a two dog night here 365 nights a year. Three when my hubbs is home from the rig.

 

[Dave]

Oregon has a free range chiken law now.

I wonder how and when that law came about. I sure don't recall it being up for a vote. I worked with several huge chicken farms before I retired. One had several houses of "organic" layers. Along with being non-cage houses they had to have an area where the chicken could go outside. So there was a big pen down one side of the house with several doors for the chickens to go outside. Funny thing is the chickens never used the outside pen ever.

 

[simme]

You're mad about the less inhumane treatment of chickens?

Who hurt you?

Words like inhumane are subject to interpretation. Some people might think that chickens should come in the house with people. And why not? Nice and cozy there. Good temperature. Water in a bowl. If that is a person's standard of care for a chicken, I guess anything could be inhumane. Some people (including me) have dogs in the house. Some have pigs and such in the house. Not me. Some people believe cows should not be fed and raised for beef.

That inhumane interpretation seems to change over time. Does that mean that previous practices were inhumane? Certainly most everyone will agree that mankind has held some views and "standards" in the past that are wrong and even inhumane.

Not everyone shares the same views, but that in of itself does not mean either is wrong. I expressed a view that when states pass laws concerning such topics and extend their view to animals and products coming in and produced in other states, they are overstepping their bounds to dictate acceptable practices for other states.

There are people in some states that have views on cow practices. An attempt in one state recently to ban the practice of AI breeding of cows. That would have big consequences on both the dairy industry and the seedstock beef business.

Just explaining my thoughts on my post and glad that we live in a country where we can have our own views. I will stop now. Any more probably appropriate for another section of the forum. I am neither mad or hurt and hope you aren't either.

My daughter is a vet. Twice (one very recent), someone brought in a chicken that fell from a truck transporting chickens for food. Severely injured. They paid hundreds of dollars for surgery to repair the chickens. I admire their dedication.

 

[Spot & Bubby]

they are overstepping their bounds to dictate acceptable practices for other states.

I didn't read it that way. I read that businesses in other states are only subject to the law if they choose to be. No business is forced to do interstate commerce with Oregon, and the states are free to make their own laws.

I'm also not hurt or mad. To be honest, though, I struggle with some aspects of my job working with cattle. I question my humanity in some practices, even though our cattle are about as spoiled as a child. (I don't like it when the animals are scared by us. I think it's a breech of trust, and it bothers me.)

I'm not sure how an argument can be made for "humane battery cages," but I'm willing to hear out anyone who has one.