*mummy_hen* Posted June 14, 2008 Share Posted June 14, 2008 Hi All, Not had my chickens that long, but OH's boss and her husband and their neighbours have decided to get some hens so they asked us to go over today and just talk chickens with them. Got there and everybody was just chatting away and then they started talking about the hens and we were saying about we use the horse bedding for them (The neighbours own horses) and they were like 'oh they won't get any of that' and were basically saying they wouldn't be treated specially in any way. That's fine, we like our hens to have the best lives we can give them but not everybody is the same. Then they started saying how they keep lambs (don't have a farm or anything) and that they then slaughter them for meat, ok i like the principal of free range meat but i couldn't do this personally, we were just saying that and they were like poo pooing us and thought us ridiculous (Oh's boss and her husband are of a similar thinking to us though). Then they showed us the area they wanted to keep the hens, was miles away from the house backing on to the horses field and would have been very vulnerable, they finally settled on a spot quite close to the house as listened to what we had to say. Then OH's boss said, where will the retirement pen be (planning to have an ongoing supply of eggs so every so often re-stock the hens but give the non-layers a seperate home. Then the neighbours said deadly seriously that this would be the field itself and hopefully the foxes would catch them, i was appaled, then they laughed and said they were serious, or leave them in the barn with the door open. By this point i was quite upset and they then proceeded to laugh at me for caring. The worst thing is, as we have ex-batts, they now want to home ex-batts but the whole point is saving them from slaughter, so leaving them to be killed in such an awful way, is worse than the humane slaughter they would have been going to anyway!!! Sorry for the majorly long post but just feel really upset by this, i can't believe people would find the lives of animals something funny or comical!!! I feel awful that we have been 'involved' in this. They know i was appalled but they found that even more hillarious! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cooks Posted June 14, 2008 Share Posted June 14, 2008 am speechless *hug* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*mummy_hen* Posted June 14, 2008 Author Share Posted June 14, 2008 I just feel so upset, i could cry my eyes out!!! What can i do though? Even if i rang the BHWT and warned them, i don't suppose they can do anything about it!! Me being nieive, went over there thinking that we could encourage them to give some more lovely deserving hens a wonderful life and was confronted with that. I was talling to OH's boss's husband about it after they had left and he made some comment about how 'i don't agree on what he does for a living, his view to life is somewhat barbaric' Couldn't even ask what he meant by that!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cooks Posted June 14, 2008 Share Posted June 14, 2008 I have no idea why the neighbours wanted you to go round and talk chicken with them, it's clear they had already made up their minds on what they were doing, all they did in this exercise was to upset you. They sound like uncaring and thoughtless ****'s that shouldn't be walking this earth IMO It's one thing raising chicken for your own table, but to openly admit that they will leave them for the foxes when they stop laying?????? I hope beyond hope they dont get them.. but I guess they will, poor hens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faye&Ant Posted June 14, 2008 Share Posted June 14, 2008 They sound like horrid people I would sneak round to the chickens in the night and and bring them home with me if I lived there Not sure if im allowed to say that but they doesn't deserve to keep them! I hope your ok - I would have been just as upset Faye x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted June 14, 2008 Share Posted June 14, 2008 I would make discrete enquiries as to when and where they are getting the hens, and then ring the co-ordinator to tip her/him the wink. S/he may suddenly find that she hasn't enough hens to accommodate these people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cooks Posted June 14, 2008 Share Posted June 14, 2008 yes I agree, they cant be allowed to rehome bats to give them freedom and to let the fox get them.. they just cant! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
owenofj Posted June 14, 2008 Share Posted June 14, 2008 ..... I am utterly speechless. People like that should be left for the foxes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevie Posted June 14, 2008 Share Posted June 14, 2008 Very sad that people still regard living creatures as disposable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*mummy_hen* Posted June 14, 2008 Author Share Posted June 14, 2008 I just can't believe some people can be like this!!! Burst into tears after writing this post and then looking out the window and seeing my beautiful girls roaming around. OH rang his boss and explained how unhappy, shocked and upset i/we were, she has said she will ensure nothing would happen to them and apologised for the way they behaved. Wished i'd just walked away but i honestly was completely specchless and shocked by what i was hearing. Am still going to contatc the BHWT to inform them and they can then speak to them about this or as you say not provide them with hens when they contact them. Thank you for the replies, i don't care whether she thinks i'm mad, i'd rather be mad for loving and respecting my animals than be calous and completely cold hearted! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cooks Posted June 14, 2008 Share Posted June 14, 2008 hear hear xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevie Posted June 14, 2008 Share Posted June 14, 2008 As Ghandi once said-the greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathybc Posted June 14, 2008 Share Posted June 14, 2008 you are not mad, I would have had totally the same reaction. I am pretty easy going but people like that make me so angry and sad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted June 14, 2008 Share Posted June 14, 2008 What horrible people they sound . Especially as they were so insensitive to your feelings . I can quite understand why you got so upset and then to be laughed at too ... that's unforgivable . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angels4 Posted June 14, 2008 Share Posted June 14, 2008 I don't generally believe two wrongs make a right but karma will prevail and in a future life may they both come back as battery hens How horrible these people sound I am for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abbey Road Girl Posted June 15, 2008 Share Posted June 15, 2008 This philosophical point of view won't do anything practical (informing on them would), but their punishment is having to be themselves. I can't see people in this forum being willing to be so cold and callous. Au contraire! Their treatment of you mimics their attitude toward chickens. Enough to make you weep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gallina Posted June 15, 2008 Share Posted June 15, 2008 It's not so much the fact that these people wouldn't want to keep the unproductive hens any more that was nasty, but the way that they seem to think it was amusing to offer them to the fox. But you must remember they have never had hens, and so regard them as potential livestock rather than little friends. They may change when they get their hens. Most people do. And I don't think this question is as black and white as it at first seems. I could never kill off an old hen; but I know that if one of my pens seemed less secure than the other, I would put the old unproductive hens in it. Incidentally, we all know what battery farmers do with hens after their second summer; but what do free-range commercial farms do with theirs? Do they go for pet food too? And is this any better than letting them take their chance with a fox? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhapsody Posted June 15, 2008 Share Posted June 15, 2008 Unfortunately since I moved to the sticks I've met a lot of people like this If the dog gets pregnant cos they 'dont believe' in having her spayed, she dies giving birth to giant puppies; if the horse goes unretrievably lame cos its been ridden into the ground since it was broken the vet dispatches it and they get another; if any wildlife dare set foot on their land they get a gun and shoot it. And if you disagree with any of this you are a naive idiot and they'll laugh in your face. I too would be tempted to talk to their local BHWT co-ordinator, unfortunately this wont stop them going out and buying some hybrids elsewhere. The best you can hope for was they were trying to wind you up because they know you care about your chooks. I really feel for you ((((((mummy_hen))))) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted June 15, 2008 Share Posted June 15, 2008 unfortunately this wont stop them going out and buying some hybrids elsewhere. If they have parted with a tenner or more per bird they might view it differently to a hen that costs 50p. I doubt it somehow though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAJ Posted June 15, 2008 Share Posted June 15, 2008 Poor you this must have been very upsetting - let's hope they have got the message load and clear now. Tracy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surrey_chickens Posted June 16, 2008 Share Posted June 16, 2008 I think they're full of hot air. Don't get so upset. People say a lot of things to upset people or just because they are genuinely ignorant. Accept they're idiots and forget them. Keep a dignified distance as neighbours. If they do what the threaten, they'll soon give up once they see the devastation/blood etc from a fox attack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frenchlayer Posted June 16, 2008 Share Posted June 16, 2008 Lets hope they were trying to wind you up. Mind you the fact they keep sheep for meat tells you a thing, I can't see them getting attached to the hens in the same way we all do. Just keep your distance, shop them, and don't ask! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MedusA Posted June 16, 2008 Share Posted June 16, 2008 I would make discrete enquiries as to when and where they are getting the hens, and then ring the co-ordinator to tip her/him the wink. S/he may suddenly find that she hasn't enough hens to accommodate these people. I was thinking exactly that too, Egluntine. Horrid, insensitive people like that don't deserve the privilege of having chickens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiggy Posted June 16, 2008 Share Posted June 16, 2008 nasty people, prob get their 2 for a fiver chickens too a chap I work with has his non layers dispatched humanely & he then uses the meat in his own kitchen, I get too attached to my girls but I can understand him, there is no was he would let foxes dispose of his unwanted birds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenanne Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 Personally, I really admire people who raise livestock on a small-scale basis for meat for their own consumption. I think it's more honest and clear-headed than thinking that if it comes wrapped in plastic then it's "OK" but if it still has fur/feathers/fins then it's "immoral". Obviously anyone killing and eating there pets is really pretty wierd: you have to be able to view the creatures as livestock, not pets. BUT. To keep animals whilst they are useful then not have the decency to AT LEAST despatch them humanely at the end of their useful lives is incredible - I find it completely sickening. Are you sure they weren't making some sort of sick joke? It's just such a horrible thing to suggest. I have lived in rural areas for most of my life. To say that treating animals like these people intend to is typical of rural life is deeply offensive, and just isn't true; most people who look after livestock or any other working animal treat it with complete kindness and respect. There are many stories of pet-owners prolonging the intense suffering of their animals because they are unable to have it humanely put to sleep when all hope has gone; but this doesn't mean that it's right for anyone to claim that all "towny" pet-owners are behave like selfish monsters toward their pets! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
