A subtle, earthy smell reminiscent of the show tent at a county fair permeates the air; choruses of soft clucks and bawks break the peaceful silence. A quiet, suburban neighborhood of manicured lawns and minivans might be the last place you would expect to find a flock of chickens, but my back yard is home to just that. For as long as I can remember, animals have fascinated and enraptured me. Whether it be hours spent poring over ornithological field guides, days devoted to observing backyard fauna, or taking every opportunity to volunteer at a local exotic animal farm, my life has always revolved significantly around a fundamental, insatiable interest in the innumerable species with which we share the earth. Often, this interest took the form of a constant desire to raise and care for animals, including fish, gerbils, sugar gliders, chinchillas, dogs, cats, horses, sheep, ducks, and, as of this past summer, chickens. Four tiny chicks came home huddled in a cardboard box one mild June morning. The first weeks after their arrival threw me into a world …show more content…
The more time I spent watching my chickens interact with each other and their surroundings, the more clearly defined their individual personalities became, and I was soon able to identify them based on their unique characteristics. Henrietta, the mama’s girl, preferred to sit on my lap and peck at my feet rather than explore. Daisy, the investigator, inspected and pecked everything that moved. Sunny, the boss, who wouldn’t hesitate to put the others in their place. And finally, Pebble, the runt, did her best just to keep up with her sisters’ antics. There I would sit, dazzled once again by the beauty and uniqueness of living creatures on this earth, creatures which I have the immense privilege of being able to observe and interact
Taylor, Robert E., and Thomas G. Fields. Scientific Farm Animal Production in Introduction to Animal Science. 8th Ed. New Jersey: Pearson Education, 200
Broiler chickens, luckily for them, only live up to 7 weeks old until they are big enough to be slaughtered. Their life starts out in incubator trays with hundreds and thousands of other chicks without enough head room to stand up, and not enough room to take 2 tiny steps. So for the first week of their lives it goes from cramp trays, to cramp boxes, to getting dumped onto the filthy floors of t...
“A Chicken” is a short story written by Clarice Lispector that has an animal as its protagonist as opposed to a human being. The chicken is seen as nothing else but a meal for the family to consume. However, this changes once she unexpectedly becomes a mother. After being recaptured, the chicken lays an egg in the middle of the kitchen floor. It is at this moment that fate of the chicken, of becoming a meal, is changed.
“We take care of animals, and the animals take care of us.” (Rollin 212). The preceding phrase is a policy that American farmers in the old west lived their lives by. Modern farmers live do not live their lives anywhere near to this phrase because they own factory farms, and the whole reason for having a factory farm is to fit as many animals in a small space as possible in order to maximize profit. Factory Farms, or Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) first appeared in the 1920s, right after Vitamins A and D, because if animals are given these vitamins in their diets, exercise and sunlight are not necessities for the animals to grow anymore (In Defense of Animals 1). The growing number of factory farms is coupled with the decreasing population of rural areas, which means that many people are beginning to factory farm because it yields a higher profit (“Agricultural Sciences” 170). In the 1950s, the average number of chickens on a given egg farm in the United States was 100, but now the average number is a shocking 10,000 chickens (“Factory Farms” 4). The reason for the increase of chickens has to do with new and cheaper technology developed just after World War II. The new technology increased the number of chickens, while it had the opposite effect on dairy and meat cows, their numbers went in the other direction. The number of cows used for milk was cut by more than half between 1950 and 2000, because farmers discovered new and more efficient methods for milking cows (Weeks 4). Many activists for animals’ rights are concerned about the methods used by factory farmers because they confine their animals into tight spaces and since there are so many of them in a small ...
As I walked back from the market, I stop by my neighbor and friend's house, Ngoc, to say hello to her. Her little brother, Tuan, was one of the victims of the avian flu, but unfortunately, he did not make it. I came inside her house and went to her back yard where she is holding a chicken that her father had just killed, while on the floor, there are more than 150 dead birds laying on the ground.
Imagine if your pet was getting experimented on for a product you might buy in the future. Would anyone really want that product, your pet was in pain because of it? Animals are getting experimented on for products to get released to the public. Some companies are using vitro researching to test their products but not enough companies are using vitro as their form of testing products. Synthetic skin could reduce the amount of animals getting tested on everyday for companies to release new products to the public. Animals are getting experimented on everyday.
For centuries scientists have used animals to study the causes of diseases; to test drugs, vaccines and surgical techniques; and to evaluate the safety of chemicals used in pesticides, cosmetics and other products. However, many scientists amongst animal- right activists forbid the use of animals in scientific research regardless how many illnesses are eliminated through the use of animals in scientific research. Amongst animal right activists, David Suzuki also raises concerns towards animal experimentation. In his article, The Pain of Animals, Suzuki argues that humans have no right to exploit animals because--much like humans--animals also experience pain. In contrast to Suzuki, Haldane, in his article, Some Enemies of Science, argues because animals are very similar to humans, scientists have no choice but to use animals in scientific experiments. Both authors greatly contrast their opinions towards animal experimentation; however Haldane has a more explanatory approach towards animal experimentation. He argues animal experimentation should be acceptable because other forms of animal exploitation are acceptable in society. Secondly, unlike other forms of exploitation which seek pleasure in killing animals such as leisure sport, scientists, most likely do not harm animals; if pain is intended on an animal it is strictly for the purpose of scientific advancement. Thirdly, although, animal experimentation may cause some extinction, it is only one of many other causes of extinction, if other causes are not condemned; then neither should animal experiment...
It was finally fall break. I was visiting my grandma for a few days. Well past dinnertime, I pulled up to the white stately home in northern rural Iowa. I parked my car, unloaded my bag and pillow, and crunched through the leaves to the front porch. The porch was just how I had seen it last; to the right, a small iron table and chairs, along with an old antique brass pole lamp, and on the left, a flowered glider that I have spent many a summer afternoon on, swaying back and forth, just thinking.
Industrial farmers see chicken and other animals such as: cow, pigs, and goat as egg and dairy production and not as an intellectual individuals. From the birth of a baby chick to their death on the production line, chicken endure pain and suffer through out their entire short lives. Baby chicks are de-beak then they are move to battery cages that are wired up high in warehouses that are filled with artificial lighten. The cages are so confined that the ...
One particularly warm evening last summer, I walked into my backyard to relax and enjoy some fresh air. Instead, I was greeted by the loud shriek of a chicken. We had an uninvited guest in our vegetable garden. Unfortunately, such chicken invasions are a common occurrence in many areas of Stockton, California. Throughout the United States, municipalities small and large are debating whether or not they should enact residential livestock ordinances, specifically in regards to poultry. Considering that they are often a public nuisance and pose a health risk, local officials should consider restricting the private ownership of chickens in heavily populated urban areas.
It is horrifying to know the fact that the processed food that we eat today is once animals that are processed alive. The ignorance of the companies has caused the suffering of these poor animals. Gale (2013) writes, “.[media] do not tell us that chickens are the most tortured animals in factory farms and that most chickens have to stand on their own feces all day and end up getting litter burn from their manure. hens are often crammed together in cases so tiny that they do not get enough room to even lift a single wing—which then immobilizes them for their entire lives.”
I have always been drawn to chickens since I was a little girl. It was only in my thirty’s that I first came in to contact with chickens on a farm. You would think that a city girl like me would be afraid, nope, I went right in to feed and sat in chicken poop. No one told me I shouldn’t sit in the coop and feed them, but I was fine with it, they calm me. Each year I keep telling myself I will move when I can have my chickens. I will cover the difference between meat and egg layers. I will discuss the different ways to home them, and keep them safe. Why should people keep chickens at all? In this research paper I will go over the information that I have read and how I feel personally about raising and keeping chickens in your back yard.
" Society & Animals 18.2 (2010): 183-203. Academic Search Premier -. EBSCO. Web. The Web. The Web.
I stopped walking and looked up at the faint stars. The seagulls were flying overhead. They were screeching and swooping at the water. I started to wish I were one of them, flying free without any restrictions or limits. I listened to their voice, the screech. Deep down in I could understand what they were saying. I can't explain it, but I was so in love with the moment I thought I saw things as they did. I was in company of animals that had no concept of time, and no worries, and I was contempt with that. I closed my eyes and the faint sun warmed my face, as if shining only for me. The warmth made ...
When I was three years old, I spent my summer in a pond by my home chasing frogs and snakes. When I was five years old, my mother found me sleeping under a mare with her foal. When I was fifteen I spent my spare time working for a family friend’s thoroughbred farm. However, my first love for animal care was born when I was nineteen when I first held an owl. I was an extremely fortunate child to grow up in the Maine wilderness as I did, learning to marvel at the raw beauty of nature at a young age. I attended a nature themed summer camp every year throughout my youth, learning about the sciences of soil and water systems and how they impacted the animals around them. I took every opportunity to immerse myself in animals at any opportunity, from