# Chickens



## lovely_chooks (Mar 19, 2021)

Does anyone other than me have chickens as pets? Because most people I see have so many chickens for their eggs and stuf. I think I’m the only one who cudddles with chickens all day


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

They don't have to be cuddled to be considered pets. Several of mine learned their names but I didn't walk around holding them all of the time.


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## lovely_chooks (Mar 19, 2021)

robin416 said:


> They don't have to be cuddled to be considered pets. Several of mine learned their names but I didn't walk around holding them all of the time.


What’s the difference of keeping them for pets and keeping them for their eggs


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## fuzzies (Jul 27, 2021)

I'm pushing 80 birds at the moment, and I consider mine pets. 😊 With the exception of the ten or so extra cockerels I don't plan to keep, each and every one of them is named, and I know them all apart by heart. Other than the ones that are hatched, eaten, or used in soap, I give away all of their eggs. Yes, if I can't find a home for some of the extra cockerels by late fall, they'll go to the processor to feed my family, but that's a natural consequence of hatching them rather than purchasing hens or sexed chicks. I'm not a vegan, and I take comfort in knowing the birds I eat had an exceptional life and just one bad day at the end.

Oh, and mine are cuddled whenever I'm out there! ❤ At least, the ones who want to be cuddled are. Some of them are not "people chickens" so to speak, so they just get spoiled from afar.  I agree with Robin 100%, an animal doesn't have to be cuddled to be a pet. Just look at people with pet fish! If they bring you joy and that's your primary reason to own them, then they're a pet.


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## lovely_chooks (Mar 19, 2021)

fuzzies said:


> I'm pushing 80 birds at the moment, and I consider mine pets.  With the exception of the ten or so extra cockerels I don't plan to keep, each and every one of them is named, and I know them all apart by heart. Other than the ones that are hatched, eaten, or used in soap, I give away all of their eggs. Yes, if I can't find a home for some of the extra cockerels by late fall, they'll go to the processor to feed my family, but that's a natural consequence of hatching them rather than purchasing hens or sexed chicks. I'm not a vegan, and I take comfort in knowing the birds I eat had an exceptional life and just one bad day at the end.
> 
> Oh, and mine are cuddled whenever I'm out there!  At least, the ones who want to be cuddled are. Some of them are not "people chickens" so to speak, so they just get spoiled from afar.  I agree with Robin 100%, an animal doesn't have to be cuddled to be a pet. Just look at people with pet fish! If they bring you joy and that's your primary reason to own them, then they're a pet.


I see. But the farms that raise them for eggs what’s the difference of keeping them for eggs or pets. Like they both are raising them and taking care of them.


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## fuzzies (Jul 27, 2021)

The difference is that those people keep them primarily for eggs. They may not name them, and odds are pretty high that they aren't cuddling with them, but, I mean, you don't have to keep an animal specifically as a pet to treat it well. It's like the extra cockerels I mentioned. They are not pets to me; either they will leave to someone else's farm or they'll be processed for food. But that doesn't mean I treat them poorly in the mean time. They're treated just the same as the rest of my birds, with the exception that I don't cuddle with them or anything because I don't want to get too attached to an animal I know I can't keep.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Very well put, Pip.


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## lovely_chooks (Mar 19, 2021)

fuzzies said:


> The difference is that those people keep them primarily for eggs. They may not name them, and odds are pretty high that they aren't cuddling with them, but, I mean, you don't have to keep an animal specifically as a pet to treat it well. It's like the extra cockerels I mentioned. They are not pets to me; either they will leave to someone else's farm or they'll be processed for food. But that doesn't mean I treat them poorly in the mean time. They're treated just the same as the rest of my birds, with the exception that I don't cuddle with them or anything because I don't want to get too attached to an animal I know I can't keep.


Okay basically farms that use them for eggs won’t name them or treat them as pets. Just they take care of them and take the eggs

People who keep them for pets name them, pet them and just get attatched to them. And they lay eggs that’s just an extra thing they do. It’s not like if they don’t lay people will process them since who eats their pets right


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## Animals45 (May 11, 2021)

I don't cuddle with my chickens all days but I still consider them pets.


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## fuzzies (Jul 27, 2021)

lovely_chooks said:


> Okay basically farms that use them for eggs won’t name them or treat them as pets. Just they take care of them and take the eggs
> 
> People who keep them for pets name them, pet them and just get attatched to them. And they lay eggs that’s just an extra thing they do. It’s not like if they don’t lay people will process them since who eats their pets right


I don't think it's necessarily so black and white, though. Like everything that humans are involved in, there's a spectrum. I know of people who name their birds, but still only keep them for eggs and not as pets. There are farms who do cuddle or carry them around and still use them for food once they're past their prime. And people like Robin and Animals, who don't really cuddle them but still consider them pets. I've even seen where people who do keep them as pets have said they would eat them if in an emergency where no other food could be acquired. So yeah, there really is no set of rules on who can treat their birds in what way and why.


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## lovely_chooks (Mar 19, 2021)

fuzzies said:


> I don't think it's necessarily so black and white, though. Like everything that humans are involved in, there's a spectrum. I know of people who name their birds, but still only keep them for eggs and not as pets. There are farms who do cuddle or carry them around and still use them for food once they're past their prime. And people like Robin and Animals, who don't really cuddle them but still consider them pets. I've even seen where people who do keep them as pets have said they would eat them if in an emergency where no other food could be acquired. So yeah, there really is no set of rules on who can treat their birds in what way and why.


Ohh I see


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