Is it morally wrong...?

[Mesophilic]

Is it morally wrong to feed chicken to my chicks?

We bough some chicks a few weeks back and they're getting big.  And they love when i feed them little bits of shredded chicken as a treat.

Well my wife and kid are city folks and think it's a disgusting idea.   Whereas I grew up on a farm and chickens ate whatere we fed them.  What say my fellows?

[BowEd]

Short answer....Nope!

[Buckskinner]

I think it a little odd that you give you chickens treats, but no they eat their own on their own, so no foul on the feeding fowl fowl.

[Don W]

Just don't tell them and you are ok.

[Mesophilic]

I think it a little odd that you give you chickens treats, but no they eat their own on their own, so no foul on the feeding fowl fowl.

It's part of my training them.  Now instead of freaking out in their cage, they get very excited when I walk in the room.   They're no longer afraid of my hands when I need to reach in, too.

They also like pork,  but not as much as chicken.  Makes sense, I hear that in a Donner Party situation,  humans have everything a human needs, just sayin 

[PaulN/KS]

Now, I wonder what chicken tastes like to a chicken....?   
 

[Pat B]

Frog legs!   

[bjrogg]

As they say picking on him like a bunch of chickens. They can be really nasty.

I remember my little sister had red boots. When chickens see red they all swarm and peck at it. I bet my sister still has nightmares about being attacked by 100 chickens. Maybe it’s a white meat thing. Hogs I believe will eat there own to. We never had hogs.

They always said bulls charge at red. But us kids tested that theory out on several of our bulls and luckily for us it didn’t seem to be true.

[Marc St Louis]

As they say picking on him like a bunch of chickens. They can be really nasty.

I remember my little sister had red boots. When chickens see red they all swarm and peck at it. I bet my sister still has nightmares about being attacked by 100 chickens. Maybe it’s a white meat thing. Hogs I believe will eat there own to. We never had hogs.

They always said bulls charge at red. But us kids tested that theory out on several of our bulls and luckily for us it didn’t seem to be true.

I bought some pigs from a guy who raised them many years ago and he told me it wasn't a good idea to feed them pig

[WhistlingBadger]

We used to butcher chickens and feed the entrails back to the remaining birds. Seems gross on some kind of gut level (no pun intended), but rationally I can't see any reason it's any worse than just throwing them away.  Protein's protein, and resources are resources.  We finally quit because somebody told us that feeding raw chicken to other chicken can spread disease.  I have my doubts about that, if the original chicken was healthy.  So, a bit weird, and possibly a vector of disease if the meat isn't cooked, but morally wrong?  Nah.

[mmattockx]

We finally quit because somebody told us that feeding raw chicken to other chicken can spread disease.  I have my doubts about that, if the original chicken was healthy. 

This is true, but only if the original animal had a disease. This practice is how BSE (mad cow disease) got widespread. The feed people used to use waste cattle parts as part of the protein meal they fed the other animals and the infected pieces would infect others eating it. That is no longer done as a precaution to prevent disease spreading. I expect the idea applies to chickens and pigs the same as cattle. It is also why you should never use human waste to fertilize gardens or plants that will be used as food for people, it is a great way to spread disease through a population.

Aside from the disease issue I see no moral issue with feeding chicken to chickens. They are cannibals on their own and have no moral or ethical concerns of their own about it.


Mark

[bjrogg]

Thinking right now avian bird flu Might be a concern to.

We always just disposed of the dead ones.

Yeah Marc we never raised hogs but I’ve heard they will eat their own.

Bjrogg

[BowEd]

When I was a kid on the farm helping my dad we raised hogs farrow to finish too.After weaning young hogs are confined and fed to fatten for the market.There was a thing called a tail biter to look out for.One that would eat the tails off of others.The taste of blood does things to an animal.It was best to get that paticular hog out of there.This expedites because of the confinement arena they are in.
Same is true if a lame or wounded pig is allowed to be with the others.They can and will kill and eat him.They need to be oversaw every day.
Once by our community an older fella by himself fell over and past out from a heart attack while feeding hogs.The hogs ate him.All they found was bits of clothing.Once blood is shed this can happen.
If you've ever seen 2 roosters fight you'll realize the winning rooster has no remorse or sympathy even if his opponent is whipped.He'll mutilate and kill him.Being confined again expedites this too.
All true and factual.
The difference between humans and animals is that we have or should have a conscience.

[Yooper Bowyer]

Once by our community an older fella by himself fell over and past out from a heart attack while feeding hogs.The hogs ate him.All they found was bits of clothing.Once blood is shed this can happen.

Gruesome, but I'd believe it.  A friend of mine told a story of how there was a murder in her town many years ago.  They couldn't find the body, it eventually came out that the killer feed it to the hogs.

As to the original question, chickens have no morals, don't worry about it.

[Buckskinner]

Hogs and chickens will eat anything.  We had about 300 feeder hogs in a confinement barn when I was a kid.  In winter the starlings would go in the barn when it got cold, me and my brother would run down the aisle and close all vent doors where they flew in and BB's would fly... Many dozens of starlings would fall into the hog pens, we would try and get them but most were eaten very quickly.  After a while the hogs would know what was up and be watching for birds to fall.