[pepsi100]

As the title suggests, I am on my travels again
I am now in India
They certainly have a different way with their chickens and hens, none of them are regarded as pets, they are just food

The big leghorns are boxed up something worse than was ever allowed in the UK

The way they top them is pretty brutal as well, they are either hung by their feet and throat cut or just have the head lopped off, and then they run spraying blood around

No one bats an eye though

So look after you hens, they could be out here, here they do scratch for a living and its prety scarce with not much of an ending



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[nerdle]

We don't really need to know all that thank you !!!!!!


Headmistress

[helens-hens]

"We don't really need to know all that thank you !!!!!!"

Well, unfortunately, we do really  . I am fairly sure that in the UK chickens sold for Halal or Kosher meat are also hung up and have their throats slit.

I think we need to know how our food is produced in order so that we can make an educated decision as to how we source our food and also hopefully work towards greater protection and welfare for farm animals.

As Pepsi said, some of the chickens are scratching around naturally but for commercial egg production I think battery hen farming is the norm...

[nerdle]

Hear what you say but still disagree. I know the world isn't a nice place but this site might be a haven for chicken happiness.

[Dawnuss]

My mum and dad just got back from india with very upset tummies  they said it was an experience but they wont be going back. They already told me what they do with chickens so this didnt shock me and also over run with feral dogs which my mum said was interesting to see dogs in natural packs but was hearybreaking at the same time. Cows on the other hand have a very nice life in india  Enjoy your travels pepsi its always intetesting to sre how different cultures live and lets just be pleased our country have a few more rules etc on keeping pets.

[nerdle]

I was in India (in me hippy youth) in the 80s and then back to Sri Lanka in Jan this year.  Just mekes my love my animals more.

[ANHBUC]

In poorer countries they don't have the luxury of having animals as pets.  I don't agree with the way they are kept and killed but it is not something we can interfere in.   

Hope you enjoy your travels pepsi100.   

[andy46]

Helens-hens there are vidoes about halal chickens being killed on youtube how sad is that people seem to think its good to put things like that on there

[helens-hens]

andy46 - I know. I think one of the worst things I saw on youtube was a clip of some people in America using live chickens to train dogs in hunting

I do totally understand that different cultures view animals in other ways. I know that hens are farm animals (indeed they wouldn't be around in their current form if it were not for farming). My biggest gripe is with the greed of some in the commercial sector where profit sometimes, very obviously, comes before welfare. Sometimes humans can be very inhumane....

I'll be quiet now & get off my soapbox!

[pepsi100]

I have now returned from my trip to India, most of it was taken up on a safari (I bet many people didnt know there was safari's out there)

Along the way we ate a lot of chicken, but we only bought live ones (they are white leghorns by my guess) only reason we bought live birds was it seemed kinder to kill them our way rather than let them do it, it was quicker

(I posted a video of the 'kill' on my blog, it got a lot of critisism, but it was clean and quick)

Some people seemed to think that meat grew in a super market

We saw a lot of these jungle fowl, they were fast small birds, spent a lot of time in trees, the cock bird didnt crow as much as a 'domesticated' cockerel

With reference to the cows in India, they all belong to someone, regardless of them just wandering around, they can be had for 2-3 quid, but are useless, until someone hits one (then they are worth hundreds, as they suddenly become a favourite animal)

They eat rubbish, are a bag of bones, buffalo are the favoured animal for milk (better than the 'cows' milk out there) their droppings are used for cooking fires, they are fed fresh green food each day, its a rich family that has a buffalo or two

But the cows do have a use out there, they wander loose on the streets, so they slow the traffic

There a a few places that have good hens out there, but they are in the minority, their hens run loose, but are penned up and do get fed a lot of scraps, but not the kind of food our birds are fed (layers mash/pellets, they have a good bit of freedom

The leghorns are just too big for their legs to support them, they are usually seen in the markets, I dont know if they are given anything to make them grow faster, but the birds are about 8 weeks old

[Chicken_Lover]

It just goes to show that even the not so experienced members of this forum chickens still have a better life than those in third world countries.

[pepsi100]

Someone mentioned 'feral ' dogs,

In Pench and Khana, they dont have that problem, during the night leopards come down from the hill and catch the feral dogs, they take the old, diseased dogs, may sound a bit cruel, but the dogs dont belong to anyone, run in packs and they have been known to attack people
I found the remains of a dog one morning, but it was just a leg, and that had mange on it

People lock up animals they dont want the leopards to have (their pigs, mainly)

I doubt they will kil all the dogs, but at least the fast healthy ones avoid the leopards

Found a place that was realy good for hens, it was covered, had plenty of space, was dry, he breeds the birds, just for their eggs and colours, these were sold as pets and yes they do have a hen as a pet, , they have cockerels that can tell the time as well (they dont crow at strange times, just at dawn)

Saw these junle fowl as well (the great grand parents of all chickens) they are small and fast, with long legs, they roost in the trees, the cockerel has 3-4 hens in his hareem,) they dont tell the world when they lay an egg either

These little jungle fowl even stand up to monkey's, they can be quite aggresive at times, especially at nesting, hatching time

They also have wild turkeys out in the jungle, they fly, roost in trees, not as big and are really good at hiding, not sure how they got there though, I dont think they originated in India

Cows cost 200 rupees (about 2 quid), until you hit one, then it suddenly becomes a favourite and now worth thousands, cows are pretty useless out there, you cant kill them, cant milk them, (you cant even use their poo for a fire) they generally live on a rubbish heap and are a bit like a mobile roundabout or bump in the road, they slow traffic by just laying in the road, which is the only real use they have

Buffalo and oxen are the animals to own, the buffalos for milk and the oxen for work in the feilds and pulling wagons, the buffalo can give upto 17 liters of milk a day, and it tastes better than cows milk, richer, and looks slightly yellow, the buffalos are given fresh green food, hay, clean water, they are put out into paddy feilds, feilds that have been harvested, and they are kept away fro any cows, they are big, impressive looking beasts, but very docile, their poo is made into 'cakes' for cooking/heating fires


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