I started out with 26 pullets (female chicks) in March of 2003. Of those original 26 only 2 are still here. Over the years I've lost 24 of them. When I realized that I was shocked. I remember every girl and what happened.
A few simply fell asleep and never woke. Many more of various genetic factors. One died under anesthesia at the vet while being treated for a large gash in her side.
Most died of reproductive issues and cancer related to laying.
This is not surprising considering chickens, like other birds, were only meant to lay 10-20 eggs a year. The average hen today lays between 200-300 eggs per year.
Hatcheries all over the country raise and sell purebred chicks of hundreds of different breeds. These chicks may be all different breeds, but they have one thing in common, they are produced in massive numbers. Many hatcheries are the equivilent of puppy mills and just like puppy mills their first concern is on producing large numbers of animals for sale. The health and wellbeing of the offspring is of secondary or no concern at all.
The result is tens of thousands of birds with genetic and reproductive issues. This is not a problem for most people. Laying hens are kept for only 1 or 2 years before being slaughtered and replaced. Hybrid meat birds live only 5-7 weeks before being slaughtered. They are literally still chicks, not even into adolecence. With such practices all sorts of problems can be passed from generation to generation without ever surfacing.
It's people like me who deal with them.
There are breeders out there who are breeding for more than just numbers. Dedicated people who are devoted to their particular breed and try to better it through selective breeding. More and more people are breeding for their own needs. Combining different breeds to make a chicken specialized for their location.
I started doing so 2 years after getting my first chicks. Of my first hatch six of the nine I hatched were males. I shuffled them around, trying to keep as many as I could. Two were culled for extreme aggression, I still have a scar above my eye from a rooster named Oliver.
Despite all that it became very difficult for me to give them up. To try to find a home for them where they wouldn't be immediately slaughtered is nearly impossible. And after incubating them, watching them hatch and grow I couldn't stand the thought of sending them off and not knowing if the person doing the slaughtering would be quick and as gentle as possible or...
So I'm back to ordering small numbers of female chicks from smaller hatcheries every few years. I don't like supporting the system, but I'm not principled enough to stop. :/
