De-beaking?
Dean Sparks
Interested in everyone's thoughts about de-beaking....I am still not certain, after 12 years of working with hens (sometimes in large numbers) how I feel about it.
I have experienced a cannibalistic house with full beaks that started with a prolapse and ended in a bloody, ugly mess....it basically sidelined the farmer until he could move out the flock and start over....I guess the thing I am not so certain of is the anguish the bird endures during the process, usually performed when the bird is very, very young.
I have always in my mind drawn a comparison, in human terms, to circumcision....I guess it hurt at the time, but honestly I was way too young to remember it, and I don't feel as if my life has somehow been permanently altered or scarred because of it.
I know there are very strong feelings on both sides of the issue, I just thought I would throw it out there for discussion...it is something we wrestle with here trying to determine whether it should be made a part of our standards for producers.
Dean.
--
Dean Sparks
Senior Partner
Nyfoods, LLC
Greene, New York
607.656.4142 (office)
www.mynyfoods.com
Tim Koegel
In my own opinion, de-beaking a chicken is like docking a cows tail. The mutilation interferes with the animal’s ability to perform natural behaviors. I have never had any picking problems in my houses. Most cannibalism issues can be traced to stress, overcrowding or dietary deficiencies. Also if your certifier is NOFA-NY, de-beaking is prohibited.
--
O-egg is an unmoderated and uncensored list, sponsored by The Cornucopia
Institute, with the goal of enabling a free exchange of information regarding
organic politics, policy and production related to eggs. It's open to all
industry participants regardless of size of operation, and anyone with a
professional interest in organic egg production. Questions can be directed to:
cult...@cornucopia.org
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
Groups "O-Egg" group.
To post to this group, send email to o-...@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
cult...@cornucopia.org with the subject "O-egg Unsubscribe"
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/o-egg?hl=en
Alice Royle
On many levels, I think debeaking should not be done, and I really can't think of anything that would make it worthwhile.
First, let's follow the money. Customers want to buy eggs from happy chickens. If you want to destroy any marketing advantage you have from being local, organic, free-range or whatever, then go ahead and debeak.
We make feed for many of the Northwest's family farms and chicken feed of all types is our focus at this time of year. I know of NO farms that debeak. I know of people that have trouble with cannibalism, yes, but that's not how to handle it. Pecking is a behavior issue and should be dealt with by modifying the environment to make it less stressful. Then the cannibalism will be much less likely. Nearly all pecking occurs when the birds are stressed, and generally it is because they are overcrowded. It's very common to have half-grown birds start pecking, and this should be a signal to the farmer that they need more space.
Once it starts of course we must be vigilant about removing any injured birds immediately.
An old time remedy that one of our producers has used successfully is to add a couple of tablespoons of salt to the drinking water for a couple of days. I've never heard a scientific explanation for why this works, but it often does. Once you can break that cycle and give them more space the problem will usually disappear. It's possible they are hungry for salt, and blood is salty. It's also possible that it just distracts them and gives them something to do, whether it is drinking more or complaining to each other about how the service at this farm has deteriorated. People have also distracted them by giving them hay to pick through, like oat hay or wheat. I even have heard of hanging a cabbage or something like that from the rafters so they have an acceptable target for pecking.
I have heard of birds who were short on protein turning to cannibalism, but frankly I have never seen that because I do our formulation and don't skimp on the protein.
Debeaking will stop pecking, but at what cost? I think of it like other behavior issues -- egg eating, for example. Change the environment and change the behavior.
If you have a dog that chases cars, I'm guessing the practical way to handle it is to confine him so he can't, train him so he doesn't, but not cut off one of his legs.
Alice
Union Point Custom Feeds
Brownsville, OR
Sustainable Feeds for Sustainable Farms™