Dear Spoon Full Farm Family,
last week we got 200 more chickens at the farm. they came from a hatchery in idaho that we didn’t realize was, to put it mildly, a poultry hellhole.
many of the birds have the top part of their beaks cut in half, and many had beak rings that didn’t let them close their mouths, ever. that was to prevent them from pecking each other to death in overcrowded confinement.
we crabwalked around the livestock trailer for an hour snipping off rings and zip-tying markers on their legs to distinguish them from our main flock, and then we let them out into the sunshine for the first time in their lives.
on one hand, it felt good to liberate these particular birds. yet our purchase of them supported the hatchery where they came from, whose practices are cruel.
so many layers and wrinkles complicate morality, in every decision involving animals, as you move from specific to systemic, local to global, now to forever, in your mind. we could talk about that for hours on end.
at the end of the day, we’ve given more chickens a dreamy chicken life, which means more delicious nurturing eggs. perhaps those eggs increase popular demand for happy pasture eggs (i know i can’t go back to eating “normal” eggs, and many folks who buy from us say the same), eventually leading to fewer and fewer chickens living in tortured conditions.
anyways. cheers to the new birds at @spoonfullfarm - may they all (and you all) thrive!
With Love,
Spoon Full Farmers
