How I Got Unfriended

[woodmort]

Apparently there is some website called, I believe, "Change" where busybodies with nothing else to do can post petitions for members to sign to get changes made, Seems some woman went into the PO and heard a shipment of chicks from My Pet Chicken peeping. Since the package carried a warning that said not to open in presence of children and since the birds were "crying for their mother" this woman was convinced the poor neglected chicks were on the verge of dehydration and starvation. Consequently she started a petition to have this cruel practice stopped. At the point that one of my Facebook friends posted the petition she already had over 2000 bleeding hearts sign the petition.

I went into a nature lesson for this friend, explaining how once chicks hatch they have the ability to go without eating and drinking while waiting for the rest of the clutch to hatch. I mentioned that the reason for the peeping was not that they were calling for their mama but that they were probably not at an ideal temperature but, except for idiot USPS employee placing a shipment in areas of extreme heat or cold, the shipper had been doing this long enough to know how to package the chicks so they would not suffer from temperature problems. I also pointed out that some chicks, whether brooder hatched and shipped or hatch under a brooding hen, are fragile and could die during the first couple of weeks of life. Since these chicks were probably being shipped to a family for pets, this was what prompted the warning on the box. I pointed out to her that in the last 20 years or so I had received at least 15 shipments of newly hatched birds(over 500 chicks, including 32 this year) and never found one dead in the box. Finally I suggested she do some research before blindly forwarding petitions.

I haven't heard from this "friend" since.

 

[Bunnylady]

A few years ago, I bought a few chicks that a local hardware store had gotten from a large hatchery. My kids were excited about having them in a brooder in the house, of course. Having seen our own hens occasionally hatch out chicks, one of my kids wondered out loud, "Do you suppose they miss their mother?" "Honey, their mother was a light bulb," I said. "As long as we keep them warm, watered, and fed, they will be fine."

It really would be nice if folks would educate themselves before they go off on a rampage.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Tough. She probably didn't believe someone with experience in the field but rather preferred to believe someone raising a red flag.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Apparently there is some website called, I believe, "Change" where busybodies with nothing else to do can post petitions for members to sign to get changes made, Seems some woman went into the PO and heard a shipment of chicks from My Pet Chicken peeping. Since the package carried a warning that said not to open in presence of children and since the birds were "crying for their mother" this woman was convinced the poor neglected chicks were on the verge of dehydration and starvation. Consequently she started a petition to have this cruel practice stopped. At the point that one of my Facebook friends posted the petition she already had over 2000 bleeding hearts sign the petition.

I went into a nature lesson for this friend, explaining how once chicks hatch they have the ability to go without eating and drinking while waiting for the rest of the clutch to hatch. I mentioned that the reason for the peeping was not that they were calling for their mama but that they were probably not at an ideal temperature but, except for idiot USPS employee placing a shipment in areas of extreme heat or cold, the shipper had been doing this long enough to know how to package the chicks so they would not suffer from temperature problems. I also pointed out that some chicks, whether brooder hatched and shipped or hatch under a brooding hen, are fragile and could die during the first couple of weeks of life. Since these chicks were probably being shipped to a family for pets, this was what prompted the warning on the box. I pointed out to her that in the last 20 years or so I had received at least 15 shipments of newly hatched birds(over 500 chicks, including 32 this year) and never found one dead in the box. Finally I suggested she do some research before blindly forwarding petitions.

I haven't heard from this "friend" since.

Unfortunately, people are often uninterested in hearing facts.

As to change.org - while I understand this particular issue has left a sour taste in your mouth, I would not necessarily concur with your assessment of the entire system, as it can bring awareness to some really important issues, etc. and can bring about real, positive change - if not in policy at least in thought and discussion. As with anything, the site is merely a tool - it is how the users of that tool use it that is either positive/negative. To me this is no different than the argument one often hears about how "Facebook is the devil, ruins marriages, destroys lives, etc" -- again, FB is only the tool, those using it are the ones who are ruining marriages, destroying lives, etc

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Unfortunately, people are often uninterested in hearing facts.

As to change.org - while I understand this particular issue has left a sour taste in your mouth, I would not necessarily concur with your assessment of the entire system, as it can bring awareness to some really important issues, etc. and can bring about real, positive change - if not in policy at least in thought and discussion. As with anything, the site is merely a tool - it is how the users of that tool use it that is either positive/negative. To me this is no different than the argument one often hears about how "Facebook is the devil, ruins marriages, destroys lives, etc" -- again, FB is only the tool, those using it are the ones who are ruining marriages, destroying lives, etc

I too like change.org.
Once there was a petition to keep the Australian govt. from destroying all the Penedesenca chickens imported because of a positive on a salmonella test.
It wasn't successful and they were destroyed.

 

[HugHess]

Why not be 'counter' productive and start your own petition...? I would sign off on that as I, too, am not ignorant to the 'facts'.
Show an egg production plant and that outta give her something better to crow off about.
Let this democracy work in your favor as well, especially when you can back it all up with truths nobody can refute.

 

[Sylviaanne]

Tough. She probably didn't believe someone with experience in the field but rather preferred to believe someone raising a red flag.

Or if she was a sensible person, maybe she is just too embarrassed to talk to him again. Or maybe she is trying to find a way to talk to him without her pride suffering.

 

[woodmort]

Probably what bothered me most about this kind of petition is the lack of knowledge people have of the "real world" of agriculture. This is the same kind of thing that happens when people move into a farming area and then complain about the animals making noise, late night planting/harvesting and the smell. Or that male chicks and calves have to be euthanized or used as veal. They see something, immediately find it wrong and attempt to stop it without know the story behind it. We're becoming a people that are so removed from our farming roots that we no longer understand the how and why things have to be done. Farming is a messy business but most that practice it love their animals and aren't cruel, but they do have to be practical.

 

[3goodeggs]

I have found that there are basically two types of people.

One set minds their own business and give people the benefit of the doubt. These people are usually hard working people who have no time to wedge in other people's drama.

Then, there are the people who feed on trouble, angst, and drama. It makes them the center of someones attention.

They do not want to be educated. That insults them. They KNOW what is best for the rest of us.
Unfriended?
It is for the best, WootMort.

As far as the petition goes, there will always be people ruffling feathers. Always.
It will amount to nothing. Our country was built on agriculture. It might seem like it is headed away from that, but they will get hungry and come back to reality.

 

[donrae]

There have been various groups trying to stop hatcheries from shipping chicks for a long time. I just don't ever see it happening. MMM will continue to get a portion of my money, as will my local Grange. I'm glad you attempted to educate her, but I think the definition of "friend" has been stretched quite a bit by FB.