5 ms·

maybe I'm missing something, what will the chickens eat? "whatever they find on the ground" is not exactly a strategy for growth, especially if everybody is rai

by spydum 10y ago

maybe I'm missing something, what will the chickens eat? "whatever they find on the ground" is not exactly a strategy for growth, especially if everybody is raising chickens, you can pretty much expect the availability of edible stuff to reach zero in villages. not saying this doesnt work, but it's still an energy in/out problem right, where is the new source of energy?

CuriouslyC 10y ago
Chickens can eat bugs, plants and food waste that people wouldn't touch. This would work fine assuming at least a temperate climate (ideally tropical) and small villages with a fairly low density.
- Grue3 10y ago
  If chicken can freely walk around, there immediately occurs the problem of people stealing others' chicken. I grew up in a Soviet village and it happened a lot, so I'd imagine it would be even worse in poorer countries.
  - brianwawok 10y ago
    Don't worry, the next charity can donate guns to protect your chickens. /s So Charity is really hard to do right. Bill Gates seems to try to do it right. Hopefully he has thought of this already?
  - CuriouslyC 10y ago
    In a larger, more populated village, this is definitely a potential concern. In the smaller, less dense villages where this program is likely targeted, everyone knows everyone, and chickens usually have sufficiently distinct markings that if you have a small flock you could probably identify your stolen bird without too much trouble. Just for reference, I've seen roaming chickens in small villages in the Philippines/Caribbean, it is very common. I even saw it in some decently sized towns, though it was less common. In cities everyone kept their chickens in pens, so I never saw them (though they woke me up every damned day, so I know there were plenty of them).
Grishnakh 10y ago
As the other poster said, chickens will eat all kinds of stuff, including food waste. I've even heard you can let them loose in your garden for a limited time and they'll eat all the insects. (However you want to limit their garden time or else they'll eat your crops after finishing off the bugs.)
- MustardTiger 10y ago
  They will gladly start with your crops and ignore the bugs, depending on what you are growing. Letting chickens in your garden is one of those things lots of websites repeat, but doesn't actually work well at all.
  - Grishnakh 10y ago
    That's good to know, I was just going off of what those websites said. So I guess it depends on what's in the garden. Perhaps if you're just growing carrots and potatoes it'll work out well.

by spydum 10y ago

CuriouslyC 10y ago

Chickens can eat bugs, plants and food waste that people wouldn't touch. This would work fine assuming at least a temperate climate (ideally tropical) and small villages with a fairly low density.

Grue3 10y ago
If chicken can freely walk around, there immediately occurs the problem of people stealing others' chicken. I grew up in a Soviet village and it happened a lot, so I'd imagine it would be even worse in poorer countries.
- brianwawok 10y ago
  Don't worry, the next charity can donate guns to protect your chickens. /s So Charity is really hard to do right. Bill Gates seems to try to do it right. Hopefully he has thought of this already?
- CuriouslyC 10y ago
  In a larger, more populated village, this is definitely a potential concern. In the smaller, less dense villages where this program is likely targeted, everyone knows everyone, and chickens usually have sufficiently distinct markings that if you have a small flock you could probably identify your stolen bird without too much trouble. Just for reference, I've seen roaming chickens in small villages in the Philippines/Caribbean, it is very common. I even saw it in some decently sized towns, though it was less common. In cities everyone kept their chickens in pens, so I never saw them (though they woke me up every damned day, so I know there were plenty of them).

Grishnakh 10y ago

As the other poster said, chickens will eat all kinds of stuff, including food waste. I've even heard you can let them loose in your garden for a limited time and they'll eat all the insects. (However you want to limit their garden time or else they'll eat your crops after finishing off the bugs.)

MustardTiger 10y ago
They will gladly start with your crops and ignore the bugs, depending on what you are growing. Letting chickens in your garden is one of those things lots of websites repeat, but doesn't actually work well at all.
- Grishnakh 10y ago
  That's good to know, I was just going off of what those websites said. So I guess it depends on what's in the garden. Perhaps if you're just growing carrots and potatoes it'll work out well.