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In order of severity: 1. Family ends up homeless because there is no legal framework to raise small anymals in urban environments, and the flock is framed as "
by crpatino 10y ago
In order of severity:
1. Family ends up homeless because there is no legal framework to raise small anymals in urban environments, and the flock is framed as "unruly pets" by abusive landlord/neighbours. Family ends up worse than how they started without help.
2. Family receives the flock, but not any training/resources to tend them properly. Chickens die of illness, malnourishment, or get killed by urban predators (i.e. semi-feral cats). Purpose of the program is defeated.
3. Family just eats the chickens right away, which would be a relief from their situation, but still defeats the purpose of the program.
[Edit: I posted this prior reading the article, and assumed this would be about helping the urban American poor, not the Global poor. I simply could not imagine rural poor people in 3rd world countries not knowing chickens are a good source of income/food. They may still forego the option if they lack other resources to raise the chickens.
So, you may say I stand corrected. Thanks for your polite feedback]
- bko 10y agoRegarding 1: Property rights and records are always a problem in the developing world. > Less than 5 percent of Haiti's land is officially accounted for in public land records, according to the United Nations, compounding the difficulty in establishing who owns what land. [0] Regarding 2: Another difficult problem as conditions unique to a market are often not known by outsiders. Outsiders have a different assessment of how to properly care for resources or best practices that may not be applicable to the local market or may even be counter-productive. Regarding 3: Always a possibility you underestimate their utility curve in regards to current and future consumption [0] http://reliefweb.int/report/haiti/unclear-land-rights-hinder-haitis-reconstruction http://reliefweb.int/report/haiti/unclear-land-rights-hinder...
- giarc 10y agoRe: 1 - it seems from the video that raising chickens is quite common in sub-Sahara Africa and not likely an issue.
- shostack 10y agoYou forgot risk of salmonella and other diseases from not properly handling chicken products (meat, eggs, cleaning up after handling them, etc.), and subsequent lack of medical help because of lack of money and/or lack of insurance. That said, you have to break some eggs to make an omelette (ok, I guess the pun was intended). These are things you can help educate about in the process and shouldn't stop something like this from being rolled out.
- ktRolster 10y agoEspecially a problem if chickens are kept (or allowed) inside the house.
- sailfast 10y agoBased on watching the video chickens being everywhere is not really going to cause bigger problems here. If anything, if this program is wildly successful you see the price of a chicken drop to something lower than $5 instead which lowers the overall value of chickens in the market. Let's just get these people some dang chickens. Heiffer Project has been doing amazing for a long time and it's awesome to see this kind of backing go into it.
- stouset 10y agoAs I understand it, salmonella and other food-borne illnesses are quite rare in non-factory-farmed chickens. The biggest contributor in the US is water chilling (as opposed to air chilling), which causes one infected carcass to infect the rest.
- venomsnake 10y agoRead modernist cuisine. You have to try really hard to be able to get salmonella in home conditions. Chances are 1/10000 for the eggs. And cooking off the meat properly is not hard. http://www.foodsafetymagazine.com/magazine-archive1/februarymarch-2004/the-danger-zone-reevaluated/ http://www.foodsafetymagazine.com/magazine-archive1/february...
- secstate 10y agoSalmonella grows best in places that are kept very close to sterilized, like in fully stainless steel kitchens. The environment in many of these third world locations would be hostile to the salmonella or e. coli that kills us.
- Benjammer 10y agoRegarding #3, I've heard that one reason cows were made sacred in hinduism is so that people wouldn't slaughter all the dairy cows for meat during times of famine. Not sure how accurate that is though.
- tomjen3 10y agoMy family has raised chickens in the backyard for decades. Getting them killed by predators isn't difficult but I wouldn't worry too much about a cat - it is unlikely to take more than one or two adults and the young chickens would likely be more secure/with an adult hen and they are quite good at keeping their young safe. Regarding malnurisment, you can literally just let the chickens walk around and eat grass, insects and whatever you throw in your compost - chickens have been eating that for centuries. Chickens are some of the easiest animals to raise and they provide both eggs and meat. I think this is a great idea.
- epalmer 10y agoI live in typical suburbia in Virginia USA. My youngest has a chinese friend whose family raises chickens in their yard. I'm pretty sure this is against zoning. They share their chicken and some wonderful vegetables from their gardens with the closest neighbors. So far, so good. I expect this will not persist.
- dwc 10y ago> I'm pretty sure this is against zoning. Perhaps, but you might be surprised. Years ago I kept chickens and checked the zoning here (suburbs of Phoenix). No problem with a flock of hens. Roosters have restrictions. Many places are similar.
- cschep 10y agoIt's almost certainly about being a nuisance to your neighbors. Roosters crow super obnoxiously. Like.. wow. If you've ever tried to sleep with one nearby you know what I'm talking about. Just handle that edge case (e.g. don't keep a rooster around) and NO ONE will care if you have chickens that don't bother anyone :) Especially if you're into sharing the eggs!
- sjs7007 10y agoSo what do you do when roosters are born...kill them?
- raverbashing 10y agoYou obviously come from a 1st world country if your main worry is n.1 It's not an issue. Especially as in the video it is seen it is pretty common There might be some "official concerns" (read: someone looking for a bribe) but that's quickly taken care of
- calbear81 10y agoI would assume risk of theft might be an issue too when one family/person has significantly more chickens/wealth than others.
- nostromo 10y ago4. "Free chickens from Gates" puts local chicken breeders out of business. Fast forward a few years and their are fewer chickens, not more, in targeted areas.