Snort!
dyslexia wrote:we all have a chicken to cross? i thought it was a bear.
I'm gonna send Dyslexia the bill for dry cleaning the keyboard.
On a more serious note, a few town over, on Friday, the roof of a chicken farm collapsed under the weight of the snow. They had to euthanize ten thousand (?) chickens...
I guess those chickens have
all crossed over now...
More details.
THOUSANDS OF TRAPPED CHICKENS EUTHANIZED
Author(s): Peter DeMarco, Globe Correspondent Date: January 11, 2003 Page: B1 Section: Metro/Region
LUNENBURG - Several hours after a chicken barn collapsed under the weight of snow yesterday, the family that owns the state's largest egg-producing business decided to euthanize the 14,000 hens trapped inside.
Though the egg-laying hens at Aros' Poultry Farm had enough food and water to last days and the temperature in the barn remained in the 60s even as it dipped to freezing outside, town officials deemed it unsafe for anyone to enter the building. The bulging walls appeared ready to burst under the weight of the collapsed roof. Mike Sauvageau, the town building commissioner, said the steepled roof probably gave way because of a rotted truss or because it was laden with too much snow, though he said he could not be sure until after demolition. The sheet-metal-walled building is approximately 30 years old and was up to code, Sauvageau said, and had survived far worse winters, including the Blizzard of '78.
The damaged barn was discovered at 6:30 a.m. The chickens could be heard clucking from inside the building throughout the day.
Farm owner John Aro and his sons, Bobby and Craig, as well as local officials, believed nearly all of the chickens were protected from the roof by their metal cages.
But after Sauvageau condemned the building at about 3 p.m., all hope of rescuing them was lost. The family, which has operated the farm since 1965, agreed with officials from the state Department of Food and Agriculture to euthanize the animals.
A representative of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals at the scene supported the decision, which was also backed by the Virginia-based People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
As the sun began to set, tanker trucks loaded with carbon dioxide rolled up the long driveway of the sprawling farm. The 260-by-40-foot, single-story barn was to be filled with the gas. The hens were euthanized by 8 p.m.
The end came quickly, officials said.
In that, at least, the family took some solace.
"At this time, we're just trying to do the best, humane thing for these chickens," said Bobby Aro, 38, who grew up on the farm. "We've never had a tragedy like this. As far as the farm goes, the farm will get through this."
The farm has a dozen barns and upward of 200,000 hens.
"The dad was just heart-broken," said Kathy Comeau, Lunenburg's animal inspector.
"With tears in his eyes this morning, he said to me, `Like people feed their dogs every day at home, we feed our chickens.' "
Family members declined to estimate the animals' value; the farm has insurance, they said.
Diane Baedeker Petit, communications coordinator for the state Department of Food and Agriculture, said this was the first barn collapse at a chicken farm in Massachusetts.
Mary Beth Sweetland, of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals' research, investigation, and rescue department, said there have been instances nationally where 10 times as many chickens have perished in a collapsed building.
"Many a chicken house has had its roof either blow away, destroyed in a hurricane, or collapsed by snow," she said. "I would estimate that millions of chickens have died this way."
PETA asked state officials to euthanize the chickens using a combination of carbon dioxide and argon gases.
According to Baedeker Petit, the state's veterinarian said the use of carbon dioxide alone would provide the most humane ending.
c.i.
