Pet chickens are for companionship, not just for eggs: young farmer

Pet chickens are for companionship, not just for eggs: young farmer

2023-04-03

A farmer in Taoyuan has brisk business renting live chickens to customers. Chung Chih-chung is passionate about chickens as long-term pets and companions. But the recent egg shortage has seen some customers come to him with their minds more on breakfast than on companionship. He hopes that chicken parents will take responsibility for their pets, and appreciate them for more than just production.

Fluffy baby chicks huddle together under a heat lamp, then surge forward to feed on grains and insects.

Yang Ssu-min
FTV reporter
Chicks of this size, just 10 days old, really need to be kept warm, so these heat lamps keep them in an environment of 38 degrees.

Young farmer Chung Chih-chung raises 300 chickens on this farm in Taoyuan’s Longtan District. The fertilized eggs are rented to chicken lovers. After seven weeks they hatch, and the renters can choose to keep them or give them back to the farm.

Chung Chih-chung
Chicken farmer
It’s company, it’s a pet. It can be soothing for the soul. I think that’s why most people want to raise a chicken – it’s not about getting eggs.

Chung’s business was originally catering to those who wanted to raise chickens at home as pets. But with the recent inflation of egg prices, he’s found many new customers are hoping to achieve “egg freedom.”

Chung Chih-chung
Chicken farmer
I’m getting lots of inquiries at the moment. It used to be two or three customers a week, now it’s basically every day.

Here are a few eggs hiding in the corner of the hen house. Chung puts them in the incubator safely. Before the egg shortage, he would hatch one group every two weeks. Now, to keep up with customer demand, he’s hatching one a week.

Chung Chih-chung
Chicken farmer
If you’re raising a chicken, you have to wait six months to get to the stage where there are eggs to hatch. Basically they don’t lay eggs. The idea is they’re a companion, a pet. The eggs are just one of their instincts – it just so happens there are eggs to pick up.

As Chung explains, hens don’t lay eggs every day, all year round. They rest in between laying. He hopes that chicken owners will see eggs as a bonus side-effect of the main event, which is caring for a feathery friend.

自己養雞孵蛋? 業者:天天都有人來詢問

2023-04-03

現在雞蛋不好買，就有不少人興起自己養雞生蛋的念頭，養雞業者就說，最近想買小雞的人的確變多，天天都有人打來詢問。業者過去為了推廣都市養雞，有出租小雞和孵蛋計畫，沒想到這次的缺蛋潮，意外讓他們訂單大幅成長。

一隻隻毛絨絨的小雞，在溫暖燈光下擠成一團，倒入飼料和小蟲，一窩蜂上前搶食。

[[民視記者楊思敏]]
“像這樣子大小的小雞，才10天大，他們特別需要保暖，所以會有這樣的燈照著，讓他們維持在38度的環境”

青農鍾志忠在桃園龍潭的農場養了300隻雞，生出來的受精卵，會出租給想養的人，7週後小雞孵化，可選擇歸還或留下來養。

[[養雞業者鍾志忠]]
“是一個陪伴，是一個寵物，牠可以撫慰你的心靈，我覺得這件事情是多數人想要養雞的一個目的，倒不是在於牠有蛋可以撿”

鍾志忠原本是想推廣都市養雞，當寵物養，沒想到最近因為缺蛋潮，不少人想自己養雞，達成"雞蛋"自由。

[[養雞業者鍾志忠]]
“現在就是詢問度很高啊，(以前)一個禮拜2、3通吧，2、3個客人，現在基本上每天都有”

雞舍角落，有幾顆剛下的蛋，雞農把蛋撿出來放進孵蛋箱，缺蛋潮前每2週孵一次，但最近買的人多，每週都要孵。

[[養雞業者鍾志忠]]
“養雞生蛋必須要6個月的時間，進入一個要孵蛋的階段時候，牠基本上是不會生蛋的，陪伴做寵物的概念，雞蛋也只是牠的本能而已，就是你剛好有蛋可以撿”

雞農說，母雞並不是一年到頭、每天都會下蛋，中間也會休息，希望民眾把下蛋當成附加價值就好，養了就得負責，不要隨便棄養。

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Ma Ying-jeou (April 2)
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