The broiler christian

Week 5, 2011
My wife runs a poultry, has done so for over 10 years now, and one of her important moments is watching those chicks grow. You may wonder at the term but I’ll get to that later. Usually we rear broilers, pullets, or cockerels. In case you are not familiar with poultry terms the cockerels are males, their meat is tough, and their wattle big and red. They are not my favourite. Pullets are females. When they mature as from 16 weeks they stoop down for you when you want to grab them, and they lay eggs. They’ll do this daily for over a year. Poultry keeping isn’t what we are on about today. It is the last and most interesting set of chicks: the broiler.
Right from day old chick stage they are bigger than their counterparts. Yes: the broiler. They sure can eat, and once the lights are on through the night they’ll keep eating and eating. If the power goes off and they don’t see food loud cries arise. Their din will bring you round. The same happens if they run out of food or water. Ah but the food shows on them. They grow up very fast; right before your eyes almost. By 6 week they are table birds. Fast food restaurants snap them up about then. By 8 weeks they are big enough to sell to individuals, and if you reach 12 weeks, wow, impressive size; the type you take to church for thanksgiving. What has this got to do with us? Other seeds fell on thin, rocky ground and quickly started growing because the soil wasn't very deep Mat 13:5(CEV).
So what’s the lesson from them? They lack natural immunity to disease- these “agriculture birds”. A visit by local birds that may quietly carry disease can spell disaster. You don’t work simultaneously in 2 different farms for fear of disease. A strict vaccination schedule is necessary. So what? It happens with all agric birds, n’est pas? Broilers can’t stand stress, at all! The temperature has to be right all through, even beyond the brooding phase. If it’s cold they die, if the day gets very hot you lose some. Some farmers even install fans to keep them cool and put cold water for them to drink! Speaking of water: 12 hours without any and they could start dying. Don’t keep them without food for a day otherwise...ever heard the term die like a fowl? A friend bought 2 and closed them up in her boot. When she got home less than an hour later one had already suffocated; the other was “gasping”. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched and dried up, because they did not have enough roots Mat 13:6(CEV). Are you a broiler Christian? Falling off at the least stress? Can’t stand on your two feet? The seeds that fell on rocky ground are the people who gladly hear the message and accept it right away. But they don't have deep roots, and they don't last very long. As soon as life gets hard or the message gets them in trouble, they give up. Mat 13:20-21(CEV).Broilers are unreliable for egg laying.