Surplus Chicks

*This was a Picture of the Week at Backyard Chickens
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Have you ever researched the poultry business?  For a primary, check out this video on YouTube The Natural History of the Chicken   It's an old video from the early 1990's, I think, and I think some of poultry business practices have changed then.  But, it did confirm my choice to raise natural chickens for my own family.
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Yes, we will eat some of our chickens.  Ever enjoy Chicken McNuggets?  Well, a chicken died to give you that meal and that's the reality of it.  For a primer on that, watch this episode from a PBS reality series, Frontier House   I think way too many Americans take their food for granted! 
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When you're talking about chickens for eggs (not chickens used for meat,) you only need one rooster for about every ten hens for them to breed.  The Math turns out a lot of surplus chicks, all male.  Ever wonder what the poultry industry does with these roosters?  Most of them euthanize (humanely kill) them.  But, some hatcheries sell these chicks at major discounts.
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I won't discuss how I feel about the alternative, but I've decided to buy from the hatcheries who try to sell the surplus chicks.  I doubt any hatchery is perfect, but aside from that are a lot of chicks. 
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Yes, we will eat some of our chickens, but until then they will have a wonderful life.  They will Free Range within an expansive fenced in area (hey, we live in Alaska, so you can imagine the preditors) and do all the things chickens enjoy most, running around, pecking bugs and seeds, dust-bathing, and having a good old time.
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Here's a YouTube playlist you might enjoy-   All About Chickens