Chicken shortage

[Estate fencing.]

The policy of swallowing up small farms and trying to be a big fish in a small pond is about to go tits up in spectacular fashion.

Couldn’t agree more. Not just farms though. How about haulage where dad owned 4 artic and him and his sons drove them. Now massive companies that can’t get drivers and the ones that did have no loyalty to the firm and can f**k off at any second.

 

[midlandslad]

The policy of swallowing up small farms and trying to be a big fish in a small pond is about to go tits up in spectacular fashion.

Why do you think this?

 

[Frodo]

Whats the betting that the owners family won't be volunteering to catch their own chickens.

I have laying hens and will help, it’s only once per year and it’s a long night if you just watch, but as shumungus says, the teams are actually quite well trained (it’s a requirement of my standards) and have systems and routine, which if you upset results in you getting a bollocking on your own farm.

as well as making manual labour financially unrewarding it strikes me that it generally comes with few perks. Work in a bank head quarters and there will be, a decent canteen, gym, child care, group training events as well as pension, health care, flexible working and ample holidays and possibly car if tax efficient. The guys catching my hens are lucky if they get a tray of eggs.

 

[chickens and wheat]

I was catching small birds just last week, and can tell you the farmer has little time to help with the actual catch. 5 sheds to catch in one shift,I spend my time preparing the next shed for catch, then winching down in the shed they just caught from. Walking birds after catch and making sure birds in shed being caught are ok.

I have helped before when catchers are a few men down, also sometimes day after main catch when there are a few hundred left,not enought to justify a catch team.
Its hard work

 

[Bongodog]

i have a belief / rule that no manager / boss or business owner should ever ask any employe to do a job they would not be prepared do themselves

I fully endorse this approach, my staff know that I will always be there to support them and will usually still be shuffling paperwork when they go home. Wife and I even provide them with tea, coffee and sometimes homemade cake multiple times a day without being asked. In return they allow me to have twice the amount of holiday they do. Treat staff well and you can clear off knowing everything will go well in your absence.

my best friend (retired now) used to work in marketing....£175k/yr + upto 100% bonus......at christmas he'd be out stacking supermarket shelves with their products cos they reckoned that was the best use of time just then

Very correct, no matter how much a supermarket spends on advertising, run out of turkey, potatoes, sprouts etc the week before Christmas and the customers will look elsewhere.

 

[farmerm]

The English dream goes like this. School as long as you can, Uni, get a job in office that you don’t know what you exactly do, rise to boss, f**k the pa and get a device, finally retire at 59 to your home in the Cotswolds and ride you push bike all day.

You may scoff but that is the dream of a far wiser man than the one who leaves school at 14, physically grafts like a slave for 40 years whilst living hand to mouth and is already a broken old wreck of a man by 35. We only get one shot at life, for those who spend it catching chickens its probably going to be a short and painful one.

 

[glasshouse]

A big problem, is people at the top often feel they know more than the people at the bottom, so are unwilling to listen to or ask advice from people on the coal face. I used to work for a large training organisation, who have now lost all their training contracts, but for years created systems that that were bad for the "coal face workers" and not good for the employers we dealt with either. Many years ago, I had someone digging out my ditches, and he watched me working doing my admin, and he said "if I organised my company the way your firm is organised I would go out of business!", he was right, it just took another 22 years. I am not saying all workers know everything, and the upper echelons know nothing, but a bit of humility and inquisitiveness from the top could improve things greatly. Best car factory in the world Nissan in Sunderland, worst car firm in recent history British Leyland. Same British workers, different managers and management culture!

How would a worker digging ditches see you doing admin?
Leyland were starved of investment, simples

 

[Ffermer Bach]

How would a worker digging ditches see you doing admin?
Leyland were starved of investment, simples

he was staying in the house here while he was digging out the ditches, and he could see all the paperwork I was completing, I also explained why and what I was doing.

 

[glasshouse]

It's not a long term solution, it just means he doesn't need to fork out for chickens he can't sell.

I would expect the retailer to play the same trick.

They could sell any size of chicken no prob

 

[glasshouse]

he was staying in the house here while he was digging out the ditches, and he could see all the paperwork I was completing, I also explained why and what I was doing.

What did he know about paperwork?

 

[4course]

i have a belief / rule that no manager / boss or business owner should ever ask any employe to do a job they would not be prepared do themselves

fine with that but there is a point and at my age ive reached it where im not as physically able to do the task as i could have or would have a few years ago but showing willing and giving encouragement plus thanks is a great motivator and when the chaps doing the work/task respect that in your prime you could have and they are motivated to do their best is a reward for both

 

[Ffermer Bach]

What did he know about paperwork?

very bright chap, who ran his own business, just because you drive an excavator does not mean that you aren't bright.

 

[glasshouse]

very bright chap, who ran his own business, just because you drive an excavator does not mean that you aren't bright.

You didnt say he ran his own business.
I thought u meant the chap from the fast show

 

[t murrr]

Some people can be very good at there job hard working and a great can do attitude but just never get the breaks that needed . I was often told that alot of people that made it to the top were ruthless and got to the top by standing on other shoulders .I do believe that the next generation are in big trouble don't want to get there hands dirty and if it involves lifting anything heaver than a pen forget it .As a person's life gets older there risks etc have to be calculated cause a bad decision when people are depending on you can cost dearly (kids wife) so this holds people back I think too

 

[little_p]

They could sell any size of chicken no prob

The Supermarkets would treat them as 'out of spec'. There would likely be issues in processing them. The whole processing / production systems are set up to process chickens of quite narrow weight variants.
Judging by these thread, there are many growers that 'won't ask somebody to do something I wouldn't do myself', but even constantly putting heavy birds on shackles (ready for slaughter) can quickly take its toil on the few workers that are prepared to get out of bed at 4.30am to do it.

 

[ridger]

The Supermarkets would treat them as 'out of spec'. There would likely be issues in processing them. The whole processing / production systems are set up to process chickens of quite narrow weight variants.
Judging by these thread, there are many growers that 'won't ask somebody to do something I wouldn't do myself', but even constantly putting heavy birds on shackles (ready for slaughter) can quickly take its toil on the few workers that are prepared to get out of bed at 4.30am to do it.

Yes especially on a warm day with the manager constantly coming over with his tie and shiny shoes on, shouting that your too slow

 

[Pigken]

Yes especially on a warm day with the manager constantly coming over with his tie and shiny shoes on, shouting that your too slow

Tip manager on to his backside, attach shackles to his ankles and have him drag down line for few/several metres/minutes after stuffing feathers in gob. Sorted.

 

[little_p]

Yes especially on a warm day with the manager constantly coming over with his tie and shiny shoes on, shouting that your too slow

From my my experience, the 'shiny shoe' type of Manager weren't attracted or didn't stay long in food processing plants, particularly in slaughtering sections. So middle managers were almost exclusively those that had worked themselves up from Operative level.
In many ways those types of managers were the worse for cracking the whip and having insight that others might struggle mentally and physically with the job.

 

[Barleymow]

lot of unemployed astronauts these days

Lad in the village did a degree would be able to work on a space rocket with his qualifications, never done a day's work since left uni

 

[Barleymow]

I suspect that the producer will have to "Suck it up" .

Same with over weight pigs ,can't buy discounted pork that the processor paid peanuts for