A Prayer & a Poem
for Newborn Chicks & Ducklings
Ducklings clearance sale at a Tractor Supply Company store, 2021.
United Poultry Concerns is pleased to share with you these contributions to our campaign to eliminate the shipping and selling of baby chickens and ducklings.
ACTION AND PRAYER: ENDING THE SELLING AND KILLING OF BABY CHICKS. United Poultry Concerns lists many actions we can take to convince Tractor Supply stores to stop selling baby chicks and ducklings. Employees of Tractor Supply have begun to speak out and document the cruelty and massive deaths involved. One employee wrote to UPC asking for help: “Yes, Chick Days are annual and are expected to last another couple months. We still have many birds. I was told by a coworker that 32 ducklings died last shipment, only three survived.” This is something we can bring to an end with both action and prayer.
PRAYERS THIS WEEK FOR AN END TO “CHICK DAYS” AND ALL EXPLOITATION OF OUR FEATHERED COUSINS: We give thanks for United Poultry Concerns—that they are always there on the front lines, revealing the truth about the abuse and tragic deaths of billions of birds every year. Together, let us help UPC take action to bring an end to the selling of baby chicks and ducklings, and let us hold a vision in our hearts and prayers of a day very soon when the taking of babies from their mothers, shipping them through the mail, and selling the few who survive will be unthinkable to all people.
Let us hold a vision of a vegan world where all chickens, ducks, turkeys and all our feathered family members are free, loved, and respected for the wonderful beings they are. We send love from our hearts to the hearts of all beings and all of nature. We pray for the liberation of all from human tyranny to come very soon. May veganism, ahimsa, beauty, nonviolence, lovingkindness and reverence fill the hearts and souls of all people and grace this entire world now.
With Love, peace, and gratitude from Judy Carman, and greetings from Will, Madeleine, and the Circle of Compassion team.
PLEASE SHARE this prayer by going to the Prayer Circle for Animals Facebook. This prayer is posted there. You can also share ideas and prayer requests on that Facebook.
PLEASE VISIT the Circle of Compassion website for “A prayer a day for animals;” and the Daily Noon Prayer.
Mailable Live Animals @USPS.com:
There for You!
A Poem By Lynne Goldsmith
courtesy of
All -Creatures.org
What about when
the box breaks open
to little chick heads
peeping, peering,
not knowing what to do
other than to move
from egg shells of their travel
pods, broken yolks
for their feeding on,
like aliens from another planet
come down to visit earthlings,
aliens assigned such little worth,
just several dollars a bird
dropped in spaceship box
of convenient ups and downs
along conveyor belts through chutes
down and up escalators through doors
to turned around and right side up—
most chicks surviving the trip
like their mailable counterparts
(amphibians, chameleons, baby reptiles
aboard this time), creatures okayed,
approved for airline transport
by the U.S. Postal Service,
and then for pickup
seventy-two hours after journey
of no rest, food, water, just cardboard
because chicks (these in the box)
were wanted for their cute, wanted
for their slaughter.
They have no rights
in the humans’ world.
And why would they
when they’re just
mail-in-order birds,
and buying online
as easy as one-two-three.
©Lynne Goldsmith, 2020
Baby chicks for sale at a Tractor Supply Company store, 2021.