Chickens & Progress
Why chickens? And why now?
As you well know, I'm on a mission to be pain free. So far, I'm not any closer than I was when this started 28 days ago. In fact, this cold and damp weather is killing me. What has changed is that I am eating very healthy about 90% of the time and taking a calculated and planned "freebie" meal every now and then. I'm not on a diet: this is a lifestyle change. Its a change in how I react to food, what I think about food, where I buy it and where it comes from. Its hard to change these things, harder than I had anticipated. So far though, I feel really terrific about it even if my body isn't readily joining me on the journey.
It is frightening to me on many levels how we treat our animals we are ultimately going to eat. Have you seen images like this? Or perhaps read things like this? I have and part of this pain free thing should probably extend to what I find on my dinner plate. I can't raise cows and I don't plan on butchering my chickens. To that end, I also try to make every attempt to buy as local as I can and from as humane farmers as I can. Am I always going to do this? No. But I really do believe that I should try. That everyone should try. That many voices and many people making better choices CAN and DO make a difference.
I know this to be true because of the women I know who make huge and sweeping change in the volunteer work they do every day. The countless numbers of dogs that these ladies have saved, re-homed and re-habbed tell that story.
Will my having a few chickens in my yard result in sweeping change?
No. But, how about my raising children to think about the connection between what they eat and living, breathing animals? What about my kids going into the yard and actually seeing that those eggs in our fridge come from a perfectly lovely hen? Planting the seed that our food and what we put in our bodies matters. It matters in a way that has nothing to do with weight or a scale or society's perception of beauty. That food is about something else entirely: its about humanity. Its about using our top of the food chain status in a way that results in honoring where our food comes from.
Will chickens make me a better person? Or complete my life in some way?
Of course not. My life is already complete. But doing something like this, and its really not a very big thing at all, is going to be FUN. It will be a family project and a tool to help my kids connect the dots. My daughter Autumn is 16. She works on a farm. In fact, she works for a dear family friend's farm right here in town. She sees the work, in actively involved in the work and is learning first hand how farms work. She is learning the lessons that I didn't really teach her. And I'm absolutely thrilled that she is doing this and that she is working someone so completely awesome.
So, no. Its not revolutionary. Having a few laying hens will provide us with some really delicious eggs. My neighbors do this, likely you have neighbors doing this as well. Its become a trend here in the Valley in fact. And that trend? If it takes off and people start looking to their own yards for eggs or meat while demanding better treatment from the poultry factories... well now, that, that just might spark some real change.
I'm an animal person in the end. And for all the politically correct writing, the justice for animals and animals' rights... really, I just want me some damn chickens!
P.S. Did I mention that this is going to be super FUN?! Have you checked out this site? Read about the more than 400 breeds of chickens out there. They are really beautiful some of these birds. Some are funny, some are sweet, some are shy and some are downright mean.
As you well know, I'm on a mission to be pain free. So far, I'm not any closer than I was when this started 28 days ago. In fact, this cold and damp weather is killing me. What has changed is that I am eating very healthy about 90% of the time and taking a calculated and planned "freebie" meal every now and then. I'm not on a diet: this is a lifestyle change. Its a change in how I react to food, what I think about food, where I buy it and where it comes from. Its hard to change these things, harder than I had anticipated. So far though, I feel really terrific about it even if my body isn't readily joining me on the journey.
It is frightening to me on many levels how we treat our animals we are ultimately going to eat. Have you seen images like this? Or perhaps read things like this? I have and part of this pain free thing should probably extend to what I find on my dinner plate. I can't raise cows and I don't plan on butchering my chickens. To that end, I also try to make every attempt to buy as local as I can and from as humane farmers as I can. Am I always going to do this? No. But I really do believe that I should try. That everyone should try. That many voices and many people making better choices CAN and DO make a difference.
I know this to be true because of the women I know who make huge and sweeping change in the volunteer work they do every day. The countless numbers of dogs that these ladies have saved, re-homed and re-habbed tell that story.
Will my having a few chickens in my yard result in sweeping change?
No. But, how about my raising children to think about the connection between what they eat and living, breathing animals? What about my kids going into the yard and actually seeing that those eggs in our fridge come from a perfectly lovely hen? Planting the seed that our food and what we put in our bodies matters. It matters in a way that has nothing to do with weight or a scale or society's perception of beauty. That food is about something else entirely: its about humanity. Its about using our top of the food chain status in a way that results in honoring where our food comes from.
Will chickens make me a better person? Or complete my life in some way?
Of course not. My life is already complete. But doing something like this, and its really not a very big thing at all, is going to be FUN. It will be a family project and a tool to help my kids connect the dots. My daughter Autumn is 16. She works on a farm. In fact, she works for a dear family friend's farm right here in town. She sees the work, in actively involved in the work and is learning first hand how farms work. She is learning the lessons that I didn't really teach her. And I'm absolutely thrilled that she is doing this and that she is working someone so completely awesome.
So, no. Its not revolutionary. Having a few laying hens will provide us with some really delicious eggs. My neighbors do this, likely you have neighbors doing this as well. Its become a trend here in the Valley in fact. And that trend? If it takes off and people start looking to their own yards for eggs or meat while demanding better treatment from the poultry factories... well now, that, that just might spark some real change.
I'm an animal person in the end. And for all the politically correct writing, the justice for animals and animals' rights... really, I just want me some damn chickens!
P.S. Did I mention that this is going to be super FUN?! Have you checked out this site? Read about the more than 400 breeds of chickens out there. They are really beautiful some of these birds. Some are funny, some are sweet, some are shy and some are downright mean.
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