#a flock of chickens

[themotelchicks]

Here they come!!

[foldingfittedsheets]

I’d like to be clear to new followers that I’m not vegan? My fish cruelty post has moved into vegetarian/vegan circles and I’m getting a bunch of new followers so I don’t want someone getting pissed later because I post about what I eat.

I grew up on a farm, I believe that humans are interconnected in the food chain with other plants and animals. I believe we have a duty to reduce any undue suffering and allow any animal in our care to thrive, but I also believe that to eat an animal you raised with care is part of the food chain and eating it without waste is respect.

These are my beliefs and choices and I’m not knocking anyone else’s, but I’d like for it not to become a hot button later.

[photozoi]

The Face of Fog

[simplepotatofarmer]

my girl is perfect (she is making a nest in the bedding i'm trying to remove) (i love her)

[copepods]

shiny boys eat grass

[hedgehog-moss]

I lost one of my chickens :( she was caught and carried away by a fox... I’ve been growing complacent about my chickens’ safety I think because we’ve only had one other attack before, a goshawk that swooped in abruptly (unsuccessfully), but no fox sightings nearby so I’ve been assuming Pandolf was a great deterrent. Which he is, just not foolproof. I’ve talked to some people in town about this and they were pretty philosophical about foxes stealing chickens, like “it’s the tribute we pay to woodland animals, it’s just a few hens here and there.” I don’t begrudge the fox for being a fox, if anything I have a renewed respect for foxes because everyone I talked to proceeded to give me their best / worst fox stories, and most of them involved foxes outsmarting humans (learning people’s habits / timetables, opening latches, faking a limp...) Still I feel terrible for my hen, she was only three. RIP Cordy :( You’ll be remembered fondly... (except by the cats.) I feel bad for the other hen too, who just lost her pal!

When I said that last thing, one of my neighbours jumped on the opportunity to try and convince me again to accept a rooster from him. He had a rooster baby boom last summer and I’ve been telling him for months that I don’t need a rooster, I don’t want to raise chickens I just want eggs, and his new argument was that a rooster would protect my hen (or if it comes to that, would heroically sacrifice himself rather than let the hen be eaten—I’m sceptical...) I asked around for a young hen but there aren’t any to be had in this season, so my remaining one is going to be alone until the spring, and my neighbour said she’d get stressed and male company is better than no company. (I wish I could ask my hen what she wants! Maybe she’s penning A Coop Of One’s Own as we speak.) I said the rooster was more likely to stress her out and harass her and he said nah they’re free ranging all day, it’ll be fine, and he’s young so your adult hen will boss him around. I was like, but then will he be any good at protecting her? etc. etc. and after a while I caved in.

When I told her about this on the phone my mum sighed “you’re terrible at saying no”—excuse me, I said no so many times and the guy just kept ploughing on until he could foist a rooster upon me. I’m good at saying no, other people are terrible at hearing it! I reassured her that I had only agreed to take the rooster for a short probationary period, and if he bothers my hen too much I’ll drive him back to his native farm. My mum was like “Drive him back? look I’m sorry I raised you as a city kid but there’s no need to waste gas on driving a rooster around, I’ll have no qualms about wringing his neck for dinner if he’s more trouble than he’s worth.” The rooster’s fate is not sealed though, if he is anywhere from vaguely useful to not actively problematic I’ll keep him, so we’ll see...!

[delicatefury]

Also, look at our beautiful hens!

They were very photogenic today.

[superfluffychickens]

It’s always too noisy in the coop to hear it, but Inga has some incredible Preening Hurgles!

[seabeck]

We put some blukote on Gwen’s comb because she got beat up today (I didn’t see it but knowing her, she started a fight she couldn’t win, probably by biting another hens ankle). Now she looks like she’s very deep into her emo phase

[knight--error]

You know, in general I feel like Sanderson does a great job of thinking through his world building and making logical choices, and trying to rationally explain why the really cool stuff exists (like Shardblades being the stock Big Improbable Fantasy Swords but there actually being a reason why they're like that), but the one thing I'm calling bull on is the chickens. I think he just did that because he wanted his characters to be comedically unfamiliar with chickens. You're telling me humanity decided to take pigs into every settlement on this horrible barren storm world, but not chickens? Pigs, which are a. Smart and b. Onery and which would require fences made of stone to keep them from running away, heavy and durable enough not to blow away in the winds, vs. chickens, which are a. Small, and b. Easy To Care For, which can be taught to return to their roost after free-ranging everywhere and eating every tiny cremling and bit of plant life they can find? Yeah I don't buy that. He knew the characters needed leather and he thought the chicken thing was funny. And you know what? He's right. He can have this one. But just this once.

[cottoncandystims]

🐤

[the-reclawmation-studio]

She has a bit of a sore eye and is still getting used to us, but Ash has officially joined my flock :)

[simplepotatofarmer]

brittney m. crockpot is now comfortable enough to have a dirt bath outside <3 <3

[bevanne46]

Flock Party Free Pattern. The web address is on the picture.

[whattheflockbirbs]

Gnocchi 🖤

[msburgundy]

ducks and geese are canonically racist