Wednesday, February 20, 2008

New Baby Chickens!



Fifty-two baby chickens arrived on the farm last week. At least I think it is 52. They are hard to count, it's because they are so damn cute. Here's the thing, 25 of them are destined for the freezer, in a plastic bag. It's a grim fate. Buying the extra meat birds was Kelle's idea. She is very much a carnivore and has no problem killing twenty-five chickens. True, I did slaughter one of my very own chickens for Thanksgiving dinner, but I'm not so excited about twenty-five. Or raising them specifically for that destiny. Not that I disagree with the practice, I'm all about local food, especially meat, and it doesn't get any more local than your backyard, but these chickens grow up in my basement as tiny little peepers. I have to take care of them and make sure their buttholes don't clog up with poop (it happens to baby chicks a lot and will kill them). And when one of the babies is sick and isn't gonna make it and Kelle feels bad for it and wants to put it out of its misery, who's job is it to off the cute little baby chicken? Evan's job. Good thing there are so many and I can't name them all.
When I say they "arrived on the farm" I mean they were shipped here in a little cardboard box. This inevitably leads to a couple of the chick getting squashed on the way and having a much diminished chance of surviving. This time I was able to save a couple of them though. The unfortunate ones on the bottom of the pile end up with their legs spread pointing straight out in opposite directions. With the help of the internet I learned that if you tie their legs together with yarn it helps them stand up straight. I did this and it actually worked. Out of the five that had trouble standing, four are doing good. The one that wasn't, is no more. Someday I will raise all my own chickens from eggs, then I won't have to order them from a hatchery 250 miles away.

thank you

Today, as I revisited my blog for another post, I noticed that I had three hidden comments about my last post. I guess I clicked some button in the settings that made it so I have to approve my comments before they are posted. I didn't even realize I did it, and so I now have just read the most recent ones. I've changed it back so now I will see when someone comments. Thank you, to the ones who posted, for the advice and inspiration.