Chickens: 5 months old

What’s My Age Again?

Today was a random and amusing day.

While waiting at the bus stop downtown, a guy who had thrown his cigarette butt into the landscaped side of a Portland State building started a mini-brush fire. Well, it wasn’t really a fire–not yet anyway. It was more like a gentle smoldering that emitted a lot of smoke.

When I first arrived at the bus stop and noticed the smoke, I went over and tried to stamp it out with my feet. Then the guy who was apparently the cause of the incident, showed up and said, “Yah, don’t worry. I just talked to the firemen down the street. They are going to swing by with a bucket of water,” and then added nonchalantly, “hmm…looks like it could get serious.”

The culprit ended up boarding the number 12 bus with me, leaving behind his potential fire. When we drove by the fire station, I saw the firemen outside, enjoying the sunshine and washing their truck, apparently oblivious to the horrible potential danger down the street from them.

Later that day, Mike and I went to the opening of a new vegan BBQ restaurant. Well, it wasn’t really a restaurant, more like a few picnic tables and a huge grill set up in a once vacant plot of land on Alberta street. While we were gobbling down our  BBQ Tempeh, Spicy Soy Curls Pita Sandwich, and “Mac and No Cheese,” a gentleman came strolling down the street, loudly and proudly singing the lyrics to that classic song, “What’s My Age Again?,” by Blink 182. He had ear-buds in, so he apparently had no idea what he sounded like or how loudly he was singing. It was by far one of the most amusing and entertaining 30 seconds I have ever experienced.

After we got lost at The City of Books, we came home and clipped off the flight feathers of our pet chickens. Have I mentioned lately how much I love Portland???

Oh, and to top it off, I found this:

Why I Have Pet Chickens

The most frequent question asked about my raising three chickens is, “Well, what are you going to do with them?” People are confused—what is the purpose of having chickens? Understandably, it does seem odd in the 21^st century to have three chickens roaming the backyard for no other reason than for the pleasure of their company. When a chicken is nothing but a commodity, to be used for flesh, for eggs, could there possibly be any other purpose?

Chickens are curious, adorable, social creatures. They are inquisitive, unique, and full of life. They have unique personalities. They enjoy open space, sunshine, dust baths, good food, and lazy afternoons. They are also creatures who can experience suffering, just like the family dog or cat. And my chickens are my pet chickens, just like your dog or cat. They exist to exist, and for nothing else. I do not plan on raising them for their meat, and being a vegan, I do not even plan to use their eggs. They are my pets, and they bring me joy every day.

9 billion chickens are slaughtered every year in the United States. From hatchery to slaughterhouse, chickens are most likely one of the most abused animals on the planet. From birth, they are pumped full of antibiotics to grow fat and full of meat by the target slaughter age of 45 days old. They grow heavy so fast that they become unable to support their own weight, and are unable to walk. Chickens are crammed into tiny cages, their beaks are cut off to prevent cannibalism which is brought about by their confinement and their inability to establish a pecking order. They live a short life full of suffering–they don’t even get to see the light of day.

My three chickens have no idea how lucky they are. They are the very rare and lucky few of their species that will get to live out their lives to the fullest and die a natural death. Factory farming causes myriad damage to our environment, our health, and unneeded suffering in millions of creatures. By raising pet chickens, I am making a statement against the hegemonic culture that accepts chickens for nothing more than consumer products. By raising pet chickens, I am putting into action my belief that sentient beings like chickens have the right to live without excessive turmoil by the cruel and brutal suffering we impose on them for our selfish appetite.

So to answer your question, what am I going to do with my chickens? I am going to let them live a long and happy life.

Chickies Love Treats

Uh-oh…I have created some “treat” cracked-out chickies!

Chicks: Week 1

The little chickies are doing very well! We added the third and last one to the pack, a Buff Lace Polish hen who will look something like this when full grown:

We picked this breed because of how fancy and unusual it is. The original two chicks have grown so much in only a week. They are getting their wing feathers in and are loosing more and more down every day. They are going to outgrow the brooder very soon!

The Americana, the brown one with the larger eyes and the tiger pattern on its head, is named Clementine. She is the quiet and shy one of the bunch. She enjoys staring at the wall, being pecked by the others, and doing yoga stretches while pooping.

The Speckled, the other brown one with the single black stripe through its eye, is named Kiwi. She is the leader of the pack. She is active and likes digging holes in the pine shavings by kicking it everywhere. She also enjoys roosting on her post, pecking Clementine, and being followed by the others. She is also adventurous, as she has tried to fly out of the box on a few occasions.

The Polish, the tiny white one with the funny crown, is named Lady Macbeth or Little Miss Lady for short. She is the sweetheart baby of the group and constantly copies the other chicks. She is very vocal, and enjoys pecking at the walls.

Baby Chicks!

When I was a kid, I remember discovering that my neighbors down the street had a couple of chickens living in their backyard. I thought that was the coolest thing ever, and from that day on, dreamed of having pet chickens one day. Well, dreams come true in Portland, OR, where it has become the fashionable (and eco-conscious) thing to do–have 3 pet chickens kickin’ it in your backyard and garden.

Today we got two chicks, from a really awesome new store that just opened: Urban Farm. It is owned by a couple who loved their chickens so much they decided to open up a shop and spread their knowledge. They really know their stuff, and offer free workshops on chicken-raising.

We decided to get a Speckled Sussex, which is a very pretty variety:

And an Ameraucana, which lay “Easter Eggs” (green and blue).

We plan on getting one more chick, but we are going to wait for a specific bread which comes in next week.
The baby chicks will live indoors for the next two months, keeping warm under a heat lamp. Once they have all their feathers, they will be relocated outside to their new home. With three chickens, we should expect to have about 14 eggs a week. They begin to lay 5 months after they are born.

They are good friends already:

Here is a short video of the chicks, shortly after they arrived at their new home. Enjoy!

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A Good Day for PETA

Have we lost our sense of irony?

So PETA, being the shock-seeking radicals they are, released a proposal to Ben & Jerry’s asking they switch from cow’s milk to human breast milk for their ice cream products. This isn’t the first time PETA has challenged milk production by equating it to women’s breast milk: remember the “Milk Gone Wild” commericals? This request of theirs is obviously so ridiculous, that you would think the media would catch on. But they didn’t, and they fell right into PETA’s clever publicity stunt.

PETA is ideologically positioned in believing that animals are at equal status to humans. They believe animals should not be eaten, used for products, experimented on, or used for entertainment (this includes zoos and pet-owning). They are pretty radical, and have been associated with the Animal Liberation Front, a vigilante group who has been known to use violence and property destruction to spread their pro-animal message.

In protests and demonstrations PETA often uses shock-value and macabre images; this use of the tasteless and obscene may do more damage than good (are they simply trying to shock people into becoming vegans, or do they really wish for the peaceful liberation of animals?). Past campaigns have included protestors raiding high-fashion store fronts while wearing furs spattered with “blood”, and billboards juxtaposing images of prisoners in Holocaust camps to cows in slaughter houses.

Anyone who knows anything about the way PETA functions as an activist group would be able to figure out that their “request” to Ben & Jerry’s is a simple satirical ploy to fool the typical American. Their absurd idea is so strange that it of course made the headlines, spurring bloggers to talk about how they “respect PETA, but this is just going too far!” Well, my dear blogger–that is exactly the point!

PETA wants you to equate milk-giving-cows to milk-giving-mothers, because in their mind these two species are equal and both deserve happiness. Their hope is that this reasoning will lead to the question: if cows suffer intensely due to the overproduction of milk, what would happen if we did this to human mothers?

Good one PETA. I can’t say, like many of the bloggers out there, that I respect PETA. I believe many of their tactics to be too extreme, and not founded on education or tolerance (not to mention that they exploit and degrade women in their campaigns). I believe they give animal rights activism a bad name. And unfortunetly because they are the most well known animal rights activist group (and the most extreme), any who fight for animal rights is immediately shunned by association. However, I must say that their marketing is smart, and in this case, witty, sardonic and clever beyond belief. So kudos to PETA today for showcasing the shallowness of our media: joke’s on you!

Cats and Dogs

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Chock-full of pathos, this video made me want to pull a Molly Shannon and go adopt 20 dogs.