Scary birds

A month ago we bought some new chicks to add to the seven hens we over-wintered.   We chose 8 for egg-laying and 6 for eating.  We had read about the Cornish Cross breed that grows very fast and can be eaten at 6 or 8 weeks.  They were all really cute and about the same size that first day.

Very soon, the Cornish Cross birds were eating crazy amounts and growing much faster than the others.  They developed large feet and just lay around eating and pooping.  The other birds were trying out their wings and running around full of life.   When the baby fluff wore off and the real feathers grew in, these big birds looked way more scraggly than the others.  They had large areas of pink skin with no feathers.  We thought they were being pecked, so we separated them.  It made no difference.

Then the first one got sick.  It just lay on the ground and let the others walk over it.  Ray brought her into the house and put her on a heating pad and gave her sips of water.  Suddenly, she puked everything up and died.  Now another one has died.  A friend said  their hearts give out with all the fast growth.  (Did I mention that they also stink very badly?)

These grotesque, pathetic creatures are the chickens that people buy in the store.  These poor creatures are why chicken meat is so cheap and so tender and so tasteless.  These birds are the result of years of experimenting to create a breed that will bring the most profit in the least time.  And, yes, we will eat them too, but we will never buy them again.  I feel really disgusted by the whole experience.  Especially thinking about the millions of these poor birds who have no pleasure in their short life.

 See the difference?

A Spring Surprise

The other day, I was looking out the window and I saw a strange little black animal following the goats around.  I thought it was the cat but it didn't act like a cat.  Suddenly I realized that it was a new-born goat!  It was trying to latch on to its mother but she kept walking around grazing on the grass.  The other goats were butting it out of the way.

 I grabbed my coat and shoes and went running out.  I saw the baby lying in a pile on the grass and I thought it had been killed.  However, it was just resting.  I picked her up and dragged the mother out of the field and put them in the goat shed together.  We put grain, molasses water and hay in there and locked them in together. 

After a few hours, we saw that the mother was nuzzling her baby and allowing her to drink.  It was very sweet.  She is a first time mom and we didn't even know if she was pregnant.

Almost lost the Dog named Bear

I took the dogs for a walk along the creek.  On the way back, Bear went down to the water for a swim.  There was decaying ice on the top.  I couldn't stop him but I figured he was smart enough to keep out of trouble.  Well, he didn't come back so I went to look.  There he was with his head and front paws on the ice and his back parts in the frozen slushy water.  He could not get a grip to come up.  What to do?  It was Saturday but I had seen a car by the silos.  I ran and knocked on the door.  The cleaning lady answered.  I asked for some plywood or something to throw out to him.  We ran around trying to find something. I thought Bear was already a goner.  Finally I found a piece of wood with ridges on it and carried it back to the creek.  I kept yelling, "Hang on, Bear!  I'm coming."

Then I had to crawl through the snow down to the creek.  I didn't see Bear where I had left him - just a hole in the ice.  But then I saw he had swum down a little further but still couldn't get out.  He was hanging on with his front paws looking at me.  He never whimpered or cried or made any noise.  I put the wood out to him but he was too weak to climb up.  I had to grab his collar and pull him onto the wood.  Fortunately he was pretty close to shore. 

What a relief to have him on the shore!  He was shaking with cold but pretty soon got his energy back and we went home.  I gave him a bucket of warm water to drink and he is back to normal.  I guess he must be like a polar bear, because he was in that freezing water for a good 20- 30 minutes and survived.  But the amazing thing to me is that he never made any sound, just expected me to get him out.  I'm so glad I could.