Most people seemed to read
THIS article for the Kardashian crap, but, I was interested in Jen Aniston's chicken raising venture. I wish someone would do a pictorial about her home, animals and organic gardens. Anyway, yeah, she has chickens and I think it's great. She seems to at least be trying to understand where her food comes from, etc. I know she's rich and has people who do the actual work, but, it bothered me that she admitted she doesn't name her chickens anymore because they all look alike. There are 17 of them. 17 isn't that many. We've talked about celebs who have private zoos or odd animal collections before. Hugh Heffner was mentioned just the other day and I commented that I know he has animal caretakers, but, when I watched the show, all the animals knew him and came when he called them. It told me a lot about him. Kirsty Alley and her crazy Lemurs come to mind. She has handlers, but, those Lemurs know her for sure. Who else? Oh, Martha Stewart! That woman has all kinds of chickens, names each one and knows them. I have seen her call a hen by name and that chicken will come a running for Martha. And she's a busy woman. Still, her hens know her. So, how come Aniston can't keep 17 chickens straight? I know it's kind of silly to be bothered by it, I'm sure her flock is well tended..by someone. But, chickens are cool pets and they like affection and attention just like any pet. If you took my fat white Leghorn hen and stuck her in a pen with 100 other fat white Leghorn hens, I would have MY hen picked out in less than two minutes. Because she's mine. They don't look alike to me. They all have slightly different features, eyes, feet or body movements. Mostly, I think I'd know my hen when I hollered into the crowd and she'd fight to get to the front and jump in my lap. What's the use of owning animals if you don't spend time with them?
15 comments:
The only good thing about chickens is eatin' 'em.
That's probably because she only wants to eat grain fed organic chickens and their eggs. She is, after all, right on the top of the food chain and for her chickens mean food... that's all.
I liked the idea of this post so I'll send it along:
http://lazyhomesteader.com/2012/02/21/deep-litter-method-for-the-lazy-chicken-keeper/
I get incredibly attached to any critter I spend time with so I think I don't thnk I'd want to get too familiar with them either. Many people are traumatized when they are killed either accidentally or for the table and maybe that's why she keeps her distance. That's something that's hard to explain to normal people, who just get over things in good time. I've heard of many chicken keepers who fall in love with them. In fact the blogger who does this deep litter method says she won't name hers anymore after seeing the one of her first killed.
Oops I rarely review what I've posted but I see some errors in the last one. My vision isn't great anymore so I fudge along when I type
I practice deep litter method. With 22 birds, it would be a very frequent big job, so I just add in litter, and DE periodically, and make sure things are stirred up, and then it is good fertilizer, straight from the coop (for things like roses, etc., not for root crops of any kind). You would want to compost further for those sorts of purposes. I should have changed it out some time ago, but I am still trying to figure out where I will put it. Harley never bothered places I would fertilize, but Emma will absolutely bathe in it, and eat what she is not bathing in. There has to be a solution, I just haven't found it yet.
It's very cool that she has chickens. I didn't know that she aspired to that kind of life. I am impressed. I would bet that not many celebrities have birds. My girls all have names, and I remember the ones that have moved on. My girls all come running when they see me, but I don't know if it is just because of the food factor. Either way, I love them, and hope I get to keep their fluffy butts.
Christina
I used to take my dogs to a gal in northern CA for herding practice, and she named her sheep. She had become a vegetarian and would not kill them. But it made for bad sheep to herd since she had no turnover and the sheep got too easy to practice with much.
My dog Murphy hated other dogs and once at a conformation show (Ron did this) had her breeder give her hair a fluff up. When she was done, she dumped Murphy's butt into an Xpen with her mother and some siblings and I thought all hell would break out, but it didn't since she was stunned that someone had the gaul to do that. What got me was when I looked in the pen, I didn't know my own dog. She was a beauty, stunning, none could compare, but in this instance I only knew her from the totally baffled look on her face.
Hmm, well, diff opinions are good. I was just stating mine. I am not a vegetarian, but, I believe animals raised for meat have just as much right to a decent life as any other animal on the planet. I don't plan on eating my chickens, but, if something went down and I had to, I could. I'd know I did my best for them while they were here though. I have stopped buying chicken unless I can get it from a farm. I am not going to be a part of those shit cruel factories any more.
And yeah, I know about the deep litter method. I have a hard time finding litter at all around here. Most birds are farm raised here and free range. So, litter isn't easy to come by except small bags for rabbits and things. I've been using lawn waste from mowing. My cute coop that looked so big when they were small is looking too tiny now. Once I move, I will add on and give them more space. They aren't locked up all day though. I love letting them out and sitting out there with them. Their poop is garden gold which is good because they poop all day long. I'm learning all the time. I even had to unstick a craw (sp) the other day. Gross, but, hey, the bird was happy. Christina, I'm sure your girls come running for food, but, also for YOU. Just like mine do. They still fight over who gets to sit on me.
Lawn clippings is a great idea! When I mow the lawn (which has not happened recently because Emma ate the mower twice now) I usually dump all the clippings I think they can handle, in the chicken run. They love to wade through it, looking for bugs, and the best pieces of cut grass.
Locally, we have a lot of resources for chicken care items. I usually buy a bale of the cozy den pine shavings ($6 or so for a large bale), and also, bags of the wood pellets that they use for all purpose bedding (or for pellet stoves). Those fall apart into sawdust with a little moisture. They are about $5 a bag, and it takes a good 10 to 12 bags to fully change out the coop. I also use food grade diatomaceous earth. I sprinkle it around here and there. It takes care of moisture and odor, and cuts down on the insects. But, we do live about a mile or maybe less from the nearest Wilco, and a couple of miles from Coastal. There are other, mom and pop feed stores around the area, as well.
I wish I could let my girls out, but Emma has a very strong prey drive, and will go after any of them that get out. I think she would probably bite them. It hurts my feelings, because I love seeing my girls out in the yard, but I'd rather keep them safe.
Emma is mellowing a little, so maybe one of these days, I will let the girls out in the late afternoon, and have Emma in the yard, but on a leash. I could sit out there with her, and maybe get a better feel for whether she will lose some of that drive as time wears on.
Christina
Christina, Emma ate the lawn mower? Would you care to explain?
Yes, please explain how Emma ate a lawn mower. I had a St. Bernard that chewed up car parts (while bad people drove them), but, she didn't eat them. She was partial to windshield wipers, review mirrors, mufflers and tires. Emma sounds like she needs a baby chick to babysit. Indie wants to kill everything. He's a killer and that instinct is strong. But, I gave him the baby chicks and after many double takes at me, he realized they were family. He now runs off any cat that gets near his chickens. Now he has the baby coon. He HATES coons. Which is weird, because all the other cats eat peacefully with them, sharing. But, not Indie. However, he really doesn't feel the need to hurt the baby, since it's obviously mine and now he's actually starting to play with it. Claws in. He does still like to smash it's head onto the linoleum and hold it there, but, Jag likes it. Jag will kick Indies ass someday. I reckon they'll be buddies. Rough little shits, the both of them. Give Emma a chance, she might surprise you.
ps..I am looking for a carpenter who has lots of sawdust waste. Would that be good litter? I also throw in a handful of fine gravel once a day. Do you do that? It all disappears, so I know they're eating it. Also, how much should 4 chickens eat a day? I give them a coffee can full of mixed feed, starter feed and black sunflowers in the morning, plus several pieces of bread. They love bread, but, they really love me sitting in there feeding it to them individually. In the afternoon, they get another entire can full, plus more bread, grapes and black sunflower seeds. And I top it off with a huge can of chopped clover. I chop it for the small ones. I call it chicken salad. They also get mealy worm treat, but, only fat white hen likes that. The worms smell disgusting. So, is that enough feed or too much or??? I give them a cup each of each kind. They all still prefer the starter feed. These girls will not eat corn, cracked corn or any waste products. They HATE cantelope. The only fruit they like is purple grapes. Green grapes just get me a dirty look. They are so strange. They get snakes all day, besides their feedings. I keep bread in a can on top of their coop so neighbors and kiddies can hand feed them. They are a great source of entertainment for everyone.
~snacks!~ not snakes, lol. But, one of the little chicks did eat a small snake the other day. It was creepy. They also eat giant slugs, which grosses me the fuck out. When someone finds a fat worm, I cheer them on while the race begins. They crack me up. They run towards me with the worm, like I can save them. But, when it's a slug, I scream and run too. LOL.
When I refer to Emma eating the lawnmower, I actually mean that she is chewing it up. We have the old chicken run (which has a roof and wire walls, and is meant for storage of stuff, and as a work area for George) but he filled it with random buckets of chemicals, broken items, and large tools. It is all thrown together, so you can't even really get in there. The upshot is, the mower has sat outside for a long time. Emma chewed off the starter cord and handle, and probably did eat part of it. George said he would fix it so that I could mow. He never did. It has been months now. When I told my brother about it (I wasn't asking for help---it was just conversation on a shopping trip we took) he said he would fix it, and that it wasn't a complicated thing to fix. I told him to let me know when he was coming over to do it, so that I could make arrangements with the doggies. I should have been more specific. I really meant that I would make sure that Emma wasn't all over him while he was fixing it, and that I would put it somewhere safe when he was done. He texted me at work, a month or so later, letting me know he had fixed it. He hadn't let me know until he was done, and said the doggies were not too much trouble. She chewed off the starter cord again, and this time took some metal parts off the side. I think she drained gas out of the engine, as I can smell gas when I walk over there.
I love her, but it is just discouraging. One of these days George will realize that she took all the wiring off his big trailer, too.
She really is a funny dog. I play with her, and then she suddenly leaps straight up, almost 5 feet off the ground (almost eye-level) because she saw a little flying bug of some sort or a butterfly. It's as if she is spring-loaded. I feel badly for her, in a way, as I think she really should have been with a more active family. More kids who want to play wild. She loves it when Andy does that, and I play with her A LOT, but she requires that as her minimum, so sometimes it's hard to manage.
I have to be so careful of what I have out, and how I get her to the yard, as she will run if I'm not careful. Last night she wanted desperately to play with the black kitty with the big white stripe down its back that was coming our way through the cemetery. When I let her take toys out in the yard, she buries them, and they almost never come back. She is very secretive, and there are lots of holes---partially filled, and not so filled. It is a lot to handle. I really do love her, and I think she is mellowing a little, but then yesterday afternoon, she was taunting me with a metal lawnmower part. Jumping around, staying just out of reach.
Christina
Oh, as far as the chickens, the big meat bird (I'm sorry to call it that) will eat continuously. It's what they are supposed to do so that they will grow quickly. So, she will go through a lot of feed. The other birds are hard for me to gauge, but it sounds like you are giving them great variety. I am surprised that your birds don't like cantaloupe, but I really only feed them the seeds. They absolutely love watermelon, though. They will eat a half a large melon in a day, so that all that is left is an approximately 1 millimeter skin left. It is almost see-through when they are done with it. They also love chopped grapes and tomatoes, plain yogurt, scratch and black oil sunflower seeds. They go crazy for raisins, and will tolerate craisins when I have leftovers of those. They love scrambled eggs, too.
Are you buying the freeze-dried mealworms? I feed those once in awhile as a treat, but they smell like potato chips, to me.
I know that some birds will eat snakes, but I haven't ever seen my girls do that. I saw them walk all over and around a small, injured snake, and not one made any move to eat it. I've never seen one of them eat a slug, either. Ducks are supposed to love those, but I'm not sure mine ever ate any.
You could probably graduate the girls to pellet food. There is less waste when you use pellets. I would think they are approaching laying age, so they probably wouldn't need the medication anymore.
Christina
Christina, get Emma a set of tools. Sounds like she mechanically inclined.
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