Its full blown summer in Louisiana.
That means, its HOT!
Africa hot.
Walking on the sun, hot.
Melted tar stuck to shoes, hot.
But...
There's the ubiquitous late afternoon rain shower that cools us down,
somewhat.
When I was a kid, the summers didn't feel this bad.
All we had was an attic fan and an oscillating fan to move the air.
(I remember when I realized that fan wasn't called "isolating")
Granted, we kept the windows opened, but the screens remained tightly closed.
After all, Louisiana has its fair share of vampire bugs and some of them have wings!
But.....
The first chance we got, we were out of the door to play in the oppressive heat.
All kids were outside. The only time we went in was when Mama called,
or you were sick, or in my case, reading.
It was still hot, but I don't remember that stopping us.
Now, I don't venture out without my sunglasses and my car AC on full blast!
It is just too darn hot!
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The garden has been kinda droopy as of late.
The only real produce has been the tomatoes.
Even the onions are giving up the ghost.
Oh, and the eggs.
The hens are still churning out eggs on a daily basis.
Poor babies.
They take refuge from the sun on the patio.
Next month we'll plant the late summer crop.
That should lead into fall with a steady stream of veggies.
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Hazel.
She's not pleased that she didn't get enough apple pieces.
Hazel, Sandy and Pepper hanging out in the Herbs
Nugget trying to tell me something.
She's clucking away and eyeballing me.
The girls have been nicer to me lately.
Partly because I come out with tasty morsels
and
partly because they are just dang curious.
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CHICKEN SCHOOL 101
Thought I'd begin with a picture of chicken anatomy.
Eggs:
This picture helps to know where those eggs come from.
Our girls are considered "heavier breeds",
meaning that they are usually bigger than
a white Leghorn breed.
The average weight of a free range hen is 4 to 8lbs.
The Leghorn's lay white eggs.
The usual ones that the groceries sell.
Our girls lay colored eggs.
Sometimes colored eggs can have spots on the shell.
In the wild, the spots aid in camouflage,
but for domesticated hens this trait is simply
a holdover from when they were wild.
It is similar to the melanin spots on humans.
Inside the egg there can also be tiny blood spots
near the yolk.
These spots are harmless and can be scrambled with the egg.
It is simply a result of a small rupture in a blood
vessel in the reproductive tract.
It happens before the calcium hardens in the shell.
Flight:
Chickens can't get totally airborne.
They usually only get a few feet and have to make
an ugly landing.
The reason?
Their wings are too small and their bodies are too heavy.
They do maintain the hollow bones of winged fowl, but
they can't get any uplift.
That's our fault.
We bred them as food.
We are more concerned with the meat and eggs than
the fact that Pepper can't fly into the wild blue yonder.
I, for one, am thankful for that.
I wouldn't want to be chasing my flock in
the neighbors yards!
Intelligence:
The Scientific American published an article about
chicken/fowl intelligence.
It was shown that they have a similar intelligence to
a 4 year old child.
This was done by several universities.
It was based upon several principles.
Object permanence, problem solving and situational awareness,
were a few.
Chickens as food:
There are approximately 9 billion chickens raised
in the U.S. for consumption.
That's male and female.
The figure for Worldwide consumption is around
50 billion!
Those numbers are staggering.
Industrially, chicken slaughter is down to a science.
These slaughter houses average 140 birds per minute.
It is done on an automated line
that "humanely" slits the chickens
throat after it has been electrically stunned.
They then bleed out and the butchering begins.
That's if all goes as planned.
There is always a catch.
As I've said,
chickens are smart.
They routinely try to escape the slaughter.
That means there are always the ones missed by the stunner and some of the blades.
This is a scenario I'd prefer to not go into.
There is something called HMSA.
The Humane Methods of Slaughter Act.
It ages back to 1958.
It was enacted for cows, pigs, horses, sheep and mules.
But.....
Fowl were never on the list, even though they are
significantly slaughtered for food more frequently.
Why is this?
At the time the Act was voted on,
most fowl was on farms for personal use or sold to butchers.
The USDA has regulations in place for fowl and other food animals
that is supposed to surpass the HMSA.
According to the horrific videos I viewed,
they need to do better.
The conundrum is,
I like chicken.
I like eggs.
No, I would NEVER use my hens as food.
So, do I as an informed individual,
choose to stop eating chicken now that I know
these facts.
Probably not.
My head remains entrenched in the sand.
I stand as a chicken hypocrite.
Although, I will write to the USDA asking
about their humane slaughter of food animals.
That's my plan....
At least for now.....
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Talk about feeling insignificant,
listen to
Dust in the Wind
by Kansas.
And remember,
be nice!
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