We just got some rescue chickens. We didn't do the actual rescuing (from battery cages at a factory farm), but rather took over the care of these chickens from another rescue organization called Bear Valley Rescue. We wanted egg laying hens, and didn't know we didn't need a rooster. :) Here is that rooster, who is called Neil, taking care of business.
This is one of his hens - there are five of them, including a bigger, different looking one that came as a pair with Neil. She is called Alice. They are all called Alice. Here is one of the Alices, checking me out checking her out. :)
There is a definite learning curve involved in the caring for chickens when you've hardly ever seen one before in real life! I use a "rooster stick" and many other, evolving tactics to deal with Neil. He is quite... well, let's just say he does his job well. This is me with my rooster stick, after having told him to move out of the way so I can gather some eggs (we get about two a day, total - these hens were tossed aside partly because their laying capacity wasn't really good anymore).
I am getting better every day at handling Neil and learning how to speak chicken! They are so very adorable. I really am surprised at how attached I've become. I simply love these birds, just as much as I love our dogs and cats. And there are more dogs...
Happy (beagle mix) and Kafka (Taiwanese Aboriginal Mountain Hunting Dog, or "Tugo") are like peas and carrots, and have been together ever since Kafka was discovered under a car as a puppy, in Taiwan, where Janneane taught English for seven years. Happy was the poster boy for the animal rescue organization over there. His story will be shared on this blog at some point - it's quite amazing. Here are the two munchkins, always together, forever bonded.
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