Chicken Pics!

We got two new roosters yesterday and they are the cutest!!!

Aaaaah! The cuteness almost hurts.


Chicken butts are the best!




These two were convinced that my jeans were edible.





Action shot! Look at that dust fly.

Chicken Update

I have been terribly remiss in posting chicken photographs lately. I finally got my butt in gear today and snapped some pics because I am excited to share how well our newest hens are doing. Check out these 'before' pics - and just look at them now!








Their tail feathers still have just a bit of growing in to do, but they look so much plumper and smoother than they did two months ago. It's amazing what some good grass and freedom from horrific confinement will do for a lovely feathered lady!

Welcome Home, Hennys!

Yesterday we added four new girls to our feathered flock. They are rescued factory farm laying hens, considered 'spent' by the industry after just two years of life (hard to believe, since I've gotten six eggs from them already in the last 36 hours, but whatever). They came to us through Animal Place, and with the help of Jenny, a fabulous Animal Place volunteer who helped with transportation.

I've named them Louise, Henrietta, Opal, and Mavis, though I can't tell them apart so I don't know who is who... I think I need to order some of those numbered leg bands.

(That's Rosa in front, one of our older girls, with a couple of the new girls in the background.)

If you'd like to learn more about what these hens' lives were like back on the 'farm' (I hesitate to even use that word; it conjures images far more idyllic than the grim reality), check out this virtual battery cage. The first two years of these girls' lives contained far too much suffering - they were de-beaked and crowded into small, overcrowded cages, and endured discomfort and indignity beyond anything we humans can imagine. As baby chicks, they saw their brothers die horrible deaths, and as they grew, they watched their sisters suffer endless neglect and abuse.

I'm happy to know that the rest of their lives will be filled with sunshine, cool breezes, grassy fields, juicy bugs, grapes, and as much freedom as it is possible for us to provide for them.

If you're not already vegan, please consider the cruelty that these precious creatures are forced to endure to put eggs on your plate. I honestly think that in terms of animal suffering, egg and dairy production is far crueler than meat production. Go vegan!!! :-)

Bird Pics

I know it's been a while since I've posted photos of the birds, and you all must all be suffering horribly from withdrawals! Well, shudder and vomit no more*, the bird photos have returned.

* That's my best guess at what is involved with withdrawals - shaking and puking. Yay? Nay?

Clara

Rosa

Polly Wolly Doodle

Blossom

Tinkerbell

Which, if any, of these photos do you think are worthy of turning into a painting? Please help me decide!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! I spent a very quiet evening at home last night, painting a chicken. :-)

LaFonda, 8" x 8", acrylic on canvas

New Work

Yikes, two weeks since my last post - I think that's a record for lazy blogging on my part! Carlos and I were both sick for a while (swine flu, I suspect, but who knows), and since then I've been kind of overwhelmed with trying to get caught up with work. To top things off, our beloved rooster, Chuck Norris, is very sick (probably Marek's disease, for you fellow chicken keepers), and the prospects don't look good, so much mental energy is being devoted to him right now.

Anyways, onward and upward - I do have some new things to share.

Fair trade tashmarine and recycled 14k palladium white gold ring, size 6.5

Oregon sunstone and recycled 14k white gold ring
{ custom order; sold }

Moissanite and recycled 14k yellow gold ring
{ custom order; sold }

Nevada variscite and recycled sterling silver ring
{ custom order; sold }

***

Please send positive vibes for Chuck...

Feathered Friends

I know I have been slacking on the bird photos lately...

Bonding under the rosebush

Chuck Norris with his lady friends

Blosssom

A fun weekend and a new family member!

Matt, Carlos, and I had a fun weekend - we went down to Animal Place for a little party and got to hang out with lots of great animals (oh yeah, and a few cool people too), then we met up with JP from CAPE, who introduced us to a very sweet little guy named Bruno... I'll start with the Animal Place Photos -

This was pretty cute - at first I thought that the turkey and the gray chicken (under the turkey's wing) were snuggling, but then I saw an egg pop out of the chicken's bottom so I think they were actually just jockeying for the primo egg-laying spot.

Food!

This feathery-headed guy was especially handsome.

Aren't these turkeys gorgeous?

Pretty birds.

A little rooster skirmish.

Oink.

I think the rabbit house was Carlos' favorite. I was pretty charmed as well by the bunnies.

You could tell that these two were majorly in love with each other.

The speaker for the event was Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, author of The Face on Your Plate, The Pig Who Sang to the Moon, Dogs Never Lie About Love, and When Elephants Weep. He was very personable, friendly, and charismatic. Carlos was excited to meet him because Jeffrey stars in one of Carlos' favorite movies, The Emotional World of Farm Animals.

After our lovely visit to Animal Place, we were off to our next engagement - a meeting with Bruno, an adorable one-eyed miniature poodle! After a short visit, and with much pleading and cajoling on my part and Carlos', Matt was convinced that Bruno should come home with us. Hooray!

Bruno is part of a program headed by Compassion Without Borders, a nonprofit working to provide spay/neuter surgeries, vaccinations, and medical care to companion animals in Mexico. CWB identifies the most friendly, adoptable small dogs from all of the street dogs they encounter, and partners with Animal Place (to provide quarantine here in the US) and the Center for Animal Protection and Education (to provide foster care and permanent placement) to find permanent homes for these dogs here in the US.

Because small dogs are in high demand, and are often in short supply at animal shelters, these groups bring small dogs to the US to give adopters an opportunity to save a rescued dog rather than go to a breeder (or worse yet, a pet shop) because they can't find a small dog at a shelter. Great idea, huh?

Bruno meets Otis.

Hazel steals Bruno's bed.

After some initial growling and position-establishing behavior, mostly from Otis, the dogs seem to be getting along surprisingly well. Hazel and Otis seem strangely compelled to wedge their 50+ pound bodies into Bruno's 20 pound sized dog bed, which is oddly entertaining. I'll try to get some better pictures of Bruno and post them soon.