a man and his hoe

every day is a good day

  • Battle Scarred

    There is no denying that violence is an integral part of chicken society. Battles erupt between chickens primarily over space. Hens will make a fuss if another hen is using the nest she wants to use. Roosters will fight over hens and territory. In a way, they fight over the same things people do. Giving chickens plenty of space, keeps these turf battles to a minimum.

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    Their feet, claws, and spurs are a rooster’s primary weapons. They also use their beaks and wings when they fight. And when I need to remove an especially aggressive rooster, I can see his battle scars clearly on his skin.

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    I wonder if we don’t make a mistake when we underestimate the genetic underpinnings of human behavior. You can see the impulse of males in many animal species to battle over females and territory. What we humans do, looks a lot like what roosters and hens do, only on a grand scale. We may think instinct has no bearing on what we do, but maybe we are more driven by instinct than we think.

  • A Little Rain – A Morning Round

    Even a steady rain doesn’t stop the chickens from being outdoors. A rain-soaked Sven, so wet his tail feathers drag on the ground, doesn’t seek shelter as he stands guard. I’m making one of my morning rounds, and here are just a few things I saw in less than an hour, as I check on the chickens, give them some feed, look for eggs, and make sure they have fresh water – though in this rain, there is water everywhere.

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    The rain is making everything grow with new plants coming into bloom every day.

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    Wet Billy enjoys the company of a hen as he waits out the rain under a plum tree.

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    And Red Riding Hood tells me to back off when I walk past her nest.

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  • What Laying Hens Deserve

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    This is how one hen lays her egg. Afterwards, she spends a few minutes doing a little nesting, and then she leaves the nest. Each hen is different. Some leave the nest soon after laying their eggs. Others will settle down afterwards and sit for awhile.

    What they all need are quiet, soft, clean nests with plenty of straw. What no hen deserves is to be locked in a wire cage, unable to be outdoors and enjoy the sun and rain, or unable to lay her egg in a soft nest.

    What no hen deserves is to be housed with tens of thousands of other hens in crowded laying houses, where there is no peace and quiet, no quiet walks in the woods, no hunting for food through tall grass, and no sunshine.

  • FDA’s Response Regarding Heavy Metals in Imported Food

    When I read that the Government of China reported that nearly 20% of its farmland was contaminated with heavy metals and toxins, and knowing that billions of dollars worth of Chinese agricultural products were coming into the US, I sent the following inquiry to the Food and Drug Administration:

    The Chinese government recently disclosed that nearly 20% of the farmland in China is contaminated with heavy metals and other toxins. The US imports some $4 billion dollars of food products from China including fish, fruit juices, garlic and numerous other items. How much monitoring does the FDA do for heavy metals and other toxins in this food imported from China? What percentage of the food shipments into the US from China are examined for heavy metals?

    Today, I received the following reply from the FDA:

    Generally speaking, FDA does not have regulations specifying maximum limits for heavy metals in food. In the case of bottled water, FDA by regulation has established limits for certain contaminants, e.g., lead, because it is required to do so by law. In addition, FDA has established guidance levels for lead in some foods such as candy and wine in which we have in the past found lead at levels of public health concern.
    By law, manufacturers may not sell a food product that contains a contaminant in an amount that may render the product injurious to health. Such a food is adulterated under the law. Whether the presence of a specific amount of a heavy metal adulterates a particular food is considered on a case-by-case basis. Such a determination would depend on factors such as the amount of the heavy metal, who is consuming the food (i.e., infant, child, adult, pregnant women), and the expected food consumption.
    New regulations FDA has proposed to establish under the Food Safety Modernization Act will place additional responsibilities on manufacturers for ensuring that their food is safe, including determining whether their food could contain any contaminant that could adulterate their product.

    In other words, the FDA is currently not checking to see if food imported from China is contaminated with the heavy metals and toxins the government of China reports is in nearly 20% of Chinese farmland. It is relying on the importers and sellers of these products to regulate themselves.

  • How Apple Pie Starts

    This is how apple pie starts – as a small flower. It’s late April and the apple trees are blooming several weeks early. Soon, wild bees will pollinate these flowers, and all summer long the apples will soak in the sunshine and grow until they are ready, in early fall, to be eaten right off the tree or made into apple pie. From now into fall, the air buzzes with the sound of wild bees. According to Wild Bees as Alternative Pollinators, by the Penn State:Fruit Research and Extension Center, there are “3,500 bee species other than the honey bee which are also important pollinators of most specialty crops in the U.S.” 80% of bees are ground nesting, so it’s critical to have undisturbed land to provide habitat for these bees to thrive.

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    ElderberryBlossoms

    The elderberry bushes are also in full bloom. Come June, they will provide plenty of red fruits for wild birds to eat.

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    LuckyBillyImelda

    The garlic patch is nearly knee high. Lucky, Billy, and Imelda are looking for something to eat along the edges of the garlic patch. Lucky is the most curious hen at a man and his hoe®. No matter where we go, she is sure to come along to see what we are doing. And Imelda seems to have been smitten with Billy, the five year old rooster. Wherever he goes, she follows. At a typical egg or poultry farm, hens and roosters never get to develop these romances. It’s one of the benefits of being a chicken at a man and his hoe®.

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