omgmypony

Ha-dook-en

I've got an imprinted starling, they also imprint super easy especially if you only have one. In my case it's just fine since they're legal pets where I live and I raised him from an ugly little wad of lips and pinfeathers specifically to be a pet.

Is there a market for English/Russian translating? It might be something to look in to.

As far as them asking if you're adopted... well, it should probably be obvious but then again blended families come in all forms and colors. People get divorced and remarried, cousins go to live with their aunts and uncles, plus genetics can be funny. For example, an elderly black couple with a young blonde child come into my place of work fairly frequently. Their shared facial features make it apparent that the girl is either their granddaughter or great granddaughter, but I can see how someone might think otherwise. So you never know!

In November 2015 I found a young broiler chicken that had fallen off a Pilgrim's chicken truck. Despite good care, plenty of exercise and reduced protein diet compared to what they get in the chicken houses, "Tyson" died of heart failure at the tender age of 5 months. He weighed approximately 15 pounds when he died, at least twice the weight of my "heavy breed" hens. Chickens can live for over 10 years (if they are lucky), but Tyson's body was too big for his heart to support before he had reached adulthood. The Cornish-Rock cross is bred for fast growth and feed conversion at the expense of lifespan. Over 25% of them have heart defects that eventually kill them. A broiler that is ready to process at 10 weeks of age hasn't hit puberty. It doesn't cluck or crow - it peeps. Chicken you buy at the grocery store is the poultry equivalent of veal.

Do you find pasture raising systems utilizing chicken tractors to be a better alternative to the current system of broiler houses? Do you know of any commercial producers currently utilizing such systems? I know that the broiler industry is inherently cruel to farmer and chicken alike, but don't know of any alternatives for a person like myself who likes chickens as friends AND food.