Animals

Currently, I have 10 animals. My dog Freki, a Mexican street dog brought to Canada. When I got him from the SPCA, he was mangy, (infested with mites) He was very skinny, liked to nip you, and he had been quarantined for too long. Today, he is very healthy. He still has some issues. Leash aggression being the worst. He isn’t aggressive to other dogs, but he can act that way when he doesn’t get to go see them. If i leave him in my vehicle, he will tear it apart if he sees another dog outside. For this reason, when left alone he goes into his kennel in the SUV.

On the other hand, I have 9 chickens. I had 10, with one being a rooster. Unfortunately, he was tearing up my hens and starting to traumatize them. One of them wouldn’t leave the coop and if I made her, she would fly up and sometimes hurt herself in attempts to avoid him. I tried hard to give him away to someone, but, there are far too many roosters and not enough people who want them. In the end, I had someone help me with him and they ate him. While I am not against having to terminate livestock for food, He was a pet. Just like my hens. I get eggs, but their lives won’t end on my dinner plate and I won’t process them unless it is to end suffering. I wouldn’t eat my dog, I won’t eat my hens. If i had chickens for meat though, I wouldn’t make them pets, and I wouldn’t name them. My hens are named Kathryn, Rachel, Sandra, Schierke, Casca, Slan, Farnese, Willow, and Oreo. You can likely tell where 4 of those names come from if you enjoy anime. The rest are named after my friends. In the second photo, you can see Bruce. He was originally named Caitlin, until I heard him crow. It was never my intention to have a rooster in the first place. Take a look at 1 month old chickens and tell me which ones are the roosters. It is very hard to tell, which is what happened with me.

My chickens have their run, for when I am away for the day, or for them to do stuff before I wake up. At some point during the day, I let them out and they wander my yard. Their favorite place being my lilac bush. They spend most of the day there, digging up bugs, having dust baths, and eating the grass. It also protects them from aerial predators. Freki tends to alert me if there are animals around my home. We get the occasional bear go through. He barks at them, and usually they run off. Bears don’t like dogs much.

So, these are my family here. Hens and a dog. It keeps me occupied and I have found a lot of joy in having the chickens, I never knew how different each ones personality was until now. They are a joy to watch.