Random Pictures of Pets and Things and Random Updates of Whatever Comes to Mind

[dawn_felagund]

Every few days, I think, "I should write in my journal about that!" but then never actually do. Although I'm not taking any classes right now, it's a busy time of the year in the House of Felagund, and I've been staying very loyal to my gym schedule. And I've been busy at work, with a large senior class this year and all of them in some form of

Comments

[huinare]

Ooh look at the wee chickenlings. 8D We had some about 10 months ago. It didn't work out, as I likely mentioned on your last post including chickens, but I loved having them around while it lasted. My favorite of our chicks was the darker of our two Rhode Island reds, which of course turned out to be the mis-sexed rooster.

ETA:
Doing what they do best: eating and drinking!

You forgot shitting!

[dawn_felagund]

which of course turned out to be the mis-sexed rooster.

Been there! Of our first set of chicks (six), one was killed by Lancelot, four turned out to be roosters, and the lone hen died after only a year from an impacted egg. They were supposed to be sexed. :^|

You forgot shitting!

Of course! :D That's usually the main reason they get moved from the basement to the shed: when they start to stink!

[heartofoshun]

I love these pictures. You got a lot of great dog pictures. They really are funny. Especially the one with Bobby cooking and you with a lap full of large dog!

The chick pictures remind me of my childhood. We used to get those dyed Easter chicks as gifts from various relatives. They would flap their wings as adolescents (pullets?) and still have purple or green down under their wings. They grow up fast! (Interesting etymology: Anglo-Norman pullet, poulet (“young chicken”) and polette (“young hen”). Wonder if there was an Anglo-Saxon word?)

[dawn_felagund]

Thank you! The Goldens are pretty photogenic; the difficulty is getting them to stand in one place long enough and look at the camera!

My parents talk about those dyed chicks. I suspect they are a major reason why the feed stores impose a 5-6 chick minimum on purchases. I can't wrap my brain around buying a baby animal to throw it away once it starts to grow up (which is really fast for chicks). I won't throw out a houseplant or even cut flowers until they're crispy!

Happy birthday! :D :D :D

[heartofoshun]

Horrors! We never threw ours away. We raised them until they were big and fat (and ate them!). Some of them did die as babies. The worst part was they would have hundreds of them for sale in places like Woolworth's and sometimes we would see one that had been pecked to death by the others. It was horribly upsetting for a little kid.

[dawn_felagund]

My parents were both city kids, so I think the assumption was definitely that they would be thrown out or killed once they got too big. And not a noble death for food! One of the owners of the farm where we buy our meat and dairy was telling us the other week that they still regularly get people dropping off chickens in the middle of the night that were purchased as Easter chicks and then got too big. Which leaves them with the task of killing them since they can't introduce unfamiliar birds into the flock, not knowing what diseases they may have been exposed to.

Chickens just really aren't nice birds. I remember reading a vegan fundamentalist once who celebrated them as an ideal species because they eat grass. Yeah ... and bugs and snakes and each other! Our bantam hen Rose died of an impacted egg, which we unfortunately only discovered after the others had pecked her vent up quite a bit. :(

[with_rainfall]

Ah, I thought you would've had to bribe them! ;) Look at those appealing eyes...

[dawn_felagund]

Yep, Lance has that look mastered ... (He stared at me for about ten minutes straight in the hammock this afternoon after dropping the ball into the hammock; we don't throw the ball in the hammock or we wouldn't have a moment's peace, but that didn't stop him from trying to burn holes into me with those beady black eyes!)

[dawn_felagund]

Thank you! :)

[indy1776]

Poor Alex… I hope it's nothing serious.

Natural law: If you are trying to photograph dogs, they will look away the moment you click the camera.

Haha! My problem was that Magic used to look at the camera whenever I wanted a picture of her doing something else.

[dawn_felagund]

I hope so too. He had Lyme's disease when he was an infant, so I have a suspicion that might be part of it (since that can cause joint pain). And he's going to be eight on his next birthday, so he is getting to the age for arthritis.

My problem was that Magic used to look at the camera whenever I wanted a picture of her doing something else.

Dogs!

[indy1776]

My first thought was arthritis (I didn't know about the Lyme disease, but that compounds the problem). My vet suggested glucosamine and it noticeably helped Magic for the first couple of years after she developed arthritis. We gave her half of a 1500 mg pill once a day; the chews didn't have the amount the vet recommended. (Mind you, getting it down her was ridiculously easy-- I tossed it in her food bowl with her kibble. This from the dog we had to trick into taking pills prior to that.)