Comments on: Gratuitous chicken-blogging: Three to go

By: Sarah K Andrew

Sarah K Andrew — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 21:03:08 +0000

I hope you become a total trendsetter with the backyard chix. I love reading your updates.

By: nancy freedman-smith

nancy freedman-smith — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 12:44:12 +0000

H Houlinahn—-
I JUST read that black was the new black. (lol)if all goes well, chickens will be my new omlette.

By: Christie Keith

Christie Keith — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 05:11:01 +0000

Based on what he found, it was all spin from the beginning.

That may well be the case, but it still irritates me when sellers twist the truth to make their product look better. Perhaps it is, but if so, stick with the truth, that’s all.

It reminds me of that recent thing where a set of growers had this whole story about why they couldn’t be “organic” because that meant they couldn’t treat their sick animals, and thus, it was better to buy their eggs or meat or dairy products (I forget which it was) than organic ones.

I mean, I agree that factory farms are bad even if they’re organic, and I’d rather buy from a local ranch with good practices that treats its animals humanely and the earth well even if they’re not “certified organic.” But don’t LIE TO ME, or twist the truth, because that just pisses me off.

By: Colorado Transplant

Colorado Transplant — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 04:32:41 +0000

Talking about “spin”, my head is going to spin trying to get everything done with the clocks being pushed forward tomorrow.

By: H. Houlahan

H. Houlahan — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 04:11:15 +0000

Michael Pollan has a lot of detail about “Rosie” the chicken in The Omnivore’s Dilemma.

Based on what he found, it was all spin from the beginning.

By: Susan Fox

Susan Fox — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 01:18:12 +0000

Ah. Thanks, Christie. We didn’t catch the name of the buyer. Haven’t heard of Coleman, but will check them out.

By: Christie Keith

Christie Keith — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 22:44:50 +0000

Just found out this morning at our local co-op that the Rocky and Rosie chicken folks have been bought out by a bigger poultry producer. Prices up, quality of operation down, so they’re gone from the store.

Hmmm, I think they were giving you a little “spin” to make their story about the new chickens better. Petaluma Poultry, which produces Rocky and Rosie chickens, was purchased in 2006 by Coleman Natural Foods, which is a big organic and natural beef producer in Colorado.

By: Susan Fox

Susan Fox — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 21:41:11 +0000

Now they carry someone called Mary’s Chickens and the guy behind the meat counter was able to answer all my questions about how the birds are treated, like not being de-beaked and having real access to the outdoors.

And, after careful carton reading,(RAISED cage-free? What the heck does that mean? Into the battery when it’s time to lay, I’ll bet.)the only acceptable eggs available around here are from pastured (in mobile cages) chickens up in Crescent City. Gulp, $5/dozen to do the right thing until we get our own in a few months. But we are opting out of industrial agriculture as quickly as we can and fortunately are in a position to do so.

By: Kristi

Kristi — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 19:23:29 +0000

Love the chickens. When my grandma was in the nursing home (she lived to 103) she asked what I was cooking for supper that night. I said, “Chicken,” and she said, “Oh, you’d better get going then! That’s a lot of work.”

I was thinking frozen Tyson and she was remembering when she bought her chickens live and butchered them in the back yard on a chopping block. Chicken dinners were hard work.

By: Cait

Cait — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 06:17:55 +0000

Emily - I saw that post and I really wonder how many gamecocks they’ve actually been around. While the hens are usually pretty tolerable, most of them tend to be on the nasty side if you have to collect their eggs, and they’re VERY prone to going broody. Then you have a hatch with statistically half little game roosters- too scrawny to be worth eating and too cranky to keep in a group. Ugh.