Just Clucking Do It

That scary thing you’ve been putting off forever because you feel anxious about your ability to accomplish the task? You can do it. Just go for it. You are more than capable of getting that hard thing done. Don’t make me tell you twice.

— Ruth Bader Ginsbird

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Here’s What’s Happening At Good Spirits Farm

A funny thing has happened over the past couple of weeks. For the past four years, Daddy Warclucks has been the bane of my existence. Truly: I could not walk by the chickens without Daddy sidling up to me, ready to flog my legs with his spurs if I so much as got too close to one of his ladies. For a while, it got so bad I always carried a broom when I walked behind my house

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But times change. Daddy, now an elderly fellow, has clearly been replaced in the pecking order by my two younger roosters. Recently, he has been hanging off by himself during the day, far from the rest of the flock. He’ll wait until all the other chickens are in at night to go and get some food, as I suspect the younger roosters are running him off from the feeders.

A few days ago, he started a new routine: Showing up outside the shack where I keep the chicken feed, right about the time I come out to prepare dinner for the horses. I could tell he was hungry, so I opened the door, got him a scoop of food, and let him eat all by himself in the safety of the feed room—a quiet truce between the two of us as I worked on prepping the horse’s feed buckets.

I’m contemplating moving him and a couple of hens into a little rolling coop out on the pasture, so he can have a peaceful little retirement. Do I really need a separate flock to take care of? Absolutely not. And I can’t believe I feel sorry for this asshole after his four-year-long campaign against my ankles. Still: It tugs at my heartstrings to see anyone cast out from the gang, so I suspect I’ll take on the extra work.

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Here’s What I Loved This Week

This piece about women in agriculture changing the face of farming in California (and elsewhere). I personally believe having more women-led farms will lead to a better, more just, and kinder (towards animals, workers, and the planet) food system. I think Heebeejeebees (who really runs the show around here) agrees.