Happy (Cozy) Chickens

Dear gray clouds and soft white stuff outside my window,

Thank you. This is what a snowstorm should be. BEAUTIFUL. Thank you for starting in the wee hours of the morning instead of right at rush hour like the last jerk of a storm. I’ve decided that this is the perfect day to catch up on my internet news (if G-reader could overflow mine would be spilling out all over my computer right about now…).

I’ll be sending out some links to the best food articles tomorrow, but in the meantime, I want to show you the blog of a 13 year old committed vegetarian boy who raises chickens and bees and may just become the next Michael Pollan or Joel Salatin (both of whom he writes about). His blog, Happy Chickens Lay Healthy Eggs, is a compilation of links and personal stories from fun foodie articles (how to make your own seedling newspaper cups) to incredibly serious links about Monsanto’s GMO corn all interspersed with some really beautiful photography (mostly of chickens). I’m so impressed with kids these days. Only 13? Really? With kids like this around I really believe our world will be okay after all.

While we’re talking about happy chickens, I want to send a quick shout-out (and thank you) to Tim and Elizabeth DiChiara at Davis Creek Farms. Most people have heard about Joel Salatin and how happy Polyface chickens are, but there are many other ‘unsung heros’ out there, like the folks at Davis Creek. Their chickens are raised in hoop houses in small groups and moved to fresh pasture daily where they consume a diet consisting of at least thirty percent grass and bugs foraged in the field, the rest consists of antibiotic-free, locally produced grains. Having raised chickens most of my life, I think it’s pretty safe to say that these chickens live in chicken paradise.

Stay warm and safe out there, friends.