Tag: news

Please do not get chickens!

Photo by RDNE Stock project on Pexels.com

Eggs are once again hitting $9-12 a dozen in some parts of the country. It’s mostly down to bird flu, but regardless, shelves are either empty, or only stocked because few can afford what is left. Cheaper eggs do tend to fly off the shelf first, after all. So, of course, people are once again talking about getting chickens. Therefore, I have to do nice again write a post ask you not to do that very thing.

Awhile ago I wrote a piece on the reasons not to indulge this whim, but today I’m going to add one more, heartbreaking, reason to hold off – which is loosing a pet hurts.

Anyone who’s ever lost a pet before will agree that’s true, but allow me to explain the relevance to the point at hand. 1.Simply put, avian influenza is highly contagious between bird species. 2. If the, outbreaks continue the way they have, then soon authorities will have to step up their monitoring of backyard flocks too (right now the focus seems to still be mainly on big commercial/poultry farms). 3. If they find that even one of your birds is sick, then they’ll kill the entire bunch…and there’s really nothing you’ll be able to do to stop them.

Having experienced owning chickens during a Newcastle outbreak, I can tell you from firsthand experience how nerve-racking it is to have the outbreak team show up to your house.

These birds will most likely become pets for you. You’ll care for them on a daily basis, do your best to keep them safe, and then potentially have to stand by while someone kills the.

Chickens fall under the same type of rules that other farm animals do. Culling family cats and dogs would cause riots in the streets, but we’ve recently seen over 100,000+ chickens killed, with barely a grumble of complaint from the masses. Why, because it’s being done to contain a disease threatening the stability of the nation’s food supply. Lofty words, but they won’t be much comfort as you watch them shoving your beloved, dead pet chicken into a garbage bag.

Unless you’re going to completely isolate your birds in the basement of your home, never allowing them to see the light of day, then you aren’t going to be able to completely protect them from this thing. Wild birds could land in your yard to eat, and manage to spread it through their saliva. Heck, they could just poop while flying over head, and it can still contaminate the entire flock. You, yourself, might even accidentally introduce the disease by tracking it into your yard, on your shoes.

All of this can be avoided by simply not getting chickens in the first place. Please think it through!

Returning our attention to Earth Day

LEGO recycling truck recently scene at a local Target store. Picture by Salena Wakim, do not reuse, duplicate, or alter without permission and credit

With all that is going on in the world these days, one might be forgiven for letting Earth Day slip their mind this year. Sadly, many will probably overlook it entirely, but now we should be revisiting the importance of this day more than ever. It’s time we returned out attention to Earth Day.

I won’t list all the eco catastrophies we’ve had in the last 12 months. For one thing you’ve heard it all before, and for another, unfortunately there are so many the list really wouldn’t fit in this space. Suffice it to say, there’s been a lot, and as such, there’s even more work to do to fix the situation. Despite the heavy need, there’s still so many other problems right now, that eco awareness is both higher than it’s been for a while, and yet equally not being acknowledged in everyday activities on a large scale.

Increasing awareness amongst all the generations is key to fighting this problem, but that is easier said than done. Various organizations and businesses have noticed though, and are wading in to help. This includes companies like Kleenex issuing a special ‘National Parks’ themed packaging line, Disney releasing their Earth Day centric reusable bag line, and LEGO putting out a Recycling Truck builder kit (see image above).

The semiannual Drug Take Back Day will take place on Saturday 4/27, just at the tail end of Earth Week, in an attempt to prevent not only drug misuse, but also to prevent unwanted drugs from ending up in our waterways. The EPA has a variety of online resources to help you teach your children about the importance of the day as well. There’s also some free Earth Day templates for you to use on Instagram, to help promote Earth Day awareness. Many private citizens will be out doing beach, forest, and park cleanups this week too. I know it might seem like the message is getting buried under the avalanche of bad news coming at us from so many directions, but it’s important that you remember you’re not alone. Others do care, and we all need each other to pitch n and help, if we’re going to succeed in making it better. The UN just put out a statement saying that we only have approx two years left to really mitigate any future to climate related problems.

So, regardless if you celebrate by attending an event, working on spreading Earth Day awareness, or by taking stock of your own eco street cred, the important thing is that you do in fact celebrate it, and pitch in.

Happy Earth Day Everyone.