Thank you for this. I’ve been eating a vegan diet for 30 years because, like you, once you see it, there’s no going back without suppressing truth. Blessings to you as you continue to journey and write.
Hi Cameron - I've been homesteading for about 12 years now as a transplanted suburbanite. Do you have any information about those chickens? It sounds to me as if they are meat birds. If it makes you feel any better, a lot of organic and regenerative farmers use this genetic line to raise meat birds. Since they are working to sustain themselves financially as farmers (which is important work), a fast-growing breed makes sustainable sense, especially with the cost of grain. As homesteaders we buy these chicks too, given the cost of grain. But! I am writing to hopefully help you through potential heartbreak, with the same thoughtfulness I received as a new farmer when I lost my first lamb. A wise friend counseled me that farmers practice radical acceptance. And I learned first hand that I was not insulated from death. Those chickens have been genetically engineered, for better or for worse, to live about ten weeks before being slaughtered. They won't live far beyond that because of the strain on their hearts. So you get to watch them feel the sun on their backs. You get to watch them rest on grass or hay. But I am afraid you are also getting a lesson in radical acceptance and I don't want you to have to go through it without a little of the same support I received. All good wishes, Catherine
Thank you for sharing this real-time experience. As sobering and disheartening as it is, it has me thinking - what can I do? Right now I don’t know the answer. But I will carry this with me.
My heart aches from what I just read. “Create in me, oh Lord, a clean heart” comes to mind. You have written the truth of our country’s governing dominance, that we need to know and learn from. A clean heart must start with each one of us and in our own backyards.
It is scary what we have and continue to do to our planet.
With regards to the chicks, a good read by Barbara Kingslover, Animals, Vegetable, Miracle. It is eye opening.
Thank you for this. I’ve been eating a vegan diet for 30 years because, like you, once you see it, there’s no going back without suppressing truth. Blessings to you as you continue to journey and write.
Hi Cameron - I've been homesteading for about 12 years now as a transplanted suburbanite. Do you have any information about those chickens? It sounds to me as if they are meat birds. If it makes you feel any better, a lot of organic and regenerative farmers use this genetic line to raise meat birds. Since they are working to sustain themselves financially as farmers (which is important work), a fast-growing breed makes sustainable sense, especially with the cost of grain. As homesteaders we buy these chicks too, given the cost of grain. But! I am writing to hopefully help you through potential heartbreak, with the same thoughtfulness I received as a new farmer when I lost my first lamb. A wise friend counseled me that farmers practice radical acceptance. And I learned first hand that I was not insulated from death. Those chickens have been genetically engineered, for better or for worse, to live about ten weeks before being slaughtered. They won't live far beyond that because of the strain on their hearts. So you get to watch them feel the sun on their backs. You get to watch them rest on grass or hay. But I am afraid you are also getting a lesson in radical acceptance and I don't want you to have to go through it without a little of the same support I received. All good wishes, Catherine
Thank you for sharing this real-time experience. As sobering and disheartening as it is, it has me thinking - what can I do? Right now I don’t know the answer. But I will carry this with me.
My heart aches from what I just read. “Create in me, oh Lord, a clean heart” comes to mind. You have written the truth of our country’s governing dominance, that we need to know and learn from. A clean heart must start with each one of us and in our own backyards.