FowlBlog.com » Culture

Backyard Chickens – Then and Now

Mr. Quackers — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 22:00:32 +0000

In her book, Iva Wells writes about her regular experience with mail order chickens through the decades.

On a recent visit to our family farm, I encountered an autobiography written by Iva Wells, a neighbor and family friend. She is a woman has lived in northern Minnesota and North Dakota of her life and has chosen to recollect some of her farming lifestyle memories throughout her years. Of her many trials and triumphs living the agrarian ideal, Iva writes about purchasing, receiving, and raising chickens. Here is an excerpt from her book Family Life on a Reservation Farm: The Autobiography of Iva Wells.

Chickens and Eggs

To supplement the income from the cattle, most farm women had a flock of chickens to raise and tend. Every spring, one could walk into most rural post offices and hear the peeping of baby chicks, which had arrived through the mail. The chicks were usually in groups of 25 within each of 4 compartments in a cardboard box with small holes for ventilation. The chicks were a common spring sound in the post office as they waited to be picked up by the farmer. They had probably been on the road from the hatchery for two days. They would be in good condition with very few fatalities because they lived those first few days from the yolk of the egg, from which they were hatched.

Jim built a very nice “brooder house” for my baby chicks which would be their until fall. This brooder house was kept warm by an oil stove with a metal skirt called a “hover” around it. I always ordered 400 chickens every March. As soon as I would get them home, I would take them into the warm brooder house and one at a time, I would dip their beaks in warm water and then let them run to a feeder where they would immediately begin to pick and eat food.

The chicks would gather and lay under the hover to keep warm. The temperature had to be kept at a warm, even heat to prevent the chicks from crowding together in a pile and suffocating the ones on the bottom. Since it was only March, we could and often did have some vicious snowstorms that had me worrying all night about those little baby chicks! I would wonder if the stove was heating properly or if the strong winds had blown out the flame!

Some March storms were worse than others. One year, I had many sleepless nights and I would get up, dress, and walk in knee-deep snow every 2 hours to check on the chicks!

A backyard chicken flock from some time ago

It is interesting to see the decades old tradition of mail-order chicks from a historical perspective. The logistics and concerns of receiving chicks remains largely the same – chicks are hatched and shipped the through the postal service, their two-day journey is supported by the nutritious yolk, and warmth is the key for young poultry. However, much of the technology has changed in the process – mail order catalogs are being replaced with eCommerce poultry websites, planes now fly many young birds to their destinations, and electric heat systems now take the place of coops heated by an oil stove.

The practice of raising chickens and other poultry has been a source of income, food, and fulfillment for countless generations. As Americans look for ways to be more environmentally friendly, economically self-sufficient, and nutritionally more in-touch, examples such as these prove that we often need not look any further than the agrarian practices of the past to find guidance for the future.

Laffayette, Colorado Next in Line to Legalize Backyard Poultry

Mr. Quackers — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 17:11:40 +0000

Over the past few years we have occasionally featured stories of the countless cities across the United States which have underwent to process to legalize the practice of raising chickens and other fowl in urban backyards.

It is no secret that the popularity of backyard chickens is surging, as families and hobbyist reap the environmental and economic benefits of domesticated poultry.

One of the latest in this long line of communities seeking to officially condone this practice is Lafayette, Colorado. Lafayette, a very green conscious and socially minded city near Boulder and Denver, brought the debate before the city Planning Commission this week. Most likely, the Planning Commission will bring a recommendation before the City Council next month and a proposed amendment allowing backyard chickens will be enacted.

The package of rules and regulations proposed which the Lafayette Planning Commission are relatively common. The group derived the regulations from the ordinances they saw as most appropriate in the nearby cities of Longmont, Fort Collins, and Boulder.

Limit of 3 hens per household
No roosters
Birds must be sealed in a backyard chicken coop at night
Birds must have an enclosed 100 sq. foot chicken run
No slaughtering is allowed in backyards

One rule that many chicken owners may find a bit restrictive is the limit of 3 hens per household. An average size family which regularly consumes eggs, would most likely still need to purchase eggs with only 3 laying hens. This is especially true during the winter months, when hens do not lay as much, according to Melissa Held of nearby Longmont.

However, regulators feel the need to restrict the number of hens to deter backyard chicken owners from obtain too many eggs, and potentially selling them – a practice which could be a potential violation of regulations.

The popularity of urban poultry is continuing to rise, and currently does not show signs of slowing down.

In the Movie Valentine’s Day the Real Stars are the Ducklings

Mr. Quackers — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 22:03:51 +0000

The Valentine’s Day movie is packed full of celebrities which cater to all demographics and tastes. From Patrick Dempsey and Jessica Alba, to Julia Roberts and Jamie Foxx. However, the real stars of the movie are the little ducklings which make perhaps the most picturesque shot in the movie.

While Valentine's Day was packed full of big Hollywood stars, the ducklings were the ones to steal the show.

As the movie draws to a close and the topsy turvy convolutions of characters and subplots are being resolved, we see the lovable floralist (played by Ashton Kutcher) tossing the unsold flower petals into a stream from a bridge. He is reflecting on the transpirations of the day, when he sees 4 little ducklings swim through the petals on the water. While the ducklings’ moment in the Hollywood spotlight is brief, they definitely steal the show with their cuteness.

Where did the producers of this film obtain the ducklings they sought after to convey the film’s emotions? They purchased their birds from eFowl.com – the web’s leader in ducks and chickens for sale. The breeds of the birds which swam by were 2 Pekins and 2 Rouens. These are both domesticated breeds, and what domestic ducklings would be doing in an LA creek on their own in the middle of the night is perhaps a detail left best unquestioned. From the size of the birds, they look to be about 3-4 weeks old when the filming took place.

eFowl.com frequently supplies animal training companies with animal actors for everything from major Hollywood movies to local commercials.

Further Understanding Capitalism from Scrooge McDuck as Seen on Saturday Night Live

admin — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:12:59 +0000

I recently wrote a blog post on the ways that ducks come to symbolize various elements of American culture. Specifically, I explored how Scrooge McDuck embodies capitalism in the United States.

It is worth further exploring this notion in light of a recent pop culture display in Saturday Night Live’s recurring sketch Weekend Update, the ever relevant bastion of American satirical news.

You can view the quick sketch here -

During this interview with the Weekend Update anchors, we see Scrooge McDuck (played by Andy Samberg) gloating about his sound investment strategy of owning pure gold. By owning nothing but gold coins, he has limited his risk exposure rather than subjecting his financial well being to the ebbs and flows of the US stock market. I believe this hyperbolic boast has some legitimate economic commentary.

The primary investment vehicle of the average American is the 401k. However, did you know that you cannot directly own gold (or fine art) with your 401k? Granted, you can invest in securities which have an interest in gold, but you cannot actually own the precious metal as Scrooge McDuck does.

In order to receive the tax-deferred benefits of a 401k, you cannot invest in a collectible since it creates little to no economic capital for growth. Thus, the chief vehicle of American investing inherently discourages the conservatism that has yielded so much wealth for Scrooge McDuck in a cyclical economy.

There is a fundamental conflict of interest between the individual investor and Wall Street when the manner of investment is the 401k. While a 401k can be an excellent tool to grow personal wealth, it also can be a mechanism for a relatively small number of Wall Street bankers to enslave the discretionary capital of the masses via enticement with tax benefits and the illusion of a worry free retirement.

Of course, the intention of the SNL sketch was not to illustrate this point. However, when one examines the roots of Scrooge McDuck, and his evolving reflection of American capitalism, it becomes apparent that the financial practices which made him wealthy, and the fiscal policies which gave him and all other Americans the opportunity to become wealthy, are today being suppressed by the interests of Wall Street plutocrats.

A Plutocracy has nothing to do with this Pluto

It is also worth noting that in this SNL sketch we see Scrooge McDuck lament his freakish and isolated nature brought on by his fowlish form. He claims that he was once a human, but the side effects of swimming in gold coins have yielded diseases polymorphing him into a duck. He even goes so far as to say, “My life is like a deleted scene from The Island of Dr. Moreau.” This aboration of devolving from a human to a duck , although not a part of official Disney Scrooge McDuck cannon, is similar to my own commentary in which I wrote -

[Scrooge McDuck's] ambition and material greed have placed him up as a duck for sale, owned more by his riches and their ensuing responsibilities than his own character. Thus Scrooge McDuck may be able to swim through oceans of gold coins in his expansive mansion, but he will always be a goofy, waddling duck – holed up to live in solitude in his fortress of lonely extravagance.

However, in the end of this SNL bit, Scrooge McDuck decrees that “It’s worth it! Gold coins!”

Is it worth it?

Seth MacFarlane Loves Ducks

Mr. Quackers — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 22:55:28 +0000

The week on FOX marks the season premier of the popular cartoon comedy block known as Animation Domination. This TGIF of raunchy cartoons serves a weekly staple for college kids across the country.

Animation Domination, which is now 75% created by Seth Macfarlane. Hang on tight Matt Groening!

The main change to the line up is that Mike Judge’s down home style King of the Hill is no longer. FOX has filled the vacancy with yet another one of Seth MacFarlane‘s animated attempts at Family-Guy-but-with-different-characters in The Cleveland Show.

You can catch all the episodes on Hulu, which in my opinion were quite entertaining, especially the highly unique episode of Family Guy.

Some of the most astute of cartoon viewers may have noticed a recurring joke that arced from The Cleveland Show to American Dad. MacFarlane, who is most notable for his hodge-podge of obscure cultural nods and references, recreated a familiar movie scene in two of his premiers.

Here we have a duck crossing in American Dad as some Vietnam War reenacters pause their intense combat display to admire some mallard ducklings.

We are all familiar with the movie and TV joke of the ducks crossing. Characters are somehow speeding down the road, only to come to a screeching halt at the sight of a mother and her ducklings crossing the road. This is usually followed by a cutesy comment that is ironic given the character’s normal disposition.

It is funny because no matter what the scenario, humans will drop whatever they’re doing to allow the adorable ducklings to cross their path. This cultural reference seems to expose a soft spot in the human psyche for ducklings. The insertion of a duck crossing scene into an inopportune time makes us smile and chuckle. Scene’s such as this are reminiscent of the common Springtime local news story of a person going out of their way to assist a mother and her ducklings.

Here we have some ducklings crossing the road in The Cleveland Show, right after Cleveland pulls and aggressive u-turn on the road. Anyone know what duck breed this is supposed to be?

It is interesting to see how frequently this gag is used throughout American entertainment. We are compiling a list all the Duck Crossing scenes in TV and movies. Can you think of any? Please tell us in the comment boxes below.