My Soap Box

Before I step up upon my soap box (yea, don't think I can't see you rolling your eyes), allow me to provide you a brief chuckle. 

The girls always split up at night to get ready for bed.  The new girls (who used to be "the little girls") and the old-timers have distinct preferences.

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Here you have three of the four new girls with their favorite sleeping location - atop the door separating the two bedrooms of the coop.  Cute little hen bottoms.

The rest of the girls prefer their old bedtime location - the shelf on top of the nesting boxes.  Now Goldie, on the top far right, likes to mix it up between hanging with the oldsters and staying with her buds in the new bedroom.  Because she is not able to fly to the top of the window in the new bedroom which is their transition to the door, we have to help her.  And she belly aches about it each and every night.

OK, now on to the soap box.

It pains me to hear of chicken keepers who feel compelled to keep lights on in the coop for long periods of time.  They do this to keep egg production up during the seasons of decreasing light.  Here's my thinking.  Our chickens have been bred to lay more eggs than their bodies are naturally meant to lay.  Why not allow them to take a rest during the winter. Is it not better to be kind and humane? 

My second serious problem is with chicken keepers who want to kill every predator to their flock.  Some have proudly displayed the dead body.  Again, why not secure your coop properly.  If you choose to free range, yes you are making a conscious decision to allow for the possibility of predator kills.  That is the choice Rick and I have made after much soul searching.  But to kill a racoon or possum or fox -- I cannot agree.

I became a vegetarian about 40 years ago when I began learning of the horrors of factory farming.  And the yoga I have practiced for over 20 years also espouses a vegetarian diet, following the precept of non-violence.  Since learning more of the atrocities involved in dairy farming, I have eliminated many of the dairy products I used to consume.

So, with your indulgence I'm going to offer vegetarian recipes from time to time.  They'll be tried and true from my recipe stash in my kitchen.  I hope you opt to try them to help save some lives.

Today's goodie is a tasty potato soup which I whipped up three days ago.
 

My apologies to the person or site from which I copied it.  I usually include that, but clearly neglected to on this one.

The soap box has been moved aside for the moment, so I wish you all Bon Appetit!