It’s the poultry fashion for passion!
A few “lucky” hens are now displaying their passion for fashion, or, er, their new fashion for (rooster) passion. They are sporting their new back-protecting saddles, hand made by the chicken fans at Shoresh Heritage Ranch. The designer is fond of roosters, too, and was very thoughtful in making these little gems available in many colors and sizes on the web.
Yes, we just thought it would be cute...ah, the next thing to try to protect those girls from the overzealous roosters before we send the roosters to the big freezer in the sky, or something. So, last week I found myself “dressing” (in only the fashion sense of the word, of course!) a few lucky hens. We’re lucky they are fairly tame- those things weren’t easy to get on. Just slide it over their wings… uh-huh. FW held them while I acted as the costuming director. Blue for this one? Or burgundy? How about khaki? Does she look like a medium or a large? Ha. Wasn't too bad once we go the hang of it- a bit like dressing a very feathery baby.
Once they were outfitted, there was a little ruffling at first, a little “inspecting” with the beaks, but now they seem to have completely forgotten about their place in the cutting edge of poultry fashion. The way our lives have been this week (leaving at 6 or 7 am, not getting home until 10pm), we haven’t really been able to monitor the effects on the “social” interactions first hand.
FW was home on Monday to watch for any problems, then we left them to their own devices. I did notice today that the biggest Rooster was leading a small group of his current favorites down the path, and none were “saddled”…giving some other hens a chance to gain favor? A welcome rest for the previous favorites? (Now, maybe they can tell him to go cluck off- sorry!)
Who knows…it does seem to be helping to protect them for now. And now we can be known as the crazy chicken-dressing people, a bit of notoriety that began already at yesterday’s Sustainable Farming Meeting. But there’s already interest from other chicken-keepers, so maybe we’ll be doing a favor to harassed hens all across the North!
And now, allow me to present… the Haute Couture Hens! Down the runway… but without their cluck-me heels....ahem (sorry, again, couldn't resist).
1 comment:
Love it! They look so purty! ;)
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