Chicken in or chicken out?
[Many of you have read the online discussion about raising chickens in Cleveland Heights at the Heights Observatory forum. Here's resident Ralph Solonitz' contribution to the discussion. Editor.]
Chicken in or chicken out?
Cluck cluck, bark bark,or meow meow?
I’m a dog lover. My last two lived 15 years each.
Marbles and Dotty.
I like the feeling of sticking my feet under my dog's butt
on cold winter nights. Wives are okay for that too!
My wife Linda and I miss having a pet.
Our apartment lease prohibits having a dog.
A cat?
My sister-in law Ellen swears by them…no walking,
Then I remember, Picky eaters and hairballs…never mind.
My grandpa Yasha had chickens, lots of them.
I spent every summer on Yasha’s chicken farm.
South Jersey near the shore, fresh air and fresh eggs.
Chickens? why not?
I googled pet chickens and started to read.
START
Baby chickens.
Pet chickens are a joy, a bundle of love, affectionate
and soon become your best friend, hey, with my sarcasm,
I could use all the friends I can get.
This is what I’ll need.
A cage with a heat lamp.
A dish for feeding.
A cup for water (chicks love water) My wife loves a glass of Charas.
Buy chick feed, later feed and grit.
Clean its cage, and later let it run outside.
Treat it nicely (sure, why wouldn’t I?) Young chickens learn to trust early. (Just like me!)
WARNING
Uh oh. What’s this part?
Be prepared to clean up after it.
Chickens can peck hard, my wife too!
Chickens are not suitable with other pets. Ok. Only child.
Cockerels will crow, (these must be the males…hence the name…duh!) Get the chick sexed before you buy. Sexed? Oh, find out if it’s a girl. A hen, for the eggs, yes.
If your chicken is paying lots of attention to your eyes and is close to your face, Move it fast. Chickens like to peck at eyes…I’ll keep my glasses on, thank you!
When do I get to the part about the omelets?
Oh, I see here…I’ll have to wait 5 to 6 months before the egg laying begins, and then they are productive for 3 to 4 years…and they can live for 15 years?
They may outlive me?
Maybe not. Chicken salad?
Oops, just checked my local zoning laws…
Chickens are considered farm animals and forbidden…off to
Giant Eagle for eggs.
Giant Eagle eggs?
Cleveland Heights resident Ralph Solonitz (artist/writer) was born in 1947 in Munich, Germany, the son of Holocaust survivors. He began doodling very early on...first in German and a few years later in his new language English. His father gave him motivational advice..."stop your doodling, you are vasting time and vill amount to nutting". Fast forward 55 years, thousands of dollars in therapy and he still can't stop doodling.
