5 Years of Thanks

This year is going to be our 5th year having a vegan Thanksgiving.  And I'm thankful for that every single day!

Turkeys are such wonderful, sweet, compassionate animals.  It's so horrible to think of the abuses they go through - not only through genetic manipulation but how they are forced to live, that they are killed early and the actual gross physical abuse they are subjected to at the facilities.

I'm so glad we have our beautiful boy Jake with us.  He is a great reason to be thankful too!

Each year about 45 MILLION turkeys will be killed for this "holiday". That's a lot of violence on a day when we are meant to be expressing peace and gratitude.

The great thing about traditions is that they are so easy to change and/or create. Do something more than once and you have a new tradition!

We've had a compassionate, no-turkeys-or-other-animals-killed meal for going on 5 years now. Our

 meal includes: stuffing, root veggie mash or mashed potatoes (or both!), asparagus, Brussels sprouts, salad, pumpkin-herb rolls, gravy, fresh orange cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, apple pie and ice cream. Our "centerpiece" food have been Field Roast's Celebration Roast and their Hazelnut Cranberry Roast En Croute. This year we are going to add stuffed, maple-glazed roasted acorn squashes.

Just sub out a few ingredients and 1 item and your celebration becomes thankful, caring and compassionate. A TRUE celebration for the season.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Meet our new girls - Butterscotch & Tellicherry

As mentioned in the previous post, our Meggie (Nutmeg) passed away on Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Jake was very sad and we knew he needed some companions.  So we spoke with Red Dog Farm, the rescue group that many of our animals have come from, to see if they had any hens who could be placed with us.  Lucky for us they did and we were able to bring home Butterscotch and Tellicherry (Telli for short) on Friday.

They are such pretty girls.  I have already taken a ton of photos of them, but here are a few...

Jake and girls get along great and he is already acting as their protector.  Telli and Butterscotch were perfect in the car home and became accustomed to their coop after just one night.

We're so happy to have new members of the family!

Welcome to Butterscotch and Telli!!!

Turkey of the YEAR!!!

WE ARE SO EXCITED!!!  Our Jakey was selected as Turkey of the Year!!!

We always knew that our Jake wss a wonderful turkey and a true ambassador but now others get to see that too.

We are so proud of our big boy!!!

Be sure to read the stories of the other turkey runner-ups and please consider taking turkeys and other animals off of your table.  This is the season for peace, love and compassion and having a cruelty-free dinner is the best way to live according to these values.

Jake - Turkey of the Year, 2011

Gracious Gifts

Jake, Meg and Gertie are almost through with their feather moult and ready for winter.  I've been carefully collecting their best shed feathers and saving them for my talented crafting friends.

Most feathers are not naturally shed, they are ripped over and over from the live animals but these are carefully reclaimed and cleaned.

Jake's feathers range from 18" black and white stripes to delicate iridescent fluffs. Meg's are a warm nutmeg (her name inspiration) and black white Gertie's are graphic black and white.

I can't wait to see what new life these take on through the talents of others; new pieces that have a compassionate start.

Snow Day Pics - The Animals

Just some random animal snow day pics

Jake came out, looked around, went back in. I think the chickens stayed in bed.



Tulip says "No to Snow"



This is Petal's first snow and she's all "What do I do with it???"



Stay warm!

I'm Thankful for my Turkey

I'm thankful for my turkey Jake.

I'm thankful that he was rescued from an abusive neglectful situation by Red Dog Farm.

I'm thankful he came to live with us.

I'm thankful for his calm presence, sweet personality and beautiful feathers.

I'm thankful for how he likes to follow us around the yard and how he protects the girls.

I'm thankful for food that brings me comfort.... because no animal was hurt or suffered or was killed just to fill my plate.

I'm thankful this lovely bird will never have to live in the horrible conditions or suffer the abuses so many millions of other turkeys do just because people feel they can kill them without remorse.

I'm thankful more and more the people are becoming aware of these issues and many are making changes that hopefully someday will end these horrors.

Home on the Range

So, Jake is finally with us.

I came home from my trip to see our new boy here. We're still getting used to each other but hopefully he will settle in okay. He seems to get along fine with the hens. We just to get him used to us.

I know this is a quick post and I've been lax in writing here but I promise to tell you tons more about Jake very soon. In the meantime, here are some new photos from Saturday free ranging in the yard. You can open them up big to see how colorful and majestic he is.

Enjoy!

Welcome Additions

While we continue to be very sad about the loss of Napoleon, we are still committed to caring for all of our pets in the best way possible.

I may have mentioned that Meg and Gertie were still a bit skittish about coming out of the coop. We have created some panels for over the coop yard to protect them and have also reinforced the coop and yard as well. That said, we've still not let them into the "new" yard area because that is where we found Napoleon.

The girls liked having a protector and looked to Napoleon for cues on what to do. Often times he would be keeping an eye out while the girls grazed around looking for food. With him gone they have had to do both and it makes them skittish.

We have decided to bring home an old friend. Jake the turkey was one of the first animals that I met at Red Dog Farm and I had fallen instantly in love with him. He was rescued from the hands of someone who didn't care for him at all and he was nearly starved. After his rescue he sat in a corner for two weeks without eating or moving but the loving care he received at RDF brought him back to life and health and he is now an amazing sight to see. He is very tall and extremely friendly, coming up to you right away to be petted and paid attention to. Right now he is getting stressed by a new rooster that was brought to RDF so we think coming to our place will be a better situation for him. We are honored that they trust us enough to take care of this wonderful boy.



And while I've long had a love for Jake, we are also going to take on more of a surprise addition too. Meet Miss Tulip (the black and white girl on the right) and her baby. Are they not precious?



These are pygmy goats so mamma will not get much bigger than 2 feet tall.



And her baby is as small and light as a kitten right now.



Gah! Just look at her!

The whole heard of 7 goats were rescued from another ignorant (I'm being kind) person who endangered their life by breeding one of the girls, Grace, to a regular sized goat. Consequently, the babies were too big and died, nearly killing Grace in the process.

We're very excited to bring these sweeties home. So not only will you be hearing about the chickens (and our other pets) but also about our new handsome turkey and how we learn to take care of these two girls as well.