What happens when a girl from Miami and a guy from Chicago move to a 118-year old house in small-town North Carolina and care for our rescued chickens.
So over the weekend, on Saturday July 13th in fact, we celebrated our 5th Vegan-versary.
To mock/quote a friend I'll say, we have been 5 years "on a bandwagon", now that is a long bandwagon.
5 years since we stopped eating meat, and any other animal product soon after... It is too simple a thing to say our lives changed. And was all thank to a tenacious little rooster named Napoleon. He put his life on the line, literally, to protect his girls. And with his life in peril, it woke us up to the fact that THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE between those animals we eat and those we love, we have just culturally made up reasons to make our guilt feel lessened.
If you are interested in saving your life and not being a victim of a food system that has been bought out years before you were born, if you are sick of being and sick and tired of being tired then a plant-based whole foods way of life is for you.
Don't buy into fad diets of no-carbs or "caveman" eating, what veganism offers is an approach to food, and all consumables, that massively lessens your impact on the world, while providing a framework for healthy living.
It is affordable, unlike some propaganda would have you believe. Veganism as a cultural movement was named around since the 1940s but, of course, this concept is not even that new - heck, even Socrates is quoted is advocating against eating animals. And evidence shows people knew the dangers of certain foods that are bad for us centuries before that, e.g. meat and dairy.
It doesn't matter if you are a young, old, pregnant or have a debilitating disease - whole foods, plant based is the way to go.
And if you want to see a sweet, although fuzzy, video of when Napoleon was reunited with his girls after healing for over a month, check out our video.
The following is a story of accidental retribution. A rooster in India resisted being forced back into the cock-fighting ring and slit his owner's throat.
Indian police say the "dangerous rooster" is thought to have killed Singrai Soren after being forced back into the ring soon after his last fight.
The animal had emerged victorious, but witnesses said the victim died after the feathered fiend cut his throat with razor blades attached to its legs ashe tried to immediately force it into another bout.
Villagers were warned not to approach the animal cops described as "an unknown rooster with black and red feathers".
Police want to find the bird to strip it of the deadly blades he killed with, but said with so many roosters matching his description the chances of catching him were slim.
A friend of the victim, named only as Dasai, said: "The rooster tried to get away from the ring several times but Soren tried to push him into the ring repeatedly.
"This upset him and he attacked."
The razor blades were attached to the rooster to fell opponents but sliced Soren's jugular vein instead.
Those around the ring only realised what had happened when blood started pouring out of him.
Dasai said roosters are used to an hour-long break between bouts.
He said: "Most masters are satisfied with the cash reward of £28 for every fight and a dead opponent to feast on but Soren seemed unsatisfied.
"He wanted him to go into the ring within a few minutes of his first fight and that is when the rooster began to complain."
Six days on, police suspect the prized rooster is being sheltered by a rival trainer keen to put the champion bird back in the ring.
It had notched up a four fight winning streak in the village of Mohanpur.
...
The bolds above are my own.
Cock fighting is nothing unique to India. In fact my own state of North Carolina has a huge problem with this. What you see above is the vicious cruelty and unrelenting abuse these animals are subjected too. Most consider roosters to be mean and to like fighting but they do not. Even a "fighting" bird wants to get out.
I think the animal fighting sports are some of the worst abuses we humans do to animals. We make them into killers through our own brutality. Their actions are mirrors of our own inner sickness.
I was lucky enough to spend time with a rescued rooster, my Napoleon. This is how I think of them.
Napoleon came to us as an adult but he loved to be in my arms. He would run and jump into my lap, snuggle down and fall asleep. He would make little purr sounds and try to protect me just like Meg and Gertie. He nearly died protecting them from a stray dog that came into our yard.
Yes, he was feisty and temperamental but he was loving and fun. I don't wish harm on anyone but I do hope that this rooster (who doesn't even get a name) finds some peace and freedom away from the brutality of the ring. I hope it opens some eyes for the people involved there and in this whole group of sick participants around the world.
It's a sort of a bittersweet reminder because we went vegetarian (and shortly after, vegan) when Napoleon was hurt. We were lucky that he recovered but were sad when he was taken from us just a few months later.
I still grieve for him and keep his picture as the background on my phone so I can see him every day.
I miss our little man. I'm not sure if we will have the opportunity to care for a rooster again. Jake the turkey is doing so well with the girls that we are afraid of upsetting the balance in the coop. But Napoleon had such a great personality that I miss having a feisty rooster around.
Napoleon, we have you to thank and credit for our awakening. Because of you we have brought more compassion into our lives and we feel we are saving lives with each meal.
One year ago our brave boy Napoleon was taken from us. We think it was by a hawk.
I still mourn for him. It was such a shock and my heart hurts. I miss him every day. I can't even explain how much I loved him.
Napoleon was the reason we became vegetarian and then vegan. How could we care so much for this rooster and know that millions upon millions of baby roosters are ground up alive as a part of the egg industry, hens are brutally debeaked and crammed into cage and millions more are abused and killed for us to eat.
Napoleon had been injured buy a dog several months earlier and was nearly killed protecting his girls. He was very good and brave during his care but he missed his girls. If you don't' think chickens have feelings you should have seen them calling to each other across the yard (Napoleon stayed on our porch during his recovery) and then the emotional reunion...
Not only does my rooster love me and like to jump up onto my hand and (usually) come when he is called but is now on his way to being an entertainer.
Okay, he already entertains me for hours, as do the girls, but now we have fun playing together too. We already play a sort of "tag" where I run around the yard and he runs after me but now I've taught him to jump from one hand to the other.
I'll have to get a video of this but he jumps up on my hand and then I hold up my other arm/hand a fair distance apart and he half-flies/half-jumps to it. We'll do this several times in a row or until one of us gets bored or tired.
You may not know this, but chickens are inquisitive, interesting animals who are as intelligent as mammals like cats, dogs, and even primates. Dr. Chris Evans, administrator of the animal behavior lab at Australia’s Macquarie University, says, “As a trick at conferences, I sometimes list [chickens’] attributes, without mentioning chickens, and people think I’m talking about monkeys.”
My goal is to teach him to remain calm enough that we can bring him other places so that more people can get to meet and actual live chicken and learn more about these sweet animals outside of a dinner plate.
Today is absolutely gorgeous out, here in North Carolina. My favorite weather of all - cool, clear and sunny. It was so nice that I couldn't resist staying out with the chickens this morning and letting them run around the yard a bit before I went in to make breakfast.
This is the life that chickens deserve. Being able to spread their wings, scratch on the ground, interact with one another, eat some fresh greens and hunt for bugs and worms.
I have extremely crappy video capabilities on my little digital camera. This was low-res on the original video and even worse now that it is uploaded to YouTube. So, I know, you can't really get a good view of them.
What you can hear (and sort of make out) is Napoleon and the girls walking around and Napoleon finding stuff then making his little coo-ing sound to call the girls over, letting them know he found something good for them to eat.
It also shows him running over to me as soon as I got closer to the ground because he wants to jump up on my lap. He loves me.
I haven't really discussed this much on any of the blogs but we have changed to being vegetarians. I have actually wanted this for a very long time but it can be hard when you live with someone who is not totally ready for the change, especially if they do most of the cooking.
But Napoleon's attack really brought the issue and the disconnect home and we were both ready for this. And I have to say, no diet change has ever been easier. Or made more sense.
We are not completely vegan. We still each cheeses and butter and, rarely, milk, as well as the eggs we get from our girls. The hubby still eats fish. I'm a bit of a seafood snob in general so I didn't eat much in the past unless I was within an hour of the ocean. In terms of the cheeses, most of what we get comes from a local goat dairy, so we are very familiar with how the animals are treated.
With all of the great produce out there as well as the huge surge in recipes, menu choices and prepared foods, eating vegetarian is amazingly easy. And once you get past the mindset that a meal needs to include meat it's been simple.
One of my biggest hurdles was the milk issue. I love cereal and eat it a lot, generally. I always have - ask my parents. If I wanted a simple dinner, that was what I ate. So I was I bit leery of the Soy/Rice milk products. But when we decided to make the change we thought we would give them a try. How bad could they be, right? And if we hated them, we'd just dump them down the drain.
Well, we tried the Silk Soy Milk and LOVED IT. Seriously, I couldn't get enough. We have now tried the chai and chocolate flavors too. I like to have a glass of the chocolate when I get home from work for a quick "snack". The hubby uses it in his hot tea in the morning and to make scrambled eggs. If you haven't tried it, you really should. It's a little sweet but yummy.
The two of us have slightly different reasons for doing this but, hey, as long as we're together on the end choices, I'm fine with that. We're just at the beginning (just 3 months or so in) but I've never felt better physically or emotionally. It's kind of exciting.
I'm trying to convince the hubby to do his own blog talking about the recipes he's making and the products we find and try. I hope I can get him to do it because I think it would help to have someone share this change from a very early step. A lot of the vegetarian blogs and writers and podcasters have been on this for a long time, which can be intimidating. We're still learning ourselves but we're enthusiastic. What do you think?
We've been talking it up and, of course there are always questions. Our culture is so ingrained with how meals "should be" but once you get past that, you'd be surprised to realize that it's so easy.
And as I'm saying to everyone who is considering it or who we talk about it to:
You don't have to do everything; just do something.
That means, you don't have to make a 100% vegan lifestyle switch overnight. Ease into it. Give up chicken. Have 3 nights a week be vegetarian meals. Anything is better than nothing. I think you'd be surprised how much you already do and how much you like it.
Plus, if you want to chat or ask question (or follow my daily yummy meals on Twitter) I welcome it!
Just a quick note. I'll update more tonight or tomorrow.
We're taking Napoleon for a final visit with an avian specialis tonight. His feathers are really sprouting now and we hope she gives him a clean bill of health. Our goal is to have him back in the coop in the next day or so. I know he is eager to be out and we hope the girls will not have a problem with him (or should I say them not give him any problems).
If all goes well he'll be out scratching around by the weekend!
As I mentioned - Mr. Napoleon is on the mend. He's even regrowing most of the feathers on his back! We're going to keep him on the porch until they fully "sprout" but he's looking like he will get most of them back.
As he is right now, he looks like a hedgehog!
He's been very good about being on the porch and in his crate. I know he's bored but he's been wonderful. And I think he and our kitten have a new bond. They love to stare at each other through the windows.
But I'm sure he can't wait to get back out in the coop to see his girls and scratch around.
It's been a while since we did an update on Napoleon. He is doing amazingly well. The biggest news is that he's started to grow feathers again. His back looks like a hedgehog! I think by next week he'll be ready to go back into the coop. He should be done with the antibiotics today but we'll keep him on the porch until his feathers really sprout and cover his back.
Then we'll have to see how he and the girls get on at their re-introduction.
On Friday night we took Napoleon for a follow-up visit to the After Hours Vet. The good thing is that they are only open evenings and weekends, so we took Napoleon Friday night around 10pm, which worked out perfectly since he would be sleepy and easy to transport in the crate.
Let me just say the emergency vet late on a Friday night is a very depressing place to be.
All in all they said he was doing well, but the vet said that the green spots might be a bacterial infection. She wasn't sure so we decided to continue giving him the antibiotics. Since the vet admitted she is not an avian expert, she referred us to another vet in the town over. However, that vet is out until Wednesday. So that's where we will be taking him Wednesday night.
There was one big development yesterday. I walked out my door to do some errands. I was wearing a jeans skirt and some sandals and a black top. I looked out into my yard which goes pretty far back. About 50 yards or less out we have a pile of brush for a burn pile. Yeah, well, who was messing around in the brush probably chasing a rabbit or something???
IT WAS THE DAMN DOG! The same dog that hurt Napoleon.
I called out softly, "Hey Puppy." The dog looked up and took off at top speed back behind our property towards the woods which back up to our area. I dropped my bags and took off running down the gravel road which leads back to our neighbor's house which is up there.
Now, after I had come back from the taking Napoleon to the vet last week we had gone back to our neighbor's as he raises hunting dogs. And sometimes these dogs happen to get out. So, suffice it to say, these dogs were prime suspects to me from the start. But I couldn't prove anything and they had said the dogs had not gotten out.
Well, it just so happens they let the dogs out to run around and get exercise in their woods. But this dog happened to be going up onto our property since neither of us have any fences. When I got up to their house I had a little chat with the dog's owner about the whole situation.
Net result, we made it clear that not only do we not want their dogs on our property again, they would be paying for all the vet bill...which will probably end up being in the $700+ range.
It would be an understatement to say that I'm very happy we found and were able to prove whose dog it was.
Napoleon continues to amaze us with his recovery. He's even tried to flap up over his barrier on the porch. He's getting restless and probably bored with being on the porch, away from his girls with nothing to scratch up or play with.
His back seems to be healing and he is walking better. He is getting an odd discoloration on the skin on this back, though. We are going to take him in for a follow-up vet visit tonight. We want them to look at his back and make sure he doesn't need more antibiotics.
We plan on taking him at night, since the vet is an after-hours vet anyways. This way, he'll be in his crate and sleepy. We hope!
So the pics are a bit graphic but you can see the level of injury Napoleon sustained. It's a bit hard to tell from this angle but his back is scraped raw and the puncture wounds are there. He's lost some of his balance too. Some of that is due to soreness probably but also because his tail feathers are missing.
The less severe puncture wound is the one you see here towards the back. The worse one is just at the edge of the feathers.
Given that he was in the dog's mouth when we saw this happening and that he was completely in shock and limp when we rushed him to the vet, it is amazing that he avoided broken bones or worse. That he is now standing, eating, drinking and crowing is even more of a miracle.
Let's hope he keeps on improving and that the antibiotics do their work!
Napoleon is hanging in there. He's being very good on the porch and seems to like sleeping in the cat crate in the dog carrier.
He's even eaten some of his feed and been drinking water. We've been cutting down on the pain shots just to try and help space them out a bit but he's been getting his antibiotics regularly.
He's walking around and crowing although we are keeping an eye on his left leg because it seems a bit wonky. We're not really sure what's up - if it's just sore or if it is hurt more than we can tell.
Last night we zipped him into his crate when he had gone to sleep and left him on the porch. We probably won't do that again because the light wakes him up far too early.
His back is scabbed over, which I think is good. It helps to heel and keeps out any dirt, dust or buggies. Not that we are really getting many since the porch is screened in.
Napoleon is outside my window crowing right now. We did not give him pain meds this morning so we'll see how he does today. I'm going to go into work but may have to come home early if he starts having trouble.
