Tag: chicken

Just A Chicken

Tuesday, June 11, 2024

The header shows me and “Wellsummer,” my 15-year-old house hen. In this photograph, her eye has a visible cataract; each eye is cataracted in person. She has trouble spotting food and water, and can’t estimate how far a leap to the ground from her low perch (usually I lift her off).

A domestic chicken that reaches the age of 15 is very old, and Wellsummer is an amazing bird. She’s reasonably healthy physically but being “done in” by failing eyesight that inhibits food and water intake.

The header photo shows her on my lap. She has a towel around her to help me control her wings while teaching her to accept food and water from syringes. She objects and makes surprisingly strong efforts to escape.

My goal is to control her enough so that my forefinger can rest on her beak and open for a syringe to drop bits of food or water. We’ve been practicing for days, and so far, she is managing to keep my arm and hand too busy to control her head adequately.

When Wellsummer was two days old, she became mine for fifty cents. I rescued her from a sick tank in a business then called Big R and created a setup in my living room to help her grow strong. She did and joined my first flock, finally becoming that group’s lone survivor. I brought some infant chickens home about three years ago and transferred Wellsummer to my house.

I have been fond of this hen since our early days together. All along, she’s remained in amazingly good health. The cataracts are a bummer, preventing her from eating and drinking adequately and hopping off a low perch.

I won’t give up on this project with her. Eventually, we will learn the business of syringe-giving and -receiving. Meanwhile, she must be consuming adequate solid nutrients and liquids independently to maintain her strength and interest in life. I don’t want Wellsummer to give up, either.

Dear Friends: “Just a chicken;” a label that masks rich, intelligent beings. Diana

Holiday Fuss

Sunday, March 31, 2024

Happy Easter.

My cooking method involves using an InstaPot or an air fryer, but today, I plan to oven-roast a chicken. This is no big deal to most, but it is to me. Years ago, I grasped the ease and speed of cooking with alternate equipment and rededicated my oven, making it a storage space for little-used pots.

Today, I am home and have a fat chicken in my refrigerator. After spending time considering the options for that bird, I decided to just go ahead and cook it the “old way.” I’m a little short on memory, so visited YouTube University. A refresher course reminded me of beer-can chicken and that in my refrigerator is a can of beer.

My hatched plan starts by clearing the oven of unused, neglected skillets and pots and placing them out of the way temporarily. It feels a bit scary, wondering if my beer can chicken will turn out really good and make me reconsider doing oven cooking instead of using my quickie appliances.

You see, I’ve found that not much cooked with quickie appliances really satisfies. I’ve accepted that because, importantly, quickies cook rapidly with minimal effort. However, I often consider the tastes and textures inferior and recall them as more satisfying with variable temperatures and longer oven times.

As usual, I’m making a mountain out of a molehill. I hope my beer-can oven-cooked chicken looks and tastes special as a fine holiday meal. I also hope the chicken is only slightly better than my quickies would produce. That would satisfy; I’d happily return the old skillets and pots to my oven, call it a day, and continue the faster and easier quickie cooking.

Dear Friends: Best wishes to all for whom Easter is a special holiday. Diana