Solitude in Mendocino & Sex Changing Chickens

Haven't been on here for a few weeks. I was watching a friends property and doing some winter maintenance there. It was a great two weeks of little distraction, and lots of enjoyable solitude.

This here is Arrow. I'm not sure what kind of dog he is but he is a handsome pup. He could pass for part fox in this picture.

This is Ham, a chocolate lab. He always looks this somber and serious.

I guess its wasn't truly solitude as these two fellows were with me at every waking moment. Ham was the solemn leader of the two who would always bring me sticks to throw. Arrow was lovable, disobedient and very attention starved. I learned to enjoy their personalities greatly in my time with them.

This fine specimen is Buckbuck. Suitor and guardian to the 9 egg layers and 4 meat chickens.

Here is one of the egg laying hens struttin' her stuff on the roof of a shed.

The meat chickens waddled to get around; if they did decide to move about. They could hardly keep from dragging their breast on the ground as they sought out more food to eat.

I dispatched one of the meat chickens near the end of the stay. Two of meat chickens had been fighting each other for a couple of days. The strange thing is that the two fighting hens had pronounced combs and wattles; though they were purchased as female chicks. Were they mis-sexed or possibly there was some spontaneous sex reversal?

I looked into it a little more and it turns out sexual transformation from female to male is not so uncommon among the "Gallus gallus domesticus". Female chickens only have one functional ovary, the left one. If this ovary is damaged (cysts, cancer, or adrenal problems) then the right ovary starts to regenerate. The right ovary (known as an ovotestis) once functioning will produce hormones like testes, ovaries, or a combination of the two. This, in time, can create male secondary sexual traits in the hen; for example a larger comb and wattle.

I guess I ended an alpha male contest between two transgendered hens.

I roasted the chicken with some veggie broth, garlic, paprika, angostura bitters, potatoes, and onions. It turned out great.

While we're are talking about chickens, here is a quick bit of trivia. "Gallus" the family name refers to Gaul or the region of modern day France. Its commonly said that the chicken was domesticated in ancient India, but recent archeological evidence attributes the people of Vietnam with this endeavor (some 10,000 years ago). The domesticated chicken traveled far and wide in the ancient world, it arrived to the courts of Egypt around 1300 B.C.

Half way through the two weeks two friends visited and let me use a truck for a couple of days. I drove into Fort Bragg on a saturday and bought some groceries and then checked out the beach there. I also took some pictures at the peak of one of the hills to get a eyeful of the surrounding emerald hills. It was great to get away for part of the day and see some new sights.