Chickens--the new cure for depression

Ok, I admit it. I have been very depressed of late. The major cause is being out of work and having problems finding another job. I can generally find a job pretty quick, but with the state of the economy and unemployment being what it is in Oregon, I am having real issues. My dog, Bindi, has really been a source of pleasure through all of my down days, but she is willing to stay in bed with me all day and is not really much of a motivator. Housework has never been my passion so that doesn't motivate me much either. I ran across a post about a poultry swap in Albany, Oregon that was held on Saturday, April 24th, so I decided to go. Doug went with me, well actually, Doug drove me to the meet up as I am just not enthused about driving. I think it is the nine years I spent commuting 35 miles on way to work. At least I had a job.

We arrived at the meet up a little late and I was concerned that we would not find anything interesting left to look at. Boy, was I wrong! Chicken people run something like pagan time, which is generally at least 30 minutes late. I was met by a very nice lady who was with the Backyardchicken.com, host of the event. There were not as many chickens as I had expected and it did not take long for Doug and I to walk the line of cars, trucks and vans with their chickens on display. There really were not many baby chicks there, but there were some beautiful roosters. Since Salem does not allow roosters in town, they were not candidates even though many were free.

Now, I have always loved cochin chickens. They are the ones with the feathered legs and feet and the puffy butts. Doug and I were walking along the line of vehicles, admiring the occupants of cages and dog crates. There was a large variety of big chickens, but my attention was soon caught by a cage of four chickens on the back of a truck. I pointed them out to Doug and we walked over to look at them. Sure enough, there were two bantam cochin hens. I knew it. I wanted them. Doug said they looked nice, in the cage, advising me that they would not look so nice in our yard. You see, we came to the meet up with the intention of finding a hutch for a rabbit that I was recently given by my good friend Betsy, so chickens were not on the "menu" that day. The seller of these hens was a boy about 10 years old. He told us that he wanted $3.00 each for the hens. I told him I thought that was a great price and that they were very pretty. We walked on down the line casually stopping and looking at more roosters. This little boy was not going to let us get away. As we came up the other side of the line he met us saying that he would "give" us the hens. I told Doug I wanted them, but would pay the eager salesman for them. We ended up with both hens for $5.00. The father provided a feed sack to put them in as we were not prepared for bringing home chickens, we were looking for a rabbit hutch. I did find a hutch that I liked but the lady who had it did not seem to be horribly pleasant to deal with and the hutch was priced way out of my range. So, into the truck went the hens. I continued to shop while Doug talked with a very nice couple next to where we parked. They had roosters too. Of course, since chicken people run on pagan time, I came across a late comer who had some beautiful frizzle chicks. And of course, there was a black pullet, 7 weeks old that caught my eye. Interesting enough the eager boy salesman was there also looking at the frizzles. The lady who owned the chicks was not at her car so I waited. She finally came back to her car and I asked to see the pullet. Once the little black ball of disorganized feathers was placed in my hand, that is where she stayed. She was so cute. Tiny little comb and bright black eyes nestled in a mass of feathers that looked like they had gone though a hurricane. I paid the asking price without question and asked for some feed for her. I was given two zip lock bags of feed and wandered back to the truck and to my awaiting husband. He saw me coming. He saw the black mass of curly feathers. I saw the look in his eye. I walked right up to him and said "Look what I got you!" He looked at the black puff ball and said "Cute". I told him I was going to get into the truck as it was now raining and I was getting cold, and worse yet, the frizzle seemed really cold too. Doug mumbled something under his breath like, "I thought you were kidding about the pullet". Into the truck the pullet and I went. We left that day with two bantam cochin hens and one bantam frizzle pullet. I left that day unknowingly with the beginning of the resolution of my depression.

Doug and I spent the rest of the day buying chicken feed and designing a chicken coop for the girls. Doug is actually quite handy when it comes to building things. I am really thankful for that skill that he has as I can think things up but he is the one that puts it all together while correcting my design flaws. He determined that we would use the old hamster/rat/oppossum cage, yes, oppossum cage for a coop. There were several cedar boards that were once a box turtle corral that he used for the exterior covering of the said cage. He built it, I held the boards as he screwed everything together. The inital construction did not take long and the girls were released into their new coop filled with soft shavings by evening. As far as the frizzle goes, she was too young to be out in the coop so she came into the house in a tub with a wire lid. And that is still yet another story.

The Vet

Today was vet day for Bindi. I have been going to the same vet office for many years, over 15 anyway. We load up and drive to the clinic. Up arriving in the parking lot I do not seem to be able to find the clinic. Last time I was there, a year ago, it looked the same as it had for years prior. Now, looking down the row of stores, things look different. I know what door it was, but now there is all new signage. It still says clinic, but now there are signs for a pet spa, health care, wellness, etc. What the heck is a pet spa?

I leave Bindi in the car and walk in. I see familiar faces so I am probably in the right place. I check in at the counter and let them know I have Bindi for a walk in appointment for vaccines. They don't do walk ins anymore. You can walk in, but they will then assign you a time to come back if they have a slot available. I kind of shake my head because the walk in appointments were ALL they were taking last time I was there. I ask the receptionist if I am really at the right place. "Is this _______ clinic?" She responds that yes I am at the right clinic, but they have changed in the last year and so I have to have an appointment to come back. I had recently, like in the last 10 days, received a reminder card for Bindi's vaccinations, from _________ Clinic with no mention of changes in walk in appointments nor any mention of a clinic name change. I wondered why the generally full to overflowing clinic waiting room did not have any clients. I now have a hour and half to wait to get Bindi taken care of. My dissatisfaction regarding having to come back did not seen to have any effect on the receptionist. So, I left, appointment in hand, with time to kill.

Bindi and I went to the park. We played fetch the stick on the tennis courts and walked around. We did a good job of wasting and hour and a half and made it back to the clinic. I checked back in at the desk and we waited in the waiting room. We waited for about 15 minutes to get weighed and into a room. We waited to be pre screened by the vet tech and we waited for the Vet to see us. All in all my short walk in appointment to get Bindi vaccinated took three and a half hours!!! I do understand that there can be unforeseen issues, but our appointment took an hour and a half!! Maybe they should install the paging system like Olive Garden does so you can go do the other nine hundred things you need to do while you wait. They could page you and let you know they are now ready for you. I am glad I got Bindi taken care of today and Rayne has an appointment on Saturday.

I'm going to let Doug take him.

Chickens are like people or the other way around?

Chickens, you know, the feathered egg laying wonders of the world are very interesting. Most people think chickens are so far below humans on the intelligence scale that there could not be any comparison. Consider for a minute the prospect that people are more like chickens than we think we are.

People, evolved beings from humble beginnings. We work hard, we play hard, we meet many types of people from varied backgrounds. Despite our ability to communicate both with oral and written language, we have failed to develop in a crucial area. If you have an established group of people and you add a new person a very interesting situation arises. Let us consider the workplace. A new employee is hired to fill a position that has come vacant. The existing group of employees generally will introduce themselves and then begin the summing up process. There is generally one employee who will begin to talk among the group, pointing out the differences in the new employee. Soon the pointing and picking becomes a habit and the new addition suffers the harassment of the group. Generally, there is not anyone who will take a stand against this treatment of the new addition so before long the new addition learns how to blend in, be quiet or separate themselves from the group for survival.

So, what does this have to do with chickens?

The farmer knows that when you add a new chicken to the flock there are bound to be issues. There is a pecking order in the flock and once it has been disturbed the new chicken is at risk of injury or even death. This new chicken could be indistinguishable to the human eye, big white chicken added to 10 other big white chickens, what is the issue? Somehow the flock knows. They will seek out the new member, chase, beat them with their wings, and sometimes even pick them to death. The one peck leads to another and then a speck of blood on the feather and then it becomes a group assault. Many perfectly healthy chickens have been killed by the existing flock members when an attempt has been made to incorporate them.

Farmers who are experienced in the ways of the chicken have found a solution to the flock melt down when a new member is added. This smart farmer waits until all the chickens have went to roost for the night and then adds the new chicken. As the flock comfortably snoozes on their perches or in their nest box, the farmer carefully places the new chicken on the roosts right next to the other chickens. As the sun comes up and the chickens all wake up together the new chicken is not noticed. They all woke up together so all must be well in the hen house.

So why the comparison, chicken to people or people to chicken? We all are guilty of looking at new people with a slanted view. They were not here yesterday so it is up to us to point out their differences, to make them conform or fit our view of how they should be. The interesting thing about this scenario is that we have a choice. We, as people, can chose to be open to new people or be like a chicken whose natural instinct pushes them to destroy others.

There is also an additional note to be made. When a farmer finds that there is a chicken that continues to pick at the new member of the flock, he solves the problem by having chicken pot pie for dinner that night.

Something for all of us to consider.

Punt

When things just don't seem to work out, the best thing is to drop back and punt. I spent many years driving to Wilsonville to work and I thought I would retire from that company. Things happen, views change, management makes decisions you don't necessarily understand. So, I became unemployed. I was out of work maybe 2 weeks and secured a job with a local company here in Salem. Two years later came the layoffs. I was given my notice and tried to get my ducks in a row to be RIF'd. My layoff date came, went, and I was asked to stay on longer. Now my plans were all out of whack. With my second layoff date fast approaching I applied for a position within the company, and got it! This position was the one I had dreamed about for years. It was the position that I had encouraged my Wilsonville employer to consider. A sounding board and assistance person for customers...customer service to the highest degree. Of course, this is all written in past tense because in November 2009 my position was absorbed into another department and again I became unemployed, laid off, RIF'd. During my pre-layoff time I enrolled in school and that was what helped me through all of the ups and downs of the waiting, wondering and not knowing how things would end up. In December 2009, an opportunity to use my new education presented itself, quite out of the blue. A nice office, with nice people in the throws of moving locations and combining offices. A newly redesigned work environment that was stunning. I tried hard to meet their requests and ever changing direction. I must admit I was pulled in many directions and sometimes wondered what direction they were actually headed. Now, I am once again unemployed. I'll try to remember that it is not a good thing to ask too many questions. So, now, I punt!

Speaking of Baby Steps

Many of my friends do not know that on November 5th I was laid off from my job at Sunwest Management. It was a very difficult situation for me as the position was one that I had desired for many years. As the Resident Relations Coordinator I was able to speak with the residents and family members and assist them with resolving their issues and concerns. During the year that I held the position I was able to close 750 calls from 2008 and keep the 2009 open calls to a minimum. The loss of this position and the loss of the friends I had made at Sunwest hit hard. With unemployment reaching 14% here in Oregon I felt I had a long haul to find another job. With the help and support of the Universe and my friends I am happy to say that tomorrow I start a new position that is going to be a great challenge. I will be able to use my accounting background and my new insurance coding skills. I should have my certification in insurance coding sometime in January 2010, which will complete just over a year of study. Baby Steps, definately; on a road of great expectations and challenges!

Baby Steps

I tend to be a very private person, so I am not sure how blogging is going to fit into my life at this time. Sounded like a good idea at the time and I did manage to get it all set up. So, this is my first blog entry, and I am not sure what to write about. I could write about my dog, Bindi, who is my best friend and confidant. Or, my daughter, who definitely keeps me young at heart. My husband, who is one of my biggest challenges in life ((smile)). One day I may be able to write about those who make up a large part of my day and time, but not yet. So for now, I will leave this as it is and give some consideration of what I want to write next.