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“I’ve Iearned a few things fromthe jnteractiOn Of my fOur hens”
Four chickens are the newest addition to myhousehold. Adopting them is the latest on thevery short list of good deeds that I’ve donein mv life. Not only did I save them from thehorror of a commercial egg farm; I also continue to winthe approval of my all-female staff by bringing fresheggs to the office every week.
You probably think I'm being egotistical, using thesechickens to make myself popular with women. But ifyou had seen these featherless battery hens when I gotthem a few months ago, you might think better of me.
The mass-production poultry farms keep thousandsof hens in small wire cages and drip-feed them foodand water. But every weekend, for just A$ 5 (ε3),you can buy any hen that is 15 months old and notproducing enough eggs.
My four chooks--as laying hens are commonlycalled in Australia--had never seen the sun and themoon, grass and trees or, for that matter, even a pool ofwater. Their new home--30 square metres of grass witha lemon tree in the centre--must have felt like paradise.
Within weeks, they had eaten and scratched thatspace bare, except for the tree, the lower branches ofwhich gave them a feeling of safety in the early days. Ittook them some time to realize that the snails, insectsand lizards they uncovered were gourmet delights.They also had to be taught to drink water from a pool.
After their life at the battery farm, where theypecked at each other for something to do, they werealmost featherless. The chooks were sunburned untiltheir feathers grew back and they regained theirnatural pride in their looks.
These days, their world is even bigger. I let themout into the garden for a few hours after work and formost of the day at weekends. Like pigs that look fortruffles, they have developed a gourmet’s taste andability to find escargots.
They have also developed from homogeneousbattery hens to individuals in a hierarchy, known inthe world of chooks as“the pecking order”. You cansee this at night, when they are in their covered area,by which one sits highest above the ground and hasthe best feathers, especially in the tail.
When they first arrived, they did not know aboutroosting. They’d sleep together on the straw, lyingin their own wastes. Now it is much easier for me toclean their area and put the ground straw and manurestraight on to the vegetable garden.Not only are they helping to grow thesummer vegetables; from day one, theyhave also produced the most beautifuleggs with big yolks of a rich saffroncolour.
The best part has been observingthe social development of these birds.Maybe that’s why my teenage kidsencouraged me for so long to fill theempty chook yard that I’d built as asmall project with them so many yearsago. Perhaps they think the chooks area good daily interest for me as theyreach adulthood and leave me as an “empty nester”.
While I’d never tell my staff this, Ithink I’ve learned a few things fromthe interaction of my four hens athome. I also think that I’ve proveda few ideas about the behaviour ofhuman beings after they leave prisonor other institutions.
All in all, the hens have been a greatA$ 20 investment and something thatmakes them and me feel better.
我家最近添了几名新成员一一四只小鸡。收养它们是我最近做过的一一生中罕有的好事之一。我不仅把它们从商业蛋禽场的惨境中解救出来，而且每周还把新鲜的鸡蛋带到我那满是女同事的办公室，这一做法不断为我赢得女同胞们的赞许。
你或许会认为，我利用这些小鸡让自己受女性欢迎是很自私的行为，不过，假如你在几个月前我买它们的时候见过这些掉光了羽毛、在层架式鸡笼里饲养的母鸡的话，你对我的评价可能会好些。
大规模生产家禽的饲养场把数以千计的母鸡监禁在小小的铁丝笼中，用滴注式方法喂给它们食物和水。不过每到周末，你只需花5澳元(合3欧元)就可以买到任何一只15个月大、未能产是蛋的母鸡。
我那四只小母鸡(chooks)——产蛋鸡在澳大利亚通常被叫做chooks——从未见过太阳和月亮、小草与绿树，就连一汪池水也没有见过。它们在新家——一块30平米见方、中央有一棵柠檬树的草地——里一定感觉像在天堂一样。
不出几周的时间，它们就把那块地连吃带创地弄了个精光，只剩下那棵树，低处的树枝起初曾给过它们安全感。小鸡们花了相当长的时间才意识到它们发现的蜗牛、昆虫和蜥蜴能带来享受美食的乐趣，它们还必须被教会从水池中饮水。
它们在层架式鸡笼养殖场时无所事事互相啄咬，在那里生活一段时间后毛都快掉光了。小鸡们很快就被晒伤了，直到它们羽翼重新丰满才恢复了以往的神采。
这些日子，它们的世界更为广阔了。在下班后的几个小时或者周末的大部分时间里，我都会把它们放到菜园里。像寻找块菌的猪一样，它们也培养出了一种美食家的品味和捕食蜗牛的能力。
它们还从毫无区别的层架式鸡笼里饲养的母鸡发展成为等级分明的个体 这在鸡的世界里被称为“啄序”。到了晚上你就会发现，在它们有屋顶的栖息处，离地面最高的地方栖着的那只小母鸡羽毛——尤其是它尾巴上的毛——最漂亮。
它们刚到的时候还不懂进窝休息。它们一起睡在稻草堆上，卧在自己的排泄物上。现在我清扫它们的地方容易多了，直接把铺地的稻草和鸡粪扔到菜园里就可以了。这样不仅有助于夏季蔬菜的生长，而且，从第一天开始，它们就能产出最美丽的鸡蛋，蛋黄很大且呈富丽的金黄色。
最精彩的事莫过于观察这些小鸡的社会性发展。也许这就是为什么我那些十多岁的孩子们长久以来一直鼓励我(养小鸡)填满那个多年前我们一起搭建的空鸡舍。或许他们已经想到，他们长大成人后，留下我成为“空巢老人”，小母鸡会成为我的日常乐趣所在。
尽管我从未向我的员工们提及此事，我想自己已从家中四只母鸡的相互影响与交流中获得了一些启迪。我想我还证实了一些关于人类从监狱或其他机构中获释后行为(特点)的理论。
总而言之，花20澳元买这些小母鸡是一项非常好的投资，也是一件于我于它们都更为美好的事情。
Four chickens are the newest addition to myhousehold. Adopting them is the latest on thevery short list of good deeds that I’ve donein mv life. Not only did I save them from thehorror of a commercial egg farm; I also continue to winthe approval of my all-female staff by bringing fresheggs to the office every week.
You probably think I'm being egotistical, using thesechickens to make myself popular with women. But ifyou had seen these featherless battery hens when I gotthem a few months ago, you might think better of me.
The mass-production poultry farms keep thousandsof hens in small wire cages and drip-feed them foodand water. But every weekend, for just A$ 5 (ε3),you can buy any hen that is 15 months old and notproducing enough eggs.
My four chooks--as laying hens are commonlycalled in Australia--had never seen the sun and themoon, grass and trees or, for that matter, even a pool ofwater. Their new home--30 square metres of grass witha lemon tree in the centre--must have felt like paradise.
Within weeks, they had eaten and scratched thatspace bare, except for the tree, the lower branches ofwhich gave them a feeling of safety in the early days. Ittook them some time to realize that the snails, insectsand lizards they uncovered were gourmet delights.They also had to be taught to drink water from a pool.
After their life at the battery farm, where theypecked at each other for something to do, they werealmost featherless. The chooks were sunburned untiltheir feathers grew back and they regained theirnatural pride in their looks.
These days, their world is even bigger. I let themout into the garden for a few hours after work and formost of the day at weekends. Like pigs that look fortruffles, they have developed a gourmet’s taste andability to find escargots.
They have also developed from homogeneousbattery hens to individuals in a hierarchy, known inthe world of chooks as“the pecking order”. You cansee this at night, when they are in their covered area,by which one sits highest above the ground and hasthe best feathers, especially in the tail.
When they first arrived, they did not know aboutroosting. They’d sleep together on the straw, lyingin their own wastes. Now it is much easier for me toclean their area and put the ground straw and manurestraight on to the vegetable garden.Not only are they helping to grow thesummer vegetables; from day one, theyhave also produced the most beautifuleggs with big yolks of a rich saffroncolour.
The best part has been observingthe social development of these birds.Maybe that’s why my teenage kidsencouraged me for so long to fill theempty chook yard that I’d built as asmall project with them so many yearsago. Perhaps they think the chooks area good daily interest for me as theyreach adulthood and leave me as an “empty nester”.
While I’d never tell my staff this, Ithink I’ve learned a few things fromthe interaction of my four hens athome. I also think that I’ve proveda few ideas about the behaviour ofhuman beings after they leave prisonor other institutions.
All in all, the hens have been a greatA$ 20 investment and something thatmakes them and me feel better.
我家最近添了几名新成员一一四只小鸡。收养它们是我最近做过的一一生中罕有的好事之一。我不仅把它们从商业蛋禽场的惨境中解救出来，而且每周还把新鲜的鸡蛋带到我那满是女同事的办公室，这一做法不断为我赢得女同胞们的赞许。
你或许会认为，我利用这些小鸡让自己受女性欢迎是很自私的行为，不过，假如你在几个月前我买它们的时候见过这些掉光了羽毛、在层架式鸡笼里饲养的母鸡的话，你对我的评价可能会好些。
大规模生产家禽的饲养场把数以千计的母鸡监禁在小小的铁丝笼中，用滴注式方法喂给它们食物和水。不过每到周末，你只需花5澳元(合3欧元)就可以买到任何一只15个月大、未能产是蛋的母鸡。
我那四只小母鸡(chooks)——产蛋鸡在澳大利亚通常被叫做chooks——从未见过太阳和月亮、小草与绿树，就连一汪池水也没有见过。它们在新家——一块30平米见方、中央有一棵柠檬树的草地——里一定感觉像在天堂一样。
不出几周的时间，它们就把那块地连吃带创地弄了个精光，只剩下那棵树，低处的树枝起初曾给过它们安全感。小鸡们花了相当长的时间才意识到它们发现的蜗牛、昆虫和蜥蜴能带来享受美食的乐趣，它们还必须被教会从水池中饮水。
它们在层架式鸡笼养殖场时无所事事互相啄咬，在那里生活一段时间后毛都快掉光了。小鸡们很快就被晒伤了，直到它们羽翼重新丰满才恢复了以往的神采。
这些日子，它们的世界更为广阔了。在下班后的几个小时或者周末的大部分时间里，我都会把它们放到菜园里。像寻找块菌的猪一样，它们也培养出了一种美食家的品味和捕食蜗牛的能力。
它们还从毫无区别的层架式鸡笼里饲养的母鸡发展成为等级分明的个体 这在鸡的世界里被称为“啄序”。到了晚上你就会发现，在它们有屋顶的栖息处，离地面最高的地方栖着的那只小母鸡羽毛——尤其是它尾巴上的毛——最漂亮。
它们刚到的时候还不懂进窝休息。它们一起睡在稻草堆上，卧在自己的排泄物上。现在我清扫它们的地方容易多了，直接把铺地的稻草和鸡粪扔到菜园里就可以了。这样不仅有助于夏季蔬菜的生长，而且，从第一天开始，它们就能产出最美丽的鸡蛋，蛋黄很大且呈富丽的金黄色。
最精彩的事莫过于观察这些小鸡的社会性发展。也许这就是为什么我那些十多岁的孩子们长久以来一直鼓励我(养小鸡)填满那个多年前我们一起搭建的空鸡舍。或许他们已经想到，他们长大成人后，留下我成为“空巢老人”，小母鸡会成为我的日常乐趣所在。
尽管我从未向我的员工们提及此事，我想自己已从家中四只母鸡的相互影响与交流中获得了一些启迪。我想我还证实了一些关于人类从监狱或其他机构中获释后行为(特点)的理论。
总而言之，花20澳元买这些小母鸡是一项非常好的投资，也是一件于我于它们都更为美好的事情。