title=”Kikirikiii!” – photo by Superpepelu, on Flickr
I had my meetings with chickens a life long. As a little child I went every morning to feed the neighbor’s chicken with little pieces of cheese from my breakfast bread. They were very thankful, the owner didn’t feed them. After a time vets rescued the little starving chicken gang. After 40 years of searching I found the person who gave birth to me (she gave me in an orphanage immediately). Early in the morning, when I awoke in her guest-room, she opened the window and from outside she threw a chicken into my white bed, saying, here, you (growing up in an ugly metropolis) never had the luck to enjoy a farm-life! Actually in Germany they are trying to act vs. the mass-production of chicken and eggs in an industrial process without any chance of dignity for the chicken in narrow cages…
title=”Germany or Belgium, that’s always the question!” – photo by Frizztext
title=”Roosters in Winter” – photo by n0rthw1nd
title=”damn, he was aggressive!…” – photo by Adrian Dreßler
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related:
http://www.photographyblogger.net/19-great-pictures-of-chickens/
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Flickr Comments 
Great pic and story!
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Enjoyed you sharing your story with your mother…
In Maine, USA, there is a constant battle to uncover the people who mistreat the chickens and other animals….eggs have been a big industry here, and a lot of abuse.
Thank you for sharing.
Peace
Siggi
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Such a poignant story, Frizz.
We have a movement for chicken rights in the U.S. too.
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enjoyed your story
Unfortunately they are a bit noisy a bit early in the mornings 😀
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Oh Frizz what a strange story of the ‘person you gave birth’ to you, I note that you don’t call her mother.
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Strange about your “mother.” Bizarre that she threw a chicken in your bed. You know, my son has become a vegan and an animal rights activist due to the way animals are treated in the U.S.
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some cruelty by my “mother” and her neighbours, East Germany: the neighbours one night cut one foot of every of her chickens to practice some mobbing vs. her.
Me (I grew up in West Germany) had to notice: “this is not the world I like to live in …”
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Yes, chickens as well as other animals are mistreated and fed hormones to grow them bigger. I believe that’s why we have so many vegans. Great photo’s … the roosters are so bright.
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4o years! Wow, that’s a long search. It took me about a month.
A somewhat more lighthearted story than the chicken:
When I first visited my biological mother, she showed me where I would sleep and where the shower was, then she showed me where she kept the razors. I laughed and said that being shown where the towels and so on were was not odd, but the razors…. She looked at me and said, “If you don’t have to shave your legs while you’re here, you’re no kin of mine.”
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it’s interesting to find some similarities to the person who gave life to you (unknown for me because she gave me to an orphanage); I discovered there are certain behaviors: body language while asleep – writing stenography in little books (we never saw us before, we lived, undetected, in a 600 miles distance)
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My biological mother was fourteen. Fortunately for me, her grandmother was a very smart, shrewd woman who did some research and found a reputable agency to place me up for adoption. This was in the sixties, so there were more children than homes in those days. According to the adoption agency, my biological mother cried and asked if there was any way she could keep me. Back in those days, that wasn’t possible. It was probably for the best for both of us in the long run. I have a biological cousin my age who suffered from sexual abuse from both neighbors and relatives and she tells me I was lucky to not grow up in that environment. She has had four children by four different men, drinks heavily and relies on government support. She’s actually very smart, which I think makes it more difficult for her to hang onto the sort of menial jobs she can actually get. We have a lot in common in terms of innate abilities and I tend to think “There but for the grace of….” Well, I’m not religious, so let’s just say fate. “There but for fate go I.”
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also exactly my result too: “…lucky to not grow up in that environment…” – so I had the chance to create a new level of identity for my own, not chained by a stupid family structure; those who adopted me, have been devils too; my life began when teachers discovered and supported me…
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…they deserve to be happy!
🙂
I love your German chicken photo!
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I read your post yesterday and decided to have some sleep before replying. I am sad to hear that your life started in an orphanage. Briefly before leaving home to come to NYC, years ago when I was 20 years old, I volunteered to spend time with children in a group home/orphanage. It was so painful an experience because the children were so detached. I did the volunteer work until I left, mainly because I wanted to understand the emptiness I felt in my life having a mother who did not care..she lived in my presence, but just did not care. I am so fortunate, though, I have a loving Dad! I stop eating eggs and poultry, even red meat, because of the cruelty…too close to home.
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thank you Allyson – if you have to suffer under bad circumstances there is a chance: to focus yourself on strategies, how to make it better. So you went to an orphanage; and I taught thousand kids how to swim. As an exercise to develop self-reliance …
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I have so many thoughts and great sorrow that “parents” can be so unloving to their children. Hooray for educators who showed you a path of your own discovery. Blessings and continued healing on your heart–and on those who have commented today.
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It’s interesting how you approached the heart of this post in such an oblique way. I think it made it more powerful, and you put a twist on it that makes it bigger somehow. Sorry for being inarticulate. In any case, I’m with Alice, above.
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“…such an oblique way. I think it made it more powerful, and you put a twist on it that makes it bigger somehow…”
your reply is interesting, yes, I daily make my experiments with the style of writing …
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I grew up on a farm, although it was not “enjoyable”, it was a lot of hard work and taught me well about the value of hard work.
I met a neighbor’s chicken. It chased me and I didn’t like that.
I saw a documentary a couple of years ago about some chicken mass production. I don’t remember the name of the program. The chickens are filled so full of stuff (like hormones, etc) that make them grow much faster than letting them grow naturally. Their legs are not able to hold the weight of the fast growing body. It was unpleasant to learn about the overall process.
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you know what you are talking about…
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