North Carolina

[Coop Scoop Boogie]

Good morning folks

Glad to meet all the new folks and
to see the Howards but sorry about your EE.

Summer is winding down but it's almost to notice
with the gear up for the holidays coming on and
the state fair..........won't hardly have time to think
...........it's when you will see the best and worst of
people and to top it all off hunting season and football
games are distracting the men..........no help there

hope everyone has a good day

 

[ramirezframing]

Sorry about your bird Howards, hope your new boy works out.

Speaking of deer, I found out that it's only going to take 9 days to fix my van, unless something comes up (which they will call and let me know). And with my luck with this car, something always comes up!

 

[dutchbunny83]

Good morning everyone!

Looks like the rain was just passing through. I somehow got convinced to go along on the cub scout camping trip this weekend out in Carthage (I'm not the outdoorsy type!) so hopefully the rain holds out!

Hope everyone enjoys their weekend!

PS- Coop Scoop, the state fair is out in Raleigh, isn't it? We have never been to the NC state fair just Maryland. Maybe we will get a chance to get out there.

 

[dutchbunny83]

Oh I just found the greatest thing ever, wanted to share!!!

There's this non-profit called heifer.org that I had never heard of. There are so many people I have a hard time Christmas shopping for because they already have everything. The premise of this is you spend what you would spend on someone's gift and give the gift of livestock in their name to a family in a third world country. Instead of just giving food to the poor they are enabling them to raise their own and share with their village. And it's only $20 to give a family a flock of chicks or ducks. So I'm giving everyone I know the chickens for Christmas, helping to spread the joy of chicken keeping all over the globe. I was so excited when I saw this, check it out!!!

http://www.heifer.org/gift-catalog/animals-nutrition/index.html

 

[Hollowoakfarm]

Oh I just found the greatest thing ever, wanted to share!!!

There's this non-profit called heifer.org that I had never heard of.  There are so many people I have a hard time Christmas shopping for because they already have everything.  The premise of this is you spend what you would spend on someone's gift and give the gift of livestock in their name to a family in a third world country.  Instead of just giving food to the poor they are enabling them to raise their own and share with their village.  And it's only $20 to give a family a flock of chicks or ducks.  So I'm giving everyone I know the chickens for Christmas, helping to spread the joy of chicken keeping all over the globe.  I was so excited when I saw this, check it out!!!

http://www.heifer.org/gift-catalog/animals-nutrition/index.html

Heifer International has a good idea, but they haven't thought things through completely from a biological standpoint. They bring in breeds that were developed in countries with good feed supplies, and put them in countries with poor forage. They bring in breeds that are raised with regular deworming, and put them in parasite heaven. They bring in breeds that were raised generation upon generation with protection, and put them in predator heavy territory. And with some animals, such as milk cows, they bring in high producing animals and put them in villages...that have no electricity or refrigeration to store that bounty.

I have little respect for HI. When they start using locally bred animals, I'll support them. Until then....not me.

And while I'm ranting away, I'll offer my totally unsolicited opinion on this type of "gift giving". I've had that kind of gift before. It's not a gift. It's someone doing something to make themselves happy, and by putting my name on it they fulfill what they see as an obligation. If it was a gift To Me, the giver would ask what I want a donation to go to, not give where they want one. I know people who give "gifts" to the opposite political party of a person, just to get them on a mailing list. Pure meanness.

There. Totally unsolicited griping. I feel the need to voice my opinion today. Disregard as needed.

 

[ramirezframing]

Heifer International has a good idea, but they haven't thought things through completely from a biological standpoint. They bring in breeds that were developed in countries with good feed supplies, and put them in countries with poor forage. They bring in breeds that are raised with regular deworming, and put them in parasite heaven. They bring in breeds that were raised generation upon generation with protection, and put them in predator heavy territory. And with some animals, such as milk cows, they bring in high producing animals and put them in villages...that have no electricity or refrigeration to store that bounty.

I have little respect for HI. When they start using locally bred animals, I'll support them. Until then....not me.

I have the same issues with this and the fact that I have read where any pure white animal that is sent over gets ate right away by the people and not the predators. Its a nice idea, but needs more thinking.

 

[dutchbunny83]

Well none of the chickens in any of the photos were white they were all dark, not to say a predator wouldn't get them anyway or they aren't given white ones. I agree that large animals could cause more of a problem, but I was more into the fact that for $20 you could give someone some chickens that could potentially continue to feed them and teach them about sustainability, and of course spread the joy of chickens

Not for everyone, and not saying it's a perfect model, but I love the idea of it, I'm really excited. Even if it only worked 10% of the time it could still make a big impact. And they have many other gifts from sustainable farming to clean water, it doesn't have to be livestock.

Personally, I love getting gifts like these. As a kid I would always get $100 from my parents that was part of the Christmas gift budget for my toys to go buy toys for Toys for Tots or adopt kids off those Angel trees. I've also gotten a bunch of Kiva loans as gifts (which I always find people raising chickens to loan to). And in past years I've gotten mosquito nets to give to people in Africa, tool kits stuff like that, but this is the first time I have seen chickens!!!

It doesn't have to be this organization or one like it, but I think it is super important to instill the desire to help others into your children. My son gives 50% of his allowance to charity and buys toys for tots out of his own money he gets for Christmas or birthdays or whatever and we match what he spends. I mean it's not like he goes without my kids have so much stuff it is ridiculous, but I love that he wants to give to others instead of selfishly just wanting more for himself.

 

[Hollowoakfarm]

Oh, I agree that giving is good! And of course you should teach your kids to give. But giving a gift to someone else that is really a gift to yourself doesn't teach that. Giving to an organization should be done by the person interested in that organization. I have had people give "me" a gift to HI, and I was horrified. If they had bothered asking what organizations I wanted to support, and given a gift in my name to them, that would have been a gift to me. Giving to an organization of your choice in someone else's name is rarely a gift to the person.

 

[dutchbunny83]

I totally see where you're coming from. And the opposing political party thing that's just insane. But as long as the person giving it to me feels like it's going to a place in need, I don't see it as a gift for them, it's a gift to someone else out there that needs it and it's what it's about. That's the neat thing about Kiva loans, you can give a person a gift card and they can choose the actual person it goes to. I have heard a lot of people complain about that site because the people who get the money will sometimes default on the payback (it's set up as loans not gifts), but it's a third world country, what do you expect.

Anyway, since this one had to do with chickens just thought I'd put it out there if someone happened to be interested in it.

 

[Hollowoakfarm]

You are right. As long as all parties are happy with it, then all is well. I have not heard of Kiva loans, either. I'll have to look into that. We have paid directly for African people to go to trade school, but that was when our daughter lived there and vouched for the individuals. Having a third party handle things is easier. Might do some of that for myself.