What you / they eat

What you/they eat              19/7/2013

        People say, “You are what you eat.”

        Ng……….. so I say, “They ( poultry) are what they eat.”

        If you want organic /natural chickens, ducks, pork and mutton, we must give them natural foods and rear them in as natural ways as possible.   We must provide them the living conditions that deem fit for them.

        I quest and crave for clean natural foods.  Hence I fence up 90% of the my house compound and partition it into 12 coops.    In feet measurements:

1.     3W X 6 L X 2H =  2 coops

2.     3  X  3  X  4

3.     3  X  5  X  2

4.     3  X  10  X 4

5.     5  X  6   X  4

6.     5  X  8  X  4

7.     9  X  12   X  4

8.     12   X  16  X 4

9.     16 X  16   X 4

10.                3   X 3  X  4  +  3  X 2 X  2

11.                3   X  9  X 2 on stilts  (for chicks) 

        I asked a carpenter to construct No.  8 and 9 coop for me and the rest I built them myself.  I bound the 3’ X 4’ frames to form the coops.  I started this project in 2006 or 2007.  I keep chickens for meat and eggs.  For at least 3 or 4 years, we have the supply of eggs from our hens and chickens from my house compound.

        We try to keep our place as clean as possible, otherwise it is not fair to our neighbours.  We cannot upset our neighbours from the foul smell of chickens’ and ducks’  dropping.    Now I try to limit the number of poultry within my capacity to keep the place as odourless as possible.   

        I decided to go 100 self-subsistent for chickens, ducks and eggs when I realised the problems of commercialised and unnatural farming.   I was really upset  when I found that the bone of one of the drumstick of the chicken looked funny  in 2006 Chinese New Year.  It was the chicken I bought from a chicken vendor  that  I cooked for Long-life noodles to eat on the morning of  New Year’s Day.

        I almost do not eat chicken, duck and egg from market.  My husband has his lunch out and eats the meat from the farm.  My son, well, is not convinced yet  to avoid  meat from the commercialised farm.    I believe he will stick to natural foods one day.    Organic  and natural foods are the key to good health.    Do you need further argument to get convinced?

        I hope one day we will move to our farm about 7 - 10 km away from my house in Salim.   Then, ng……….. I will keep at least 2 - 3 small pigs a year for pork for own consumption and give some as gifts to others to promote organic and natural living.