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realhensofoc
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👩🏻🌾 Urban Homesteading, Author & Educator: Chickens, Gardening, FoodPreservation, Sustainability
☀️Taiwanese, CeliacDisease, ADHD on Kizh/Tongva land
![This wasn’t a pretty batch and this photo is not especially curated. And I’m more than okay with that. The soap and photo represent part of my sustainability journey and part of my own personal journey of discovery and giving myself permission to carve a path that works for me.
I’m grateful for all my various interests and hobbies, because it has given me so many skills to also live as authentically and sustainably as possible, such as making my own dish soap using expired or used fry oil….ingredients people toss. The were molded in tofu containers. [ETA: The difficulty in unmolding the soap resulted in the aged cheddar 🧀 look 😝]
I also make other soaps for our home, and to give as gifts: hand, shampoo, and garden soap bars. And other than supporting small biz soap makers once in a blue moon, I haven’t purchased commercial soaps in several years.
These skills also make me so relieved that I don’t have to worry about many recalls, including the recent soap recalls. However, my heart hurts and I do devote quite a bit of energy (energy I don’t have) worrying for our lives and our society in general and all the 💩💩 that has been going on.
But today, I chose take a momentary break from the worries and gave myself a pat on the back for all the skills I’ve taught myself, and allowed myself to learn. And in turn, I have taught many others. Also, I made a special effort to tell my inner child two words she had never heard growing up: good job.
(I haven’t figured out how to tackle soap for the dishwasher, but maybe one day I’ll figure it out.)](https://scontent-den2-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.82787-15/816229909_18492944893105031_7741403091900330256_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_e35_tt6&_nc_cat=108&ccb=7-5&_nc_sid=18de74&efg=eyJlZmdfdGFnIjoiRkVFRC5iZXN0X2ltYWdlX3VybGdlbi5DMyJ9&_nc_ohc=iYox6MHH7t8Q7kNvwEmsyoI&_nc_oc=Adq6CGrP1giSKEJLdYiWUC82oBQdd1GSTsGKHXwgmZcPqqvXhiA2UTD3G38ODOOyLj8&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-den2-1.cdninstagram.com&edm=ANo9K5cEAAAA&_nc_gid=hlMkWHGMgT7cW57nSLFJKg&_nc_tpa=Q5bMBQIbCr27duJNf3vYAalQhHH7hizs3rklomw4jgTT03IHSI_PNqKpy5OYTNMMgItNRZj8QftkZ2QF&oh=00_AQM3YUhJYOaT2-xp3Yhgtt7sDWWB1jrVGDRdm9PQ9jFmLQ&oe=6AC1F06C)
![I took these 3 one-week old hatches out of their brooder for some socialization and cuddles. They suggested a little photo shoot since they’d like to try their wings at being chick-fluencers. How did they do?
These chicks are what I affectionately call “barnyard specials.” They are essentially mutts. Even chicks you buy from breeders that they call “designer breeds” or “[Farm Name] Egger” or some other fancy sounding name, they are essentially mutts. Olive Egger, Sage/ Moss Egger, Easter Egger, Rose Egger, Americana (distinguished from Ameraucana, which is eggsplained in my book), Cinnamon Queen, they’re all mutts.
I love my barnyard specials because I know they have good genetic vigor and diversity. It’s also a really fun game to try and figure out who might be the sire or mother of a particular chick, and what traits might develop. This was particularly fun when RuPaul and Uno were Flock Kings due to their Salmon Faverolles genetics, which had genetics for beards, broad chests and 5 toes. Some of our chicks would have 4 or 5 toes, and a rare few would have one foot with 4, and one foot with 5.
With Nat King Crow as Flock King and the primary sire, many chicks have inherited some level of fibromelanism. Some chicks are very obvious with very strong fibromelanin traits— they have dark black features everywhere. Others have a hint of it, like the paler yellow chick in these photos — it has a dark cast in its beaks, legs and skin.](https://scontent-den2-1.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.82787-15/522910592_18415956673105031_4451262179720758659_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_e35_tt6&_nc_cat=108&ccb=7-5&_nc_sid=18de74&efg=eyJlZmdfdGFnIjoiQ0FST1VTRUxfSVRFTS5iZXN0X2ltYWdlX3VybGdlbi5DMyJ9&_nc_ohc=_UtxBs8O-O4Q7kNvwE0xAYq&_nc_oc=AdoSyXFtj28YSIv1CwlNS0i6pyZvKemwvzSlFZUgc6y0alMIHurPSQRCLmLEKgBxRTI&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent-den2-1.cdninstagram.com&edm=ANo9K5cEAAAA&_nc_gid=hlMkWHGMgT7cW57nSLFJKg&_nc_tpa=Q5bMBQIJesWAjbNTQ7HEPfWMN4z6lADBjMts_WKkJxgWbOoCvuhBeB57PEuIVEdVP6d2yISWwz6mt9Wk&oh=00_AQPrUNpWeJTPQiMIHi7aUW2lIVRSIINaB6YUrbkFjWYJPw&oe=6AC1FBE3)
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