Closeup:Fonterra Free Cows Milk Not Popular VIDEO

***UPDATE***
13/12/12
Cows milk will be promoted and given away in New Zealand schools nationwide next year :
"Research conducted by the University of Auckland has shown that children's milk consumption in the Northland community, both at school and at home, has significantly increased since the pilot began.

"We know that getting Kiwis drinking more milk is not an overnight job but we are committed to helping improve the health of our kids," said (Fonterra CEO) Mr Spierings."

UGH!


Similar to that lovable scamp "Iron Brion", a singing dancing minimum wage guy in a suit telling New Zealand school children they MUST eat New Zealand killed Cows and Sheep, our cows milk empire wants a crack at "get 'em while they're young" too!

Some great quotes in the video, from the children themselves not wanting the cows milk ("be more entertaining for the kids, put a bit of food colouring init, maybe a little more flavour?") and the principals themselves not drinking the free product!  "no, because I'm not a milk drinker!" and "it DOES taste like long life milk, because its long life milk."  And presumably long life milk doesnt taste all that great.

"Can I ask you why are you doing it, is it out of the goodness of your hearts, or is it a PR move by Fonterra to get everyone in the country drinking more milk?"

Fonterra PR "no, we want to....ITS HEALTHY FOR KIDS! Look, its WONDERFUL for kids, its nutritious...(PRACTICED PR SPIN!) Secondly, we want to see New Zealand as the dairy capital of the world.  We're the biggest exporter of milk products in the world, and at home, people arnt drinking as much milk as they used to.  And we're starting with kids, because its a long term play".

To get them hooked into adulthood! :-)

"We cant force people to drink milk" "you'd like to!" "I would like to!" "...where we've been running this pilot, already amongst the kids who've been drinking this milk, we've already seen a 20% increase in the amount of milk they're consuming out of school, so it seems to be having a really good impact."



Closeup November 21st 2012 "Fonterra Committed To Milk In Schools Despite Drop"


New Zealanders in their 50's remember when school milk was given out daily - unrefrigerated, it would be warm and by all accounts HORRIBLE, as even Fonterra Managing Director Peter McClure mentions on the above video :-) 
"they've got to put it in the fridges (provided by Fonterra....) cause you and I will both remember how milk was in our day" "UGH, yeah, the SUMMER!" (warm cows milk........gross!)



Photo and article from NZ History

The New Zealand "Dairy" industry has come under fire for the shocking state of New Zealands environment, contributing greatly to pollution in our nation.  Many New Zealanders also feel that cows milk is too expensive, so this example of suddenly giving free cows milk away to young children in schools can be seen as a PR stunt, kissing babies almost :-)






I've written before about this current schoolmilk stunt:
"After an enthusiastic take-up, some schools have seen nearly a 90 per cent decline in the number of kids receiving milk each day, with many blaming the taste of the ultra heat treated (UHT) milk.

"The kids wrote letters to Fonterra thanking them for the milk, but fewer were drinking it because of the taste it left in their mouth," said Dave Bradley, Wellsford School principal."


Fonterra's campaign website "Fonterra Milk For Schools":

"Angela Berrill, Nutritionist & Director of ABC Nutrition Ltd says:

“Milk provides a unique combination of nutrients which are essential for a child’s growth and development. The natural nutrition of milk gives children calcium for building bones and the nutrients they need for sustained energy, concentration and learning in the classroom.” "


The milk itself is "essential"?  If the milk in question is Fonterra *Cows Milk*, Rubbish!  We've challenged Fonterra before on this, and won!  They cannot claim cows milk is "essential" for New Zealanders, and I'd be pretty sure they're not allowed to run quotes claiming its "essential" either.

"The complainant said five claims on Fonterra's website about the nutritional benefits of dairy products were factually untrue - including that dairy is an "essential part of a balanced diet" and "we all need it".

The complainant referred to the Ministry of Health's nutrition guidelines, which said all essential nutrients could be obtained from a well-planned vegan diet involving no dairy products.

"Therefore dairy is not needed at any age, and is not essential or vital to a balanced, nutritious diet as claimed," they wrote.

The complainant also disputed Fonterra's claims that milk is the richest dietary source of calcium, and that no other source of calcium can be absorbed as well as dairy, pointing to green vegetables with more absorbable calcium.

Fonterra responded to the complaint, saying it would change four of its online claims - including to say dairy was "important", rather than "essential"."We can certainly get the nutrients which growing children need from a plant based diet :-)


An interesting saga! :-)

Hens Dont Like Wet Feet! VIDEO

Hen Friends like to keep their feet dry :-)  Whole Hen is the first to move out across the water, she takes a drink :-)  Yellow Hen shoots past, as she is "broody", wanting to sit in her nest, even though its entirely empty of eggs.  Her hormones are going nuts, and will take Hens like to keep their feet dry :-)  

Curious Hen goes last :-)



Worth watching in higher quality, click the Cog icon to see at a higher bitrate.

Curious Hen Drinking in Pecks! VIDEO

Curious Hen seems to be unique amongst my Hen Friends in that she drinks in "pecks". The other Chickens put their beaks down and suck up water, before tilting their heads back so it flows down their long necks.



Curious Hen "pecks" at the water, stab, stab, stab, stab! with her beak :-) My theory is that shes watching the ripples and reflections of the water, and touching them as fast as she can, while still drinking in :-) She tends to drink from the edge of the tray too, which would make the water bounce off the sides for her better. Its like she's play squash then, deliberately bouncing the water off the sides to catch the rebound! :-)

Remember, Chickens have their eyes on the side of their head.  They can see well with either eye, looking with their heads "side on" as you see here in this video as Curious Hen clearly looks up to see what I'm doing.  But their eyesight is particularly keen looking "straight on", both eyes looking towards the end of their beak, for eating, judging distance etc.

With their keen eyesight, they have great precision using their beaks, able to pick up exactly what they want from a pile.  Hens would make great surgeons, or dentists!  Having your eyes on your actual hand (beak) would be useful for precision! :-)

Its certainly possible shes paying attention to the water as shes touching it.


Blackbirds start singing at the end, and the Hen Friends pay attention.  Geiger Hen is by my feet during this recording, you can hear her "whirring" at the start :-)  Curious Hen is "brown", Whole Hen is "orange".  Interesting to see the difference between my Rescued Hen Friends, the darker brown hens tend to be larger.

As a comparison to how Curious Hen "peck drinks" in her unique fashion, here is a video of the other three Rescued Hens drinking at the same time, in usual Chicken fashion.  Recorded today, as I checked they were all ok :-)



Curious Hen eating my version of lasagne, as seen at our September 2012 INVSOC potluck.



I feel we can have a real impact for the animals by sharing gentle videos.  We do not need to use violent, upsetting videos to promote Veganism, which is respect for others.
"I always get a smile when I see you have posted a new video of your hens. They sure have recovered well from their previous life and look just beautiful. Thank you for sharing."  ~ Piscesbobbie

Go Vegan :-)

The Daily Show, Jon Stewart mentions Veganism :-) VIDEO

Bill O'reilly on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart 4th October 2012

JS "...how are you training, are you going vay-gin? Is it vegan or vay-gin?  You dont care..."

Bill O'reilly "its uhh,.....you cant eat anything so..."




Great to see Veganism brought up, in this case, host Jon Stewart jokes about celebrities going on a "vegan diet" to somehow "fast" or "prepare" themselves for a challenge :-)

Whole Hen Defends Other Hens From Cats VIDEO

Whole Hen keeps the other Hen Friends safe from cats, who've killed previous Bantam Chickens before.  One white cat in particular tries to stalk my Hen Friends, sneaking through bushes, but whenever Whole Hen spots him, which she inevitably will, she runs straight at him, no fear.


If anything, "she's got steam shooting out her nostrils", as she snaps her beak at the cats fur, tearing out clumps.  If they even remotely try to stand their ground, much less fight back, she KICKBOXES, like a Rooster would!  (Video of a Rooster jumping and kicking a womans shoes, shes not h
urt, laughing throughout it while yelling a little from surprise) 

Here we see Whole Hen has cornered Jasper the cat behind a chair inside our house, as he looked at the Hens, Whole Hen ran through the cat flap inside and pushed him back.  He wasnt touched at all by her, just frightened off.   

You can see she watches him continuously, his every small movement gets a reaction from her, until he leaps onto our washing machine, where hes (mostly) safe from her.  Its easier for a cat to jump that high than for a Chicken to fly there, but she *could* follow him if she wanted.



The cats are safe, shes never hurt them as they've hurt and killed Hens, so I guess in a way its good that she looks after Yellow Hen.  The only bruises are of the "alpha predator" cat egos being crushed by this protective bird.

Another of my Chicken Friends, Curious Hen is highest up the Hens social order, yet she never keeps cats back.  Curious Hen happily sleeps on my lap, or even rests on my shoe! :-)

Rescued Hens Bask In Sunlight VIDEO

Nice Hens in the sun, staying clean :-)

Curious Hen On My Foot VIDEO

Curious Hen is, well, curious!  She likes to explore and figure out how things work.

Recently, she's started jumping onto my shoe as I sit outside, and walking up my leg to get onto my lap.  Its easier, and "more fun" than leaping straight onto my lap.

Very confusing for me when I'm reading or drawing outside, to suddenly feel this "woomph" as a large bird lands on my shoe though!  Being hollow boned, despite her large size, Curious Hen is very light, half, a third what a similar sized cat would weigh.

Part One

 

Part Two, where she walks up my leg :-)  After this video she fell asleep on my lap while I listened to audiobooks :-)



Go Vegan :-)

Rescued Hens Meet Me: Wingmates! VIDEO

I decided to take a video of my Hen Friends running to meet me when I came home today.  They were up near the front of our section, so no dramatic "running for their lives to see me" like in the earlier video, but perhaps what I've recorded is even better!

My Hen Friends often follow me, as though "walking in formation", like having wingmates! :-)

Aren't they lovely? :-)

1m 13s Yellow Hen

1m 19s Curious Hen, who taps the camera for being shiny, she even leaps to touch it! :-)  Like Ms Hen, the all black mother of Black Chick and Yellow Hen, Curious Hen likes to hold eye contact.  You can see her throughout this video looking up into my eyes to see what I'm doing.  The other hens will do this too, briefly.  A genuine interest in someone else.

1m 37s the sound you can hear is Geiger Hen "squealing", although I skip over her to show the now healed Home Hen looking friendly :-)

1m 50s focuses on Whole Hen, who is a blazing orange.  She holds her head up to make eye contact and inspect the camera, but she had no plans of pecking it.  Part of her personality, she is also curious about new objects, and seeing whats going on, she holds her head like this to suss out things :-)

1m 56s Geiger Hen, briefly, who *would* have tapped the camera too, she often bites at shoelaces etc :-)



Its nice walking with a little "gang" of Hen Friends through the garden :-)

An earlier video, Bantam Hen Friends Running To Meet Me :-)  Mr Rooster, Black Chick and the Yellow Hens :-)

Rescued Hens Enjoying Their Eggs VIDEO

A 2012 remake of my original 2010 video

Its interesting that I often get asked "you're a Vegan, so do you sell their eggs?", or that I would somehow "allow myself" to eat things that plopped out of my Hen Friends bottoms.

I can tell you, even if Whole Hen and Hurt Hen and Geiger Hen and Curious Hen and Yellow Hen BEGGED me to eat their eggs, I wouldnt be interested!  Laying an egg for a female bird is like giving birth for a female human, in that it takes about thirty minutes of strained clucking in their nesting box, and comes out covered in slimy mucus.

I'll pass thanks, I dont even like touching their eggs!

Why would anyone wish to eat birds eggs?  What would we do if we found a Sparrows nest, eat her eggs, her unhatched children (or unfertilized eggs)?  Highly unlikely, but since we've grown up eating birds eggs from Chickens, we see it as socially  acceptable!

Watch as Whole Hen leaps up to kick the egg from my hand in her haste to eat it, birds eggs are for the birds, they all eat their way out of their own individual eggs, and in nature, they'd either let unfertilised eggs rot, or eat them.

Fantail in our garden! VIDEO

The New Zealand Fantail is our closest native animal to a Hummingbird, capable of stopping on a dime with that huge airbrake of a tail! :-)  CHEEK!  CHEEK CHEEK!  You can hear him or her "cheek" once 19 seconds through the video :-)

Cropped photo of Fantail shown in this video in my backyard :-)

More great photos of Fantails can be found here on the Mandy Art blog

Rescued Hens go Rock Climbing, Curious Hen pecks the camera VIDEO

Exploring in my backyard for scattered oats :-)  Right at the end, Curious Hen pecks the camera, she's always intrigued by the silver ring around the lens :-)



Dependent on your internet connection, you can click the cog icon on the bottom right corner of this video to see in higher quality.  All my videos are shot at 720 HD, YouTube plays at a smaller file size by default.

"Wonderful World" Chicken Friend Video :-)

I love my Hen Friends :-)



Its easy to be Vegan, and something Other Animals will really appreciate, not to be seen as a thing, as an "it" but respected as our friends :-)

INVERCARGILL VEGAN SOCIETY
http://invsoc.org.nz

Nice Dragonfly in my hand VIDEO

I love Dragonflies, perhaps the strongest flyers in the whole animal kingdom.

I found this nice Dragonfly cold, as their body temperature drops, they cannot fly.  They were holding onto a shady weed, waiting for the morning sun around 6:30PM at night.

Moving them into the sun, I broke off the leaf they held, to avoid hurting them (they moved to my hand), as they beat their wings, warming up, they were able to fly again with aid of the sun :-)




Did you know each Dragonflies wings are independent?  In other words, they are not directly linked, its not a matter of "flap up/flap down" at the same time, they can move any wing as much or as little as they choose, at any angle or direction, resulting in extremely high aerial agility :-)

Wikipedia article on Insect Flight

You can see them warming up each wing at the start of this video, each wing was vibrating by itself (with a noise a little like a rustling plastic bag in the wind, a thin plastic film shaking sound)

Additional photos
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaywontdart/sets/72157628094005847/

INVSOC World Vegan Day Tree, Wild Rabbit! VIDEO

I visited our World Vegan Day tree today, and met a wild Rabbit!

Kereru ("Wood Pigeon") flight noise! VIDEO

A visiting Kereru, listen to the noise their wings make!



Check out this video of a "Kereru hospital" in nearby Dunedin!  A quick heads up, prepare to hear these beautiful, beloved animals being called "ITS ITS IT ITS ITS ITS ITS" nonstop!

http://tvnz.co.nz/meet-the-locals/meet-locals-2008-episode-103-video-1902143

Flowers From Black Chicks POV VIDEO

The world sure is large when you're a little Hen!

Nonhuman Animals Coexisting VIDEO

As always, Birds show us how to "all get along" :-)

Rescued Hens Enjoy A Sunny Day VIDEO

Black Chick gets along well with our new, Ex "battery cage" rescued friends :-)




Compare the difference between the rescued Hens feathers (what little they have) compared to Black Chicks

Jordan/Elizabeth hug for Pao VIDEO

While visiting some city recently, I managed to meet Elizabeth Collins of NZ Vegan Podcast


An excited Pao sent me this tweet:

"I'm so jealous, give Liz a big hug and tell her it's from me ok? :)"

Here goes!



More from the New Zealand National Animal Rights Conference 2011 in coming days :-)

Nice Bird on the Glasshouse roof! :-) VIDEO

What a fun camera angle! :-)