Primal Blueprint 21 Day Challenge Fall, 2013

Today marks the kick-off for the fall, 2013 Primal Blueprint 21 Day Challenge!  If you're not a following Mark's Daily Apple (and if you're living primally, why ever not?) then check out this blog post that details instructions (it's easy!) and even has a contest.  Seriously, this is a great excuse to give it a try and get lots of support as you go for it!  For myself, I'm going to commit to more movement and more lifting of heavy things as I've been slacking in that department (as in it's been non-existent).  I'm also cutting out all the little cheats in my diet that have been sneaking back in there.

So let's challenge together for the next 21 days!

The state of the flock, almost 3 weeks old

Mob 4 turns 3 weeks old tomorrow and are growing quickly.  They've been a spunky bunch with much digging of holes in the litter; in fact one of the little beggars likes to "litter-ally" bury himself under the wood shavings.  We've reached the adolescent stage of scraggly feathers and territorial disputes, but overall they're an easy-going bunch.

As we've learned with the previous mobs, each group possesses its own personality and this group is no exception.  While they seem fairly smart (especially when compared to Mob 3) they haven't been as hearty a group.  We started with 42 chicks and had 7 die in the second week, mostly it would seem from heart failure.  We've gone several days now without a baby going feet up so I'm hoping the weaker individuals have been weeded out.  I have to admit, I really dislike losing chickens - when they're chicks it makes me sad, when they're adults it just ticks me off since we've put so much time and money into each bird. 

The weather is supposed to be good this week so there is a chance we may move them outside by the weekend.  We've had unseasonable amounts of rain in the last few weeks, so this group will have the benefit of fresh green grass and overflow from the garden to supplement their diet.

Stay tuned!

Interesting opinion article on gluten-free living

Mark's Daily Apple posted a fantastic piece today titled "Is Gluten-Free a Fad Diet?"  All I can say is amen, brother.