Super Rooster

At Chickstock Lynnis sold a lot of chickens and also bought a Rhode Island Red super rooster to give to Soren for his birthday. Soren and Chrissy's flock is also comprised of RIRs so it was appropriate. Super rooster was on the job very quickly yesterday. Today he was proudly herding his harem of 18 hens with plenty of crows to warn off any other (nonexistent) roosters. He looks a bit tired, but, hey, it is all in a day's work for an ambitious chicken daddy.

The Hawks are Circling Chrissy's Chickens

Today there are three hawks circling above Chrissy's chickens. Several have been killed already. I don't have a shotgun handy, but, I've been told that netting has been installed above the chicken yard and the chickens are permanently cooped up there. It might work. They are not free range anymore. When hawks get hungry though, almost anythng can happen.

I don't like to hunt but it doesn't bother me to defend domestic animals against violence. All of which brings me to an idea I've had for improved shotgun pellets. The general idea is to make the pellets in the shape of a raindrop, kind of like a bomb. Attached to the bomb shape would be winglets angled at about 8 degrees to the line of flight. The idea of the winglets is to make the pellet spin, improving accuracy. Since the cross-sectional density of the entire affair would be considerably greater than a sphere, it should have a considerably greater range than an ordinary shotgun pellet.

Making the these kinds of pellets would be a challenge. Casting them might be impractical for such a small size. I'm thinking of using a press to forge lead wire into a series of progressive shapes. Jon has suggested that he has read about people dropping molten lead from a very low height of a few inches directly into water. It is said to create a raindrop shape that carries very well.

All this is just speculation for now. I have my generator project to finish and also a paper to finish on chromosome disruption.

Myopia and My Mother

In recent comments on eyesight my children have mentioned how their eyesight is so much better than mine. I am very nearsighted. It is a condition known partly to be environmental (i.e. reading a lot) and partly inherited. If inherited, why is it that I am myopic but my children are not? A remarkable article recently published shows that myopia is more inherited from the mother. It derives from interaction of chromosome 3 (inherited from both parents) with the mitochondria (inherited solely from the mother). Thus it is more Lona's contribution that has influenced my children's eyesight than mine. Lona is nearsighted but not severely so. She read a lot so it is only natural that her eyesight might not be the very best.

I must have some good eyesight genes though, considering that Jon has such good eyesight. Those passed on by me interacted with Lona's to produce my kids good eyesight.