We've had a chicken incident...

I was on my way home from picking Keegan up from band practice when I got a call from Brad. He said that he heard Luna outside barking like she was playing. When she didn't stop and he didn't hear the other dogs playing too he decided to check on her. She was indeed playing... with one of my hens. I asked him which one, having named pretty much all of them, and myself and Keegan knowing each one. He replied " I dunno... its one of the pretty ones." Hmmm... Well that didn't help me much because I think all of my chickens are pretty! When I got home he was sitting on the front porch with "Little Bit" on his lap. She is the youngest chick, and only hen, that I hatched out of my emergency egg incubator in March.

I checked her over and she appeared to only have superficial damage done. Missing feathers and some scratches on her back. She was shaking quite hard, breathing loudly, and having a hard time standing. I don't know if it was just because she was, quite understandably, scared and shaken up or if there is more damage that I'm not seeing. Brad had already sprayed her back down with vetericyn. I gave her a small dose of penicillin and she is currently borrowing Ari's dog crate. She is resting comfortably and seems to be much more alert than she was earlier.

I showed Luna the chicken and made is quite clear that her behavior was not acceptable. She seems to be a really smart dog. Hopefully this will be a one time deal and the lesson has been learned. I know it sounds terrible, because I don't want any of my chickens to suffer, but why do the dogs always have to get my favorite birds?! Ugh... well. Poultry are remarkably resilient creatures so hopefully Little Bit will be back out free ranging quickly.

On a happier note, I got my Basil planted. There are very few spots left in the "pig plowed" section of garden. I am still waiting on my order of seeds from Baker Creek. They should be here by now and I'm getting antsy. I want to get my beets in the ground! I also ordered some giant eckendorf beets that are supposed to be good for animal feed. Specifically for the pigs. At this rate they won't be done growing before the pigs are in the freezer!

Speaking of pigs... I realized that the pig feed that I have been giving them is medicated! Argg!!! One of the reasons I decided to raise my own pigs is because I don't want to eat meat that has antibiotics in it! I didn't even think to check, or to specifically ask for unmedicated feed. You know what they say about assuming... They are almost out and I will make sure that mistake isn't made again. Luckily, they haven't been on it for long and antibiotics will leave their systems quickly. The biggest problem is that the chickens are into everything, i.e. they have been eating the pig feed every chance they get. The pigs don't seem to mind at all that the chickens run directly to the feeder every time they walk more than 2 feet away, but I'm not too happy about it. That means that their eggs also contain antibiotics. I have had to start feeding the pigs every single egg laid until we get unmedicated feed. It would be so much easier to keep the great big pigs out of the chicken feed... the chickens and traverse almost anything and the more I attempt to keep them out the more interesting they think it must be. Keeping the chickens out while still enabling the pigs to get in will take some thought. Even after I switch the feed I need to try to find a way to keep the chickens from getting to the pig feed. Pigs are omnivores (as are chickens) and I'd be willing to wager that the feed contains chicken. Not a good thing. I wish I lived close enough to a mill to have my own feed ground so I know exactly what is in it. I will be looking into some kind of way to do that.

Rain is on the horizon! It has been overcast, hence much cooler, for the last couple of days. It is supposed to rain tomorrow! The grass is crunchy and we really need it. A strange thought after having daily monsoons for most of the year. It is amazing how powerful rain is. Too much or too little can be disastrous. Especially for a farmer. I'm so thankful that, while I try to live off of the homestead as much as possible, our livelihood doesn't depend on it. Worst case, we can still get food from the store. It seemed so normal to do that before, and now it seems to foreign to me. I hope that our fall garden doesn't leave us in as bad of shape as our summer garden did.

Well... Like a beautiful lady once said, "Que Sera Sera... Whatever will Be, will Be". One of my favorite quotes, and I can often be heard singing it (quite badly might I say) as I am working around here.