Chickies!

Now that my book is done, I will theoretically have more time on my hands.

Theoretically.

And I will post the pictures of our chickens that I took 3 months ago.

The no longer look like this.

But they are cute, aren't they?

We started with 25

and almost 3 months later we have 22.  Considering how fragile chickies are when they're newly hatched, that's really not that bad.

They were supposed to all be hens (that's what we ordered) but two are most definitely roosters.  They'll probably be the only ones who get named because the hens are all identical and it would be difficult to name them.

I decided to post the chickie pictures today because 1. they've been languishing on my computer for quite some time and 2. we're going to look at a dog today. A Great Pyrenees.

What does a dog have to do with chickies?

Quite a lot, actually.

We're not dog people. We don't really like dogs all that much, but we recognize their usefulness as farm animals and working dogs, and are able to care for them in that capacity.

A Great Pyrenees is just about the definition of a working farm dog. They were bred for that purpose. They guard cows, chickens, and goats, etc, and can even kill hawks and coyotes.  Since our chickens are now big enough to be let out of their pen, we need someone to protect them.

We found a Pyrenees for sale named Lily we're going to go look at this afternoon. Her owner has 4 other dogs and is looking to downsize. Pyrenees eat a lot. They're very large, weighing up to 150 pounds. (Or more, for the males).

So I'll let you know if we get her or not. She's 1 1/2 years old and has been raised with chickens from a young age, so that's a plus. Pyres (as people call them) must be raised with the animal they will guard to be effective at their job. 

So once we get a Pyre we can let our chickies run free. And I will take pictures.  We're not sure yet if we'll get Lily, of course, since we haven't seen her yet. We'll see. :)