And back to regular programming ...

Here it is, we have come back. I no longer have my babies, but that doesn't mean I won't plan on either getting more chickababes ;) Or, chickens.

BUT ...

Now we get back to discussing raising the chickens overall. I rechecked the last blog that I wrote about the chickens before the chicks and I was going to discuss weather changes.

That was until today.

I allowed the dogs outside to go potty at 3 pm - their usual time. I kept watching the chicken coop as I was enjoying one of my oatmeal cookies that I made with chocolate covered raisins, when I noticed that I didn't see Lily in her pen.

Okay.

Hmm.

Oh look, there happens to be a chicken NOT in her pen. And there are three dogs running around the backyard.

Now, if it happened to be just Amber and Chewbacca outside going to the bathroom, not a big deal. Since they are the smaller ones. However, this is a big deal since Sabrina is also outside. Sabrina is my Australian Shepherd. Sabrina happens to be 60 lbs of killing when she wants to be. I have taught her to kill on command so I do not try to hinder that instinct in her.

But, this is my pet chicken we are talking about. The chicken is her sister. Not. Food.

Sabrina has, since day one, wanted to kill the chickens. It's been what ... over a year now since getting them? I've never allowed her to be near the chickens alone. I never allow her to get too close. She has ALWAYS took it upon herself to grab at them as they run past.

Well, that was also when Lily would run. Lily no longer runs. Lily takes on a group of crows - for your info a group of crows is called a Murder and that concludes school for today. Lily takes on squirrels that dare getting too close to the cage. She frequently enjoys even picking at my legs when I don't give her enough attention during the day.

Yes, she is a stinker - as my dad used to call me : )

As I was saying, Lily no longer runs from the dogs.

So, I look out to the corner, that is by her pen and oh look! a chicken! I promptly yell, "Stubborn Chicken!" Throw my cookie down, run out the back door and run to get her back in her pen before my little killer, Sabrina, notices she's with Amber by the pen.

Which promptly makes my mom run outside thinking something happened.

I go back inside, (so did my mom) finish off the cookie - which is of utmost importance to finish mind you - then realize that Sabrina had come over to her and didn't really pay her no mind. She was paying attention to the chicken, but was no longer with the PREY instinct in her and the KILL thoughts. She was paying attention to me when I told her to stay away from Lily and overall was fine. When normally, once that KILL hits her, good luck getting her attention. She is a one-track killing machine.

I thought I'd go ahead and let Lily back outside the pen and realized that we have now reached a new level of respect within Sabrina and Lily. Granted, little Miss Attitude Lily just prefers beating up the dogs when they harass her too much. Which makes me laugh because here are three dogs that are more than outweighing her, but yet ... they leave her alone. Reminds me of my mom's dog, Katie, that passed away near the beginning of last year. Her rememberance video if you'd like to see it is here - http://www.angelfire.com/journal2/noseyrosey/katie.html - it's a 15 min video, so I'd only watch if you have the time. I worked on it myself, same with the website it's attached to, for my mom.

Anyhoo, here is the video of Lily with the dogs out in the backyard. You'll see crap from us building a new staircase on the side of the yard, and get to hear me whisper yell, "Quit!" as Lily decides to poke at my leg. I have to wonder if Sabrina's new acceptance of the chicken is also something to do with being around the baby chicks.

It was tough to get the video, since, as you see, Lily insists on coming over to me, she wanted follow me around, and the dogs didn't care about being near her! Aggravating :p

And yes, her booty is dirty. Chickens that roost don't have that problem, but I don't care. It's not like I'm trying to win an award for her beauty. So she has poopies on her booties. Whatever.

And ...

Action!