Check this out!

A post on the Equality California blog about our call center in Oakland. I'm mentioned somewhere at the bottom. : )

http://ca-ripple-effect.blogspot.com/2009/10/from-field-having-conversations-in.html

Since the chicken drama there hasn't been much going on around here. I found some new pictures of my dad with the goats up in Bonnie Doone and also of Meredith and Enzo (remember them?) Enzo is gigantic!






Here are some videos that I just found of us launching chickens out of the treehouse.
DISCLAIMER: THIS IS THE FIRST BATCH OF CHICKENS! THE PARALYZED CHICKEN WAS NOT A PART OF THIS AND NO CHICKENS WERE SERIOUSLY INJURED IN THE MAKING OF THIS VIDEO. It is hella funny, though.

Pay no attention to the last post

We've decided to postpone Mocha's death sentence!!! We're all really happy about that. My mom put her in the coop the other day and she's able to scoot around using her wings and fend for herself. Apparently she's been getting enough food and water. Who are we to discriminate against paraplegic chickens? We can't find any chicken wheelchairs, but hopefully she'll live for a long time. The only problem might be that she can't fly up to perch with her sisters at night when it's cold, and it's been really cold. In the spring she might even lay some eggs. We're still not too hopeful about Banana, though. I have to go to school now but I thought I'd share the good news!

Bad news

I haven't posted for a while because not much has been going on. We haven't heard much from Colleen regarding Kiah and her future soul mate. She may have found another doe that gets along well with her, named Eve. We're waiting for the news that they're in heat. The enclosure in the back yard is all ready for them. The skyway isn't finished yet, but my dad says that it shouldn't take long. The big problem now is that since it seems like the rain is going to start we need to build them a little indoor space and to find somewhere to put the hay so it doesn't rot. The chickens have been enjoying the extra space outside and TJ has been enjoying sleeping on the hay. He's a real farm cat. 

Unfortunately, we seem to be losing chickens. Our leghorn, Mocha, had a stroke or something and can't move. Her legs are paralyzed and all she can do is squawk and fall over. Right now she's lying upside down in the bathtub in a pile of her own feces. It's awful. We want to put her out of her misery, but we don't know how. None of us is willing to break her neck. Yesterday we tried to give her some alcohol and an insulin injection but the insulin didn't even get into her body. It's not easy to get through the feathers. We know we have to kill her eventually but when she isn't falling over she looks so perky and happy... It's really hard for all of us, especially Sophie, but that's a part of having so many animals. Some of them have to die. We're probably going to end up with eight chickens instead of ten because Banana is thrice the size of her/his sisters and is strutting around perching on things. S/he hasn't started crowing yet but it's only a matter of time. 

I'll post some memorial photos of Mocha later on and I'll let everyone know if we hear anything more about the goat situation.