birthday tail

busy weekend.  dr. martin came on saturday to give maggie her first shots, and banjo his final (rabies) shot.  we banded maggie's tail last week with the elastrator, which will dock her tail (the band cuts off the circulation, causing the end of the tail to die and fall off).  i'd only done it once before, with our first ewe lamb, and it went smoothly.  little maggie is not as clean, and it's been warm, so we had to bathe her in the laundry room sink to prevent infection.  she now gets a daily dose of naxcel (antibiotic), and a squirt of betadine and anti-fly spray on her tail. stephanie the blind bantam is having problems with balance.  on saturday, i noticed she wasn't eating or drinking, and could barely stand.  dr. martin checked her out and suggested that we tube feed her, and start a course of antibiotics.  she's in a cage in the den, receiving bird formula via syringe 3-4 times a day.  i'm not sure what's going on, and hope that she's able to regain enough strength and balance to walk and eat on her own.

james and niko cleaned up the yard and washed the outdoor furniture in preparation for james' birthday bbq on saturday night.  i smoked back ribs, grass-fed trip-tip, and salmon on a cedar plank.  it was fun to have kids running around, gawking at the sheep and chicks.  pattie brought some of her home-made bleu goat cheese and gave james' some personalized egg cartons (hilarious).  it was good to spend time relaxing with family and friends.

yesterday, we took a long drive to hemet with the dogs to pick up more bantam hens.  now that there's more space in the pen, and since we have so many roosters, more hens would add some balance to the flock.  i found a woman online who raises bantams - never realized til i started looking just how hard they are to find.  we brought home 2 black silkies and 7 cochins of various colors.