New Arrivals and a Backyard Battle Royale!

Darlin' Man had to stop by the feed store to pick up feed for the chickens and dogs. While there he saw they had just gotten some new chickens! They sell chickens--from hatchling chicks to full grown. He picked out a couple of gorgeous full grown young hens and brought them home!
They are both Rock Island hens, black and white barred.

We named them Chloe and Zoe. Red, the rooster, was all agog at their loveliness and spent the rest of the day trying to snuggle up to them.The new girls were having none of his amorous advances and perched themselves on the top of the laying box structure...well out of Reds reach. We have had them two days now and while Zoe continues to be a bit stand-offish towards Red, Chloe has warmed up to him.

Wang, the buck goat, is still languishing in his bachelor quarters. Yesterday, he made a bid to rejoin his harem in the big goat pen--which turned into a wild and woolly afternoon for me!
Wang had been forlornly bleating, letting us all know his displeasure at being separated from his girls. He added butting his head into the pen gate to his repertoire.Somehow he finally nudged the chain off the gate and dashed out. Unfortunately, our large, goofy German Shepherd, Andy, was outside.Andy is now about 8 months old, still full of puppy energy and, frankly, not the brightest dog.
Well, Andy channeled the predator in his little doggie heart and went in to attack.
Now, in the wild, male goats protect their flocks from many predators. Coyotes, wolves, cougars, even bears. Sometimes the predator wins...but sometimes the goat is successful.
While Andy was channeling his inner predator, Wang was calling on the spirit of all those wild goat ancestors.
The battle was on!
Andy, snarling and snapping, lunged for Wang.
Wang lowered his head and connected with Andy's ribs and tossed him about 3 feet and Andy landed on his butt in the dirt.
Undeterred, Andy charged Wang head first.
Big mistake!
Wang lowered his head and met Andy at full speed. You could probably hear the *crack* a block away.
Andy's knees buckled and he collapsed in the dirt.
Wang, apparently confident that the battle was his, trotted over to the big goat pen and focused his attentions on his little harem.
I checked on Andy. He was out cold. Since he weighs about 80 pounds, I just let him lay there.
After about 10 minutes, Andy came to and staggered over to the back patio. He got a drink of water and then whimpered to have me open the door. I opened the door and followed him in. I checked him over pretty thoroughly. Nothing broken, but he was tender on his ribs and his head.
Andy lay down on the couch and took a nap.
I let Wang browse in the yard beside the big goat pen . The Darlin' Man man handled him back to his bachelor quarters when he got home. Before that, when Andy and Siona (my dog) went out in the yard, they gave Wang a WIDE berth.
Andy is fine today. He romped around the yard this morning and tried a tentative foray next to Wangs pen....but Wang lowered his head and shook his head at Andy and the goofy dog decided he had very important business on the other side of the yard!
Andy, like some people, always needs to learn the HARD way.