Oh Sovereign Lord, give me grace!
We got four pullets today - they're sweet and Chanticleer seems to like them, although we're keeping the hens in the coop, and the rooster out, for few days while they get used to each other.

All of our animals are patured/free range. We believe it's the healthiest way to raise them... in the outdoors that the Good Lord created them for.

But that's not what has me praying for grace right now. We just met our new next-door-neighbors. The husband works in DC.

For the USDA.

The first thing he did when he saw the chickens was to tell Mike about Virginia's newly enacted legislation regarding the bird flu: If even one case of avian flu shows up, all poultry within 14 counties has to be exterminated.

Please pray for us - this has me almost as worried as if a hyperactive social worker had moved in next door. We'll need wisdom as we consider how much, or whether, we should talk to him about research showing that the avian flu is not as serious a threat as the USDA is presenting it, and that the solution is nothing like what the USDA wants - that all poultry be raised indoors.