Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[janiedoe]

Princess had a wash yesterday after laying that egg. I can't upload any much pictures there's still problems here. View attachment 3838949

Princess looks lovely, her red comb is almost a match for the flowers.

 

[rural mouse]

A 2 fer stare down:

Enigma and Chia

 

[RoyalChick]

A 2 fer stare down: View attachment 3839083Enigma and Chia

That one has gotta go into the caption competition. Hilarious!

 

[ManueB]

That makes a lot of sense.
I just told Mom and Dad that he’s staying for at least another few months. (@notabitail)

I do know that he’s a good rooster. I’m going to do what you suggested and see if that makes a difference.

I am also very glad you are giving it a try !
It's obvious you care for him since he was your first chicken and you are named on BYC after him.
If it works out, you will be very glad you tried it ; if it doesn't, you can re-home him feeling better about it since you can tell yourself you tried everything you could.

I think you have been given great advice. I have two other tips from when I was having issues with Théo being aggressive to me. Granted, he is 1kg5 (3 pounds) so it was more embarrassing than potentially dangerous .

(We have reached a point where our relationship is acceptable to both of us, but Théo still takes the war stance when he eats from my hand!

Anyway, my first tip is to be very aware now of the circumstances in which Pastel is acting aggressive, and see if you can find things that trigger him. Giving treats to his hens and not to him first is an obvious one, but there may be others. In my case, seeing me carrying bowls of food or water was one and the other was being present when he escorted the hens down the roost in the morning. If you spot some of these triggers, then see if you can make changes in your behaviour that would help. For a while I brought food and water before I opened the coop, for example.

It is tight quarters with all the hens and chicks running around while trying to keep your guard up against a potential aggressive rooster

This, is the second thing. Space is definitely an issue. When you feel like he invades your space and is being aggressive, he feels the same if you are too close to him. And also, roosters, (should I say like humans male ?) can cope with situations they dont like by pretending they don't see them, or moving away. If the space is too tight to do that, it may cause agressive behaviour. Try to think about how your spatial position is in relation to him, so that he can always move away if he choses to.

Again, I am really proud of you for giving it a try. It makes me feel very sad when people who deal with an aggressive rooster think of culling as the first and easy solution. I am glad your parents agree.
(And by the way, I think you owe them exceptionally nice behaviour for at least a whole year for buying you a horse. Show them you appreciate that they care for you even if don't always understand each other. It was my dream to have a pony when I was your age !).

sad news

Larry had a catastrophic leg injury and my BIL and I had to put her down. She was an elderly girl so I think she likely tried to jump down from someplace and broke her leg.

I found her when I did evening chores, we immediately put her down - she would have been in terrible pain and I didn’t want to have her lingering. The fracture was an open fracture so there would be no way to split it and save her.

She is now at peace with her friend Tuff. View attachment 3838720

Goodbye , Larry. You've been doing a really good job with those senior hens, @Ponypoor . I think they are all glad they came to live with you.

A few tuefers. Happy Tuesday, everyone !
Gaston and Alba

Mélisse and Alba

Merle and Piou-piou

 

[RoyalChick]

Happy Tuesday everyone.
Here is a relatively unusual 2fer - Babs and Calypso sunbathing. Don’t usually see those two hanging out together.

 

[rural mouse]

That one has gotta go into the caption competition. Hilarious!

Done

 

[rural mouse]

That one has gotta go into the caption competition. Hilarious!

I took this yesterday...

He kept crowing with his head up in the roof housing....

 

[rural mouse]

I am also very glad you are giving it a try !
It's obvious you care for him since he was your first chicken and you are named on BYC after him.
If it works out, you will be very glad you tried it ; if it doesn't, you can re-home him feeling better about it since you can tell yourself you tried everything you could.

I think you have been given great advice. I have two other tips from when I was having issues with Théo being aggressive to me. Granted, he is 1kg5 (3 pounds) so it was more embarrassing than potentially dangerous .

(We have reached a point where our relationship is acceptable to both of us, but Théo still takes the war stance when he eats from my hand!
View attachment 3839123

Anyway, my first tip is to be very aware now of the circumstances in which Pastel is acting aggressive, and see if you can find things that trigger him. Giving treats to his hens and not to him first is an obvious one, but there may be others. In my case, seeing me carrying bowls of food or water was one and the other was being present when he escorted the hens down the roost in the morning. If you spot some of these triggers, then see if you can make changes in your behaviour that would help. For a while I brought food and water before I opened the coop, for example.

This, is the second thing. Space is definitely an issue. When you feel like he invades your space and is being aggressive, he feels the same if you are too close to him. And also, roosters, (should I say like humans male ?) can cope with situations they dont like by pretending they don't see them, or moving away. If the space is too tight to do that, it may cause agressive behaviour. Try to think about how your spatial position is in relation to him, so that he can always move away if he choses to.

Again, I am really proud of you for giving it a try. It makes me feel very sad when people who deal with an aggressive rooster think of culling as the first and easy solution. I am glad your parents agree.
(And by the way, I think you owe them exceptionally nice behaviour for at least a whole year for buying you a horse. Show them you appreciate that they care for you even if don't always understand each other. It was my dream to have a pony when I was your age !).

Goodbye , Larry. You've been doing a really good job with those senior hens, @Ponypoor . I think they are all glad they came to live with you.

A few tuefers. Happy Tuesday, everyone !
Gaston and Alba
View attachment 3839070
Mélisse and Alba
View attachment 3839099
Merle and Piou-piou
View attachment 3839124

@Pastel the Rooster the space is definitely a thought that sparked an idea with me. More space is ALWAYS better. If there is ANY way you (and your family) can create more space for them, it will also help. The space doesn't have to be out. Upward is also a good way to do this. @micstrachan has a coop based upon a kids multi-level play house. Not the easiest thing to clean, but it expands the room the birds have without taking up more area and makes lots of line of sight breakers.

I'm not saying it HAS to be done or even done immediately, but I think it would be a wise idea. It could be a simple as mounting a dead tree and putting a series of platforms off set up the tree. A 4 x 4 post will work as a mounting base too. Finding a playhouse that someone is getting rid of is another option. If you do opt for this, it certainly needs to be hardware cloth enclosed, but the people access doesn't need to be at the same point as the bird access.

 

[RoyalChick]

@Pastel the Rooster the space is definitely a thought that sparked an idea with me. More space is ALWAYS better. If there is ANY way you (and your family) can create more space for them, it will also help. The space doesn't have to be out. Upward is also a good way to do this. @micstrachan has a coop based upon a kids multi-level play house. Not the easiest thing to clean, but it expands the room the birds have without taking up more area and makes lots of line of sight breakers.

I'm not saying it HAS to be done or even done immediately, but I think it would be a wise idea. It could be a simple as mounting a dead tree and putting a series of platforms of set up the tree. A 4 x 4 post will work as a mounting base too. Finding a playhouse that someone is getting rid of is another option. If you do opt for this, it certainly needs to be hardware cloth enclosed, but the people access doesn't need to be at the same point as the bird access.

I don’t have a multi floor coop like @micstrachan does (though I wish I had thought of designing that when I was building the Chicken Palace) but I do have multiple higher level places and mine definitely use their upper level spaces a lot.
I don’t have a rooster - but it certainly avoids fights among the hens.

 

[Ponypoor]

I am also very glad you are giving it a try !
It's obvious you care for him since he was your first chicken and you are named on BYC after him.
If it works out, you will be very glad you tried it ; if it doesn't, you can re-home him feeling better about it since you can tell yourself you tried everything you could.

I think you have been given great advice. I have two other tips from when I was having issues with Théo being aggressive to me. Granted, he is 1kg5 (3 pounds) so it was more embarrassing than potentially dangerous .

(We have reached a point where our relationship is acceptable to both of us, but Théo still takes the war stance when he eats from my hand!
View attachment 3839123

Anyway, my first tip is to be very aware now of the circumstances in which Pastel is acting aggressive, and see if you can find things that trigger him. Giving treats to his hens and not to him first is an obvious one, but there may be others. In my case, seeing me carrying bowls of food or water was one and the other was being present when he escorted the hens down the roost in the morning. If you spot some of these triggers, then see if you can make changes in your behaviour that would help. For a while I brought food and water before I opened the coop, for example.

This, is the second thing. Space is definitely an issue. When you feel like he invades your space and is being aggressive, he feels the same if you are too close to him. And also, roosters, (should I say like humans male ?) can cope with situations they dont like by pretending they don't see them, or moving away. If the space is too tight to do that, it may cause agressive behaviour. Try to think about how your spatial position is in relation to him, so that he can always move away if he choses to.

Again, I am really proud of you for giving it a try. It makes me feel very sad when people who deal with an aggressive rooster think of culling as the first and easy solution. I am glad your parents agree.
(And by the way, I think you owe them exceptionally nice behaviour for at least a whole year for buying you a horse. Show them you appreciate that they care for you even if don't always understand each other. It was my dream to have a pony when I was your age !).

Goodbye , Larry. You've been doing a really good job with those senior hens, @Ponypoor . I think they are all glad they came to live with you.

A few tuefers. Happy Tuesday, everyone !
Gaston and Alba
View attachment 3839070
Mélisse and Alba
View attachment 3839099
Merle and Piou-piou
View attachment 3839124

As always gorgeous photos of lovely chooks and scenery.

Theo is such a funny little Roo.