Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Ponypoor]

A couple of years ago I kept getting bats in the house. Poor things got disoriented by the walls and escaping from the cats. They would end up hanging from the curtain poles.
I became a regular at the post exposure rabies place.
They seem to have stopped coming inside now which is good.
I keep meaning to make them a bat house on the side of the barn - on my to do list!

Oh I am glad you did post exposure, rabies is not something to fool with!!

 

[rural mouse]

I have half been considering not kicking all the barn swallows out of my house… simply for this reason. Last year while DH was in Hospital I had to evict a “night bird” from the RV. Little bat was just trying to help me I’m sure! But yeah the “how the heck do I get this outside” was a fun late night phone call for the roommates in his ward.

I can imagine being a fly on the wall when the call came in!

 

[Kris5902]

A couple of years ago I kept getting bats in the house. Poor things got disoriented by the walls and escaping from the cats. They would end up hanging from the curtain poles.
I became a regular at the post exposure rabies place.
They seem to have stopped coming inside now which is good.
I keep meaning to make them a bat house on the side of the barn - on my to do list!

I opened up all the windows, turned off the lights and went outside with a lantern. It seemed to work, because he found his way out. We also had to rescue one from out rain water barrel. Poor little guy was soggy and I have no idea why we decided to check the water in it visually that morning, but lucky for him we did. They really hate daylight even when they are tying to dry out, I was worried I might need to bring it in, and yes you can feed them live mealy worms… but he flew off before I could offer them.

 

[RoyalChick]

I opened up all the windows, turned off the lights and went outside with a lantern. It seemed to work, because he found his way out. We also had to rescue one from out rain water barrel. Poor little guy was soggy and I have no idea why we decided to check the water in it visually that morning, but lucky for him we did. They really hate daylight even when they are tying to dry out, I was worried I might need to bring it in, and yes you can feed them live mealy worms… but he flew off before I could offer them.

Yes. My recipe was to turn out the lights, close the door to exclude the cats and open the tops of the windows. Once it was quiet and dark they figured it out.

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

I also have to point out that Branch has not been the only sneaky boy. I did a quick once over of Chiquita's chick earlier. It took me all of 10 seconds to realize Chiquita and Bubba had a secret love affair going on behind mine and Branch's back. Instead of black skin and extra silkie toes....her baby looks like a tiny miniature Black Copper Marans chick complete with 4 toes and pink skin. Now that I have 2, I guess my new thing is Silkie x Maran's crosses.

 

[Kris5902]

I can imagine being a fly on the wall when the call came in!

Yes, and at the time I still had an indoor goat and one elderly cat who had just discovered she could catch birds that fly inside and into the windows so getting him out was a little more important than it would be otherwise. I’ve slept in barns and not gotten a single bite before thanks to the bats and swallows… but didn’t want to risk a close encounter with a curious pet. That was while we were stranded from the flooding in November. For the record DH had no better ideas than me on bat removal… convo basically went (sleepy) “a WHAT??? What do you mean bird of the night” “you know, a rat with wings? (Calvin and Hobbes) a night bird. Sometimes turns into a creepy old guy with fangs or, hopefully, Brad Pitt? How do I get it to fly out of the trailer???” And his phones speaker was acting up so of course I was on speaker at about 11 pm…

 

[featherhead007]

I do believe that I have a permanent house chicken now. Even at dark, Dakota won’t go to the coop. She’d rather sleep outside on the porch (if I didn’t let her inside) it’s true that the others do pick on her, all day long, and won’t let her perch around them. She’s in the chickens room tonight again. She hasn’t made any noises lately. She used to coo and purr at bedtime (but that was when Arizona was here)

 

[Ponypoor]

I do believe that I have a permanent house chicken now. Even at dark, Dakota won’t go to the coop. She’d rather sleep outside on the porch (if I didn’t let her inside) it’s true that the others do pick on her, all day long, and won’t let her perch around them. She’s in the chickens room tonight again. She hasn’t made any noises lately. She used to coo and purr at bedtime (but that was when Arizona was here)

Well guess could be worse she could be broodie

 

[Ponypoor]

Yes it’s gone 2:45AM here, yea I am awake - again. There i was awake with the usual leg sacrum thing going on, and I was on the barn cam checking chickens, counting them….. 8 and 3 in the nest boxes. Good all asleep… what?! What?! That’s 11!!! 11… wth whos missing?! There should be 12! I run through my foggy zombie mind who it is… whiskers!

The brat she was roosting on the shavings near the animal crates the past few nights since she stopped being broody. I was having to haul her butt in the hen house to roost as I didn’t want to leave her out in case of raccoons or weasels getting on the barn.

So I had to go and get dressed, turn off the alarm. And tromp to the barn while all foggy brained, and it darn chilly! I tripped and almost fell over the chicken mesh before the light sensor at the barn activated so I could see haha - I moved that fencing when we did the run.

Poor whiskers - I grabbed her woke her likely scared the living daylights out of her she sqwuacked blue murder but I got her butt in the hen house

That set the rest of the off, what was I doing at 2:30 am ? What’s up? I turned off the main lights and they settled, and tromped through the barn and out the back to check horses. As I said it was chilly enough to need a jacket and the sky was clear as a bell, with all the stars blazing, and the Milky Way glowing. What a splendid night!!!

If I didn’t have to get up for work today I would have turned off all the lights in the barn, grabbed my reclining lawn chair and sat out there in the paddock with the horses and watched the sky, and communed with the horses, but I had to come back in and get some sleep boohoo…

 

[Ponypoor]

My chickens eat mosquitoes, maybe not a ton of it, but they often catch mosquitoes in the air while lap sitting on my husband.

I don’t see them eating mosquitoes but it is fun watching them running and jumping after gypsy moths!!!