Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Ponypoor]

Missy is a lovely cat. Sorry your mom has covid but I'm glad that it does not seem to be serious.

Well she has had all 4 series of the vaccine - she is 76 so that’s a good thing! I told her just stay in bed and rest, watch tv….. she has a headache which she is saying is from too much reading this week. I told her no you likely have some virus… there’s a hundred of them out there at the moment! Covid, Flu, Cold, and all the other viruses kid get, incubate and pass around!!!!!

I am hiding out at the barn hahaha - I told her no way can i get sick - unlike my coworker who returned from Spain last weekend and conveniently test positive for it when she got home that night and had to stay home quarantined for 5 days (mon - fri) ….. she can work from home I can’t!!! Hmmmmm of course if I were to have to quarantine this week and then take holidays next week that would mean she would have to do ALL my work

Evil Kelly…. Don’t tempt the fates!

By way of apologizing for getting off topic I present to you my current batch of Barn Swallow babies - there are at least 4 likely 5 in that nest! One is even giving us a belated fluffy butter shot

 

[Ponypoor]

Well she has had all 4 series of the vaccine - she is 76 so that’s a good thing! I told her just stay in bed and rest, watch tv….. she has a headache which she is saying is from too much reading this week. I told her no you likely have some virus… there’s a hundred of them out there at the moment! Covid, Flu, Cold, and all the other viruses kid get, incubate and pass around!!!!!

I am hiding out at the barn hahaha - I told her no way can i get sick - unlike my coworker who returned from Spain last weekend and conveniently test positive for it when she got home that night and had to stay home quarantined for 5 days (mon - fri) ….. she can work from home I can’t!!! Hmmmmm of course if I were to have to quarantine this week and then take holidays next week that would mean she would have to do ALL my work

Evil Kelly…. Don’t tempt the fates!

By way of apologizing for getting off topic I present to you my current batch of Barn Swallow babies - there are at least 4 likely 5 in that nest! One is even giving us a belated fluffy butter shot
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Ummmm butt… not butter hahaa

 

[ManueB]

I have done several things. First I try to plant something over their graves.

These white teacup roses are planted over all our lost white leghorns but Daisy, the greatest hen ever, for example.

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Every chicken that has lived at FBA starting with the big coop build has gotten their bum silhouette painted. I therefore have a memorial wall inside the big run.

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Sadly I need to add 2 to it that did not live long enough to have tiers painted for the front of the coop.

Inside our house I have done a photo collection of them all. Again this is sadly out of date as I need to add 4 more somehow.
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The "poem" in the center is from a song by Ronnie Milsap that was playing in my head for whatever reason, when dear Patsy was passing away in my arms. It still makes me think of her and all of them everything's I hear it.

Patsy and all the lost residents of FBA. Scroll through as Ronnie signs.

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That was a beautiful post , thank you for sharing. It took me back to your primer article to read on some of the chickens I didn't recognize.

I love the idea of having a song or poem that makes you think of the chickens that are no longer there. It's making me favour a board with photos and text.
(And by the way, I think this thread is also a memorial in itself- if you read it back it must contain so many memories!)

I think naming a chicken after a living relative is a lovely thing to do. Maybe ask your cousin if s/he is OK with it?
On the memorial others may be better placed than me (I am odd about that sort of thing).
The ‘rest in peace’ posts I did for Bella and Dotty (I haven’t done one for Minnie as for some reason it is too painful) are my memorials as they combine my favorite photos with me thoughts on that individual chicken. I know several others plant things near their grave which I think is a lovely approach. A friend of mine used to make individual paving stones for each pet that died. I think they were concrete and she embedded shells and rocks to personalize them.

Well, if someone had told me when I got the ex-batts in January 2020 that I would be asking that kind of question I would have found them VERY peculiar .
Strangely I don't feel a need to do that kind of thing for people, but a chicken life seems so short ...but that's very personal, grief and memories come in very different colours!
I hope you can make some peace with your grief for Minnie.

And it's a perfect idea to ask my cousin opinion on giving his daughters name, I think if I have his clearance it will feel all right to me.

 

[bgmathteach]

Hello FBA! It's been a beautiful morning here, I'm making the best of it as we have another week of storms forecasted. I have two soppy questions for you.
First, I think I've found a name for piou-piou the tiny chick, but it happens to be the name of my cousin's baby daughter. I won't be seeing her more than once a year, but still I'm not sure about it : do you think it's strange to give a chicken the name of a living relative, or that it doesn't matter at all ?
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And my second question is a bit heavier. I've been thinking about what kind of "memorial" (that's a big name) I could do for Vanille and Caramel, and that I would be able to do again for the chickens that will come to pass. I'm really not an artist and I haven't kept any feathers which I regret now. The only ideas I came up with, were doing a photo board, or having a photo printed on a mug. If some of you don't mind sharing and have done other things, I would very much love to know!

My 2 cents only:
As long as your relatives wouldn't be upset, I would go with the name if you think it fits piou-piou!

Aphoto board or a picture on a mug is fine. How about starting a chicken garden, though?Start by planting a perennial - anything that you like and is chicken friendly. Maybe a shrub that produces berries, or a perennial herb (such a mint or lavender, or Rosemary if it will survive where you are....and plan an area that will be 'for them'?? Or, grapes and an arbor??? Just a thought. If you do one thing at a time, it isn't so overwhelming, and each chicken will be 'contributing' to the future of your flock??

 

[Ponypoor]

@BY Bob

Whiskers and her 2 tail feathers

And poor Misty with 1 straggler left, she is going through a heavy molt

 

[featherhead007]

Fresh clean water everywhere in the yard, but the chooks still prefer muddy dirty water!

 

[Ponypoor]

That was a beautiful post , thank you for sharing. It took me back to your primer article to read on some of the chickens I didn't recognize.

I love the idea of having a song or poem that makes you think of the chickens that are no longer there. It's making me favour a board with photos and text.
(And by the way, I think this thread is also a memorial in itself- if you read it back it must contain so many memories!)

Well, if someone had told me when I got the ex-batts in January 2020 that I would be asking that kind of question I would have found them VERY peculiar .
Strangely I don't feel a need to do that kind of thing for people, but a chicken life seems so short ...but that's very personal, grief and memories come in very different colours!
I hope you can make some peace with your grief for Minnie.

And it's a perfect idea to ask my cousin opinion on giving his daughters name, I think if I have his clearance it will feel all right to me.

What a lovely statement - that this thread is a memorial. That is so true!

As for naming animals, my friend names her dairy cattle after people - she named one of her cows after me I felt quite honoured!

 

[Ponypoor]

Fresh clean water everywhere in the yard, but the chooks still prefer muddy dirty water!

But of course! It’s full of nutrients!

 

[Ponypoor]

Everyone is hiding by the pear tree today, Mr Pompei is keeping watch

Dorothy felt the need to throw herself down in the sun to catch som solar rays

And three of the silkies are out and about, Curly remains on golf ball hatching duty

 

[featherhead007]

But of course! It’s full of nutrients!

Nutrients? Minerals maybe. I worry that they will get sick. (But haven’t yet)