Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[BY Bob]

It's hard to tell if they are pointed or round. When I compare to Gaston they look sort of similar but they also look similar to Merle . I'll just have to wait for her tail feathers to come out!


There's a lot of conflicting information regarding the degree of toxicity of solanin. Yes, we eat eggplants, potatoes, and raw tomatoes so obviously we can tolerate some solanin even when it's raw! Here we're told that green tomatoes are extremely poisonous and on this thread I'm learning that some of you americans from the south actually eat them fried . I certainly don't have enough of biological knowledge to have an opinion. I do know that I've had a number of plants considered toxic to chickens accessible to them and they have never eaten enough to be ill. I also said elsewhere that we fed our ex-batts huge amounts of mashed potatoes daily their first winter here, as this was how my partner's grandma used to feed her chicken, and if it harmed them we never saw it.

I saw that you mentioned taking an appointment with your doctor for the concussion and I think you did well. I would also suggest checking with your psychiatrist regarding the latuda. If this is a side effect it means you should either not stay on your own, or have the means to get help fast, while it lasts- there may be an adjustment period. I hope you will feel all right today .

Tax : Merle enjoying my deck chair.

View attachment 3255936

I can assure you that green tomatoes are NOT poisonous to humans. I have eaten far too many of them.

 

[Marie2020]

From a tiny kitten too a lost ferrol cat now sleeps while purring on my couch

 

[BY Bob]

An hour off doesn't = a normal chicken day. It is good she eats, baths, drinks, etc....but it does make me worry for her being on the nest so long (broody so long)...it is 7 1/2 weeks now....plus, again, the molting issue. It really makes me worried for her.

Maybe @BY Bob can allay my fears?????? I"ll have another question for him that has me bothered, but need to check on ruckus outside - post later...

I don't like it. I'm concerned. I would consider blocking them out of the nest boxes or failing that, crating them for 2 days to break them. They are losing muscle tone for sure by not scratching around, etc.

 

[BY Bob]

Here is my entire crew: For those that followed my link for breed and gender some of these will be a repeat my apologies. These are the best pics from the “photo shoot” Some of you may also notice my kids overruled naming of them so my bakers dozen are named after cookies. I could be wrong on the breeds they are best guesses.

They are marvelous!

 

[Marie2020]

Tax more watermelon picsView attachment 3256512View attachment 3256513View attachment 3256515

These chicks are soo very cute . I can't wait to see how they grow

 

[ValarieF]

These chicks are soo very cute . I can't wait to see how they grow

I love them as chicks but they are growing slow hehe

 

[bgmathteach]

Your setup looks very nice! I remember the brick perch was on your couch for a photo op.

I am going to reply without reading ahead.
There are many articles out there. Is there something about this article makes you believe it is very reliable? Do they have some evidence that it does damage their feet? I am very curious.

I tend to go with nature so if mama hens like to get their babies roost very quickly, which appears to be the case from following this thread and Shad's thread, then I think that is the way to go.

We definitely put in a roost for our babies very early on. I haven't experienced any bumble feet issue, but maybe I haven't paid enough attention? Is it possible that you don't know your chickens have bumble feet, given spending a decent amount of time with them but no checking on feet?

Granted my sample size is small (10), but your data set does not suggest you have a bumblefoot problem.

I do check periodically...not everyone all the time (nearly impossible, given that most like to be around me but not picked up/held. Once you start picking up a few, the rest get wary.) I've gotten really good at detecting barely perceivable limps or favoring of feet. I target them for checking and then, over the next few days, end up checking all of their flock mates in that group/coop....and checking their coop to make sure nothing is amiss.

Also, I process a fairly large # in the fall (all extra Roos - young, and older hens) I've only ever processed one that had Bumble foot and I had not been aware of it. Since I do everything but the plucking...I do see that then.

It was an article on preventing and treating bumble foot, and everything seemed to be spot-on in terms of what I have read and/or experienced, so I was a bit shocked that a) I had never heard this before (i.e. where is this coming from) and B) everything else rang true, so is this also????

I was just hoping to either confirm that I'm okay ( article is wrong) OR be told I should change my set-up for the long-term benefit/health of their feet.

Maybe @RoyalChick can work her magic with research. I did a quick check and found nothing helpful regarding chicks. But, then, my trouble with searching is Google never seems to like the way I word my searches. So, unless it is a straight forward one or two word search, I seem to do dozens with few/no relevant results.

 

[bgmathteach]

I love them as chicks but they are growing slow hehe

A watched pot never boils!


Just be careful. One day you will look at them and say 'OMG, they are TEENS"

 

[lightm]

I do check periodically...not everyone all the time (nearly impossible, given that most like to be around me but not picked up/held. Once you start picking up a few, the rest get wary.) I've gotten really good at detecting barely perceivable limps or favoring of feet. I target them for checking and then, over the next few days, end up checking all of their flock mates in that group/coop....and checking their coop to make sure nothing is amiss.

Also, I process a fairly large # in the fall (all extra Roos - young, and older hens) I've only ever processed one that had Bumble foot and I had not been aware of it. Since I do everything but the plucking...I do see that then.

It was an article on preventing and treating bumble foot, and everything seemed to be spot-on in terms of what I have read and/or experienced, so I was a bit shocked that a) I had never heard this before (i.e. where is this coming from) and B) everything else rang true, so is this also????

I was just hoping to either confirm that I'm okay ( article is wrong) OR be told I should change my set-up for the long-term benefit/health of their feet.

Maybe @RoyalChick can work her magic with research. I did a quick check and found nothing helpful regarding chicks. But, then, my trouble with searching is Google never seems to like the way I word my searches. So, unless it is a straight forward one or two word search, I seem to do dozens with few/no relevant results.

Thanks for the info on detecting bumble foot! For research type of article, I often use scholar.google if you haven't tried it already.

What if you do an experiment on your own next spring? especially you have those foot bands already. Could even be a good example in a basic stat class to see if the result is statistically significant if you are teaching that.

 

[rural mouse]

It was just an article, but to me that statement came out of the blue...so I thought maybe there is something I am missing/unaware of. ( I am pretty much taught by lots of reading and my own observations for the short time I've had chickens...and also learned a lot from here (BYC in general & FBA) So, I very well could be missing something/uninformed/ignorant....but on the other hand, the logical part of my brain says 'that doesn't make sense given the chicken background '(ancestors). Again

I don't think the statement makes sense either. There are enough other articles out that are lacking thorough and thoughtful study re: chicken behavior and/or are based solely upon the large scale production situations for me to seriously question the validity of that article.