Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[rural mouse]

Very good. My dad has kept his woods healthy by harvesting the dead trees for over 40 years.

The challenge is getting into the woods to harvest the worst areas. We have some seriously rough country and a dearth of road, tracks or other access. Packing trees out via horse back (or other pack beast) is so far beyond practical. There have been enough hissy fits about the environment to ban motorized vehicle access, logging, or other use beyond hiking through brush I some areas. Those same areas are frequently in need of major wood hauling or become the new fire area. It's a fine balance to maintain, and NEVER easy or simple.

 

[BY Bob]

I took a 2nd dose last night and I slept until a few minutes ago. Chickens gave me the angry eye for being late feeding them but I got everyone done. My head is fine and I feel rested and not sore or dizzy. I feel good this morning.
View attachment 3256212

I am very glad to hear it!

 

[BY Bob]

View attachment 3256239
The older I get the more cuddles I need

Times to be treasured

Treasured indeed.

 

[Lexicon]

Rosa is very pretty.

Thanks, she is a real character! I have given the birds access to my garden, except for the Swiss Chard bed which I tried to block off unsuccessfully. Rosa knows that I don't want her in there, so she jumps up into the raised bed when I am not watching and gobbles as much as she can! When I notice and call her name "Roooossssaaa!" she gives me a mischievous look and hops down... until the next time that I am not looking!

It got down to -4C last night, so I think I will just give them access to the whole thing now. Rosa will be pleased.

 

[rural mouse]

Magpies are playing other side of the door. Can't change the blinds or they'll bolt.

Whiskey came by to see what they found. They're mostly playing under the birds nest spruce

 

[rural mouse]

Magpies are playing other side of the door. Can't change the blinds or they'll bolt.View attachment 3256619Whiskey came by to see what they found. They're mostly playing under the birds nest spruce View attachment 3256618

The left for a moment, so I opened the blinds a bit. The closest one is a juvenile, I think, and they've got ZERO fear of the chickens

 

[BY Bob]

So, @BY Bob , or anyone else who has knowledge regarding this:

Last night I read an article regarding Bumblefoot, and it said you shouldn't give chicks roosts until they are at least 4 weeks old, as it can damage their feet and predispose them to bumblefoot later.

I had always assumed (Yes, I know what 'ass-u-me-d' is sometimes restated as.) that it was good to give them things to jump up on (enrichment in general), and differing sized roosts for exercise/use of foot muscles.

Now I am not sure what to think. One would imagine that in the wild they go 'up' as soon as they are able, as it is safer for them, and that even before they can fly they are encountering sticks, logs, rock, etc. on the ground that they will step on/hop on. ??????

These are pictures of what I have in my current chicks' brooder. They have been in this brooder and had these things since they were 5 days old.

This is a roost made out of a 2X3 on it's flat side. They were using the 'steps' of the supports to hop up before they could fly. It is hard to tell, but I sanded the 'hard corners' off the top edges before making the roost with leftover scraps of wood.
View attachment 3256284

Sorry, best pic. I have of the branch. It is somewhat arched, so the majority of it is about an inch+ above the bedding. It doesn't have too rough of a bark, but it isn't perfectly smooth, either. Each of the 3 'legs' has a different size diameter...between that, the arching so raised, and the fact that it is very stable... and I thought this was perfect for chicks.
View attachment 3256287

Then, of course, once they could 'hop-fly' and were pooping on top of the brooder plate, I added the cardboard box with shavings. Of course, they promptly started roosting at times on the edge of the cardboard...as the white chick is in this photo.
View attachment 3256285

For 'enrichment/healthy environment' they also have a dust bath and get a hunk of grass or weeds with soil embedded in the roots daily for their scratching/exploring pleasure. Initially the dust bath was a rugged but short cardboard box - you can see that in the second pic above, (which, again, they roosted on at times), now that they are bigger AND can fly, it is a decent sized round plastic planter pot that has the rolled edges, so is quite smooth. (and yes, they perch on that, too)


SO: are these perching/roosting things good, bad???? I'm not sure what to think. My adults do occasionally get bumble foot. I usually catch it early and it isn't a big deal...sometimes I don't catch it right away....but while I DO have some cases, I don't get a lot of them...roughly 2-4 cases a summer with all my adults. (they rarely get them in the winter as they aren't off exploring and getting into trouble when there is snow on the ground...they keep to the shoveled run and an area in the field around 2 shrubs that I also usually shovel) As a reference, I presently have 96 adults between chickens, ducks & geese with another 33 chicks. (Adults are counting my teens) And I have already processed 10 this year (mostly young ducks(drakes) but a few hens, too)

I love your set up. I know of no studies that show chicks that jump up on things are more predisposed to bumblefoot. I also can't think of a physiological reason why they would be connected.

Perhaps our thread researcher, @RoyalChick could do a search for us.

This also goes against what I have seen from my hens that has chicks when I was a wee lad and from when Sydney had chicks. As soon as they can fly, mom wants them up. As high as they can go. If it was detrimental to their feet I don't believe that would be what they were taught.

Additionally, I have always tried to give my chicks "up" for enrichment purposes. They love it. Knock on wood, I have NEVER dealt with a case of bumblefoot. Not when I was a lad and not in over 9 years of chicken raising this go around.

I hope this helps.

 

[RoyalChick]

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.

What a good idea.

 

[RoyalChick]

I love your set up. I know of no studies that show chicks that jump up on things are more predisposed to bumblefoot. I also can't think of a physiological reason why they would be connected.

Perhaps our thread researcher, @RoyalChick could do a search for us.

This also goes against what I have seen from my hens that has chicks when I was a wee lad and from when Sydney had chicks. As soon as they can fly, mom wants them up. As high as they can go. If it was detrimental to their feet I don't believe that would be what they were taught.

Additionally, I have always tried to give my chicks "up" for enrichment purposes. They love it. Knock on wood, I have NEVER dealt with a case of bumblefoot. Not when I was a lad and not in over 9 years of chicken raising this go around.

I hope this helps.

I will try digging around to see what I can find. @bgmathteach can you link to the article you read it in?
I probably won’t get to it until tomorrow. I am still clearing up after the shindig yesterday, and if I am completely honest I may still be just a teeny bit hungover.
I mean, I am just a little tired!
There were no fatalities from the yellow jackets but several folk (including me) got stung. One poor guy got stung three times. I felt so bad for him.

 

[ValarieF]

Working on one part of the salad bar for the chickens it's a quick throw together and used my new electric shears to cut the hardware cloth oh boy did they work great.