Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Marie2020]

Princess is suddenly alert she knows this corn is coming

 

[ValarieF]

The bank is sending me off my rocker

Thank goodness for my little ladies.
As suggested they have a corn each I couldn't catch them eating with my phone all i got was the corn View attachment 3257337

I actually have some corn on the cob for mine today.

 

[bgmathteach]

Thank you everyone for your input and questions. All of your inquiries have really made me have to think hard about everything roost related, and as mentioned in a couple of posts, really given me some areas that I might tweak/adjust and or make a replacement - while also assuring me that I'm doing right by the little chicks.

I feel positive about things I can look at and adjust, and am grateful that no one called me out for being a poor chicken mom because I do get some cases of bumble foot. I can't tell you how much the thoughtful replies, questions, and suggestions mean - both personally and in assisting me to improve things here.




Grateful tax:

Some Monday mugs:

 

[ManueB]

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

Well, that's experimental proof for sure I'm going to try that stuff in a few weeks with our last tomatoes and I'll let you know if the experience is conclusive

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.

First, on the bumblefoot subject. In the village I live in people usually have their chickens in very old stables or sheds. Roosts are often very high (think more than seven feet) so chickens need to fly, but they are also made of very coarse materials, with old ladders, and I haven't noticed bumblefeet cases. (Ok maybe I wouldn't see it, but I've noticed for example a high number of SLM).
I think the environment is only one of the cause and that chickens, like humans, can be prone or not to getting feet infections.

Lexicon and I both know what real -45C is (not that drivel the weather man says when it’s -20 but feels like -40, hahaha).

And in the winter the sun will rise around 9:30 am drift along the horizon and set around 3:30 (Lex will get even shorter days then I would get in northern Alberta ).

And the sun rise and sun sets - last for soooo lone and are soooo beautiful. And the cold! It burns at -40, the extension cable to plug my truck block heater into the power (the block is a heater keeps the engine warm so the oil and fuel won’t gel, so the truck starts in cold weather), well the plastic coating on cheap extension cord just becomes so brittle it crack and breaks! Making the power cord useless and have to thrown out - darn it!

I really don’t know how Lexs chickies survive that cold, but they are thriving! My silkies had it rough last winter. I have a radiant heater panel for them.

This is true, but thankfully we don't get long spells of -45C.

In December the sun rises after 11:00 am, but is so low in the sky that it never clears the trees on our forested property, so we don't get actual rays of sunshine until much later in the spring.

It sounds bad, but it is not. A crisp night sky filled with stars, Northern Lights, no crowds, lots of lovely snow to play in, it is really a great place to live.

Winter tax:
View attachment 3256973

I think people must have grown up in such an environment as yours to be able to live there. I don't think I could do with both the cold and the short day light hours. I'm already getting depressed seeing how everyday is shorter than the one before! I would have loved to visit Canada for a few months though. I suppose the chickens who thrive in such temperatures are also chickens who grew up in that environment.
I wonder also, if there are homeless people in the cities and how do they survive ?

I couldn't either. Historical logging took teams of mules. We cut the tree, knock the branches, then cut the trunk to stove length. Those logs can still be HEAVY depending upon tree size. They're of manageable size, but it does mean picking it up, packing it to the pickup and stacking it in the bed. The more you can fit into a load, the better, and if you can haul a trailer to load too, great. Just don't forget to leave room for the gas can, chain oil, chainsaw, axe, wedge, and gloves....and go out EARLY. It's hot work and the cooler air helps. If you have to pack the logs uphill to get to the truck..... if you can drop a tree, and roll the logs downhill to the truck.....
Doing with a horse just isn't practical.

View attachment 3257220

Our context is very different but we also need to haul away trunks from places that are very difficult to access. We use our track barrow most of the time. If we can't reach the exact place where we need to get the tree cut down, we can at least come as close to it as possible. But it is motorized, so I guess it would not be allowed in your case.
I think it's a lot of work if you're only allowed to cut dead trees as they burn much faster .

 

[ManueB]

@bgmathteach I forgot the second part . I'm curious to know if it's not too inquisitive how you came to have so many chickens, and ducks and geese .. and do your own processing, in a short time ? Was it something you were doing already when you were growing up ?

 

[ManueB]

I'm thinking about buying a camera for my partner's bday so I can also use it for the chickens. His camera is 13 years old and heavy and half broken. Anyone has sufficient knowledge to say if it's worth it compared to a phone's camera ?
Enough bla-bla, Monday mugs!

She has a bunch of supporters here, so Piou-piou is first!

Blanche

Léa

Gastounet (Gaston!)

Brune pecking my pants forever

 

[RoyalChick]

I'm thinking about buying a camera for my partner's bday so I can also use it for the chickens. His camera is 13 years old and heavy and half broken. Anyone has sufficient knowledge to say if it's worth it compared to a phone's camera ?
Enough bla-bla, Monday mugs!

She has a bunch of supporters here, so Piou-piou is first!
View attachment 3257374

Blanche
View attachment 3257367

Léa
View attachment 3257368

Gastounet (Gaston!)
View attachment 3257369

Brune pecking my pants forever
View attachment 3257381

Lovely picture of Léa, and of course Piou-piou is just
I am no use on the camera (though I love your description of why you are getting one ‘for your partner’ ). I am a big supporter of this idea as I will benefit from enjoying the chicken photos!

 

[ValarieF]

A lot of tax and scratch time.

 

[Ponypoor]

How r u feeling today?

 

[BY Bob]

It is usually- but not always - girls in my oldest coop (which ultimately houses (mostly) my oldest girls), where the roosts are about 10 & 12 inches off the coop floor....they have a ramp that is used to get in/out of coop that ends with a platform and then a stump to get the rest of the way down. neither have sharp edges (I've run my hand all over the stump just in case), and neither is more than 10" hop. I am wondering about my ramp now though. The wood base is good, but I wonder if I need to replace the treads on the ramp. Again, first one I ever made, cut some scrap plywood to make the treads, sanded and put 1 coat of eurathane on them before attaching.....they don't look 'frayed', but maybe it is time to replace/redo ramp.....I would never use strips of plywood again.....(probably made way too many mistakes back then....some I'm acutely aware of, some probably slipped under my radar as I have learned more.)

I've been using strips of plywood the whole time. What has happened to yours?