Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[knoturavggrl]

She's Gone

Gucci passed away this afternoon. We have been fighting to keep her going since the 19th. Today she decided she did not want to fight anymore.

I will bring everyone up to speed on everything that went on later. For now, there are 7 hens in residence at Fluffy Butt Acres.

Mrs BY Bob did not get to say goodbye. She is visiting Eve this weekend.

I am so sorry for your loss and for Mrs BYBob. It never gets easier to lose a pet.

 

[Ponypoor]

More Pony Sunday

It’s a rather nice day today, so I grabbed some more pony pics

These three were snoozing till I disturbed them and they came looking for treats

Lulu was hanging out grazing

Sally and I stopped to check out the colourful trees

Truly agreed they were lovely

All glowing with colour

 

[Ponypoor]

I don't have any real ponies or horses but if I did they would look like:

View attachment 3285568View attachment 3285570

She like the wild ones

I like the ones I can ride along on and stop to admire the butterflies

The reason I have such a bad back are the ones like those beauties

Don’t you just love the one with all the purple flowers ?

 

[Ponypoor]

She is mimicking that bag or trying too look identical

This morning she jumped up on the bag and flew off, throwing the bag over and knocking over a water bowl

I think she does it to get a rise out of me - attention getting hahaha!

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

I have to say it, if grandma was not here I would be selling 2 cochin girls as soon as I could. Yes they are pretty but their egg eating is driving me insane. They will now eat their own eggs the second they are laid. They have oyster shell, were on layer feed as well until I had to switch to the feather fixer so it is not a need for calcium. This is a horrible habit and I hate having it in my flock. I casually mentioned getting rid of them the other day and grandma threw a fit.

 

[rural mouse]

I have to say it, if grandma was not here I would be selling 2 cochin girls as soon as I could. Yes they are pretty but their egg eating is driving me insane. They will now eat their own eggs the second they are laid. They have oyster shell, were on layer feed as well until I had to switch to the feather fixer so it is not a need for calcium. This is a horrible habit and I hate having it in my flock. I casually mentioned getting rid of them the other day and grandma threw a fit.

Can they just quietly disappear? What about fake eggs for them to "try" to eat?

 

[BY Bob]

I am so sorry for your loss and for Mrs BYBob. It never gets easier to lose a pet.

Thanks

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

Can they just quietly disappear? What about fake eggs for them to "try" to eat?

I've placed golf balls out there, they peck them as well. They also listen for the other hens to sing the egg song, if they beat me to where the egg is they will eat it. The truly safe egg laying sites are the nest on top the hay pile and the porch. They really are making to a point that I have to literally run out and grab the egg the moment it is laid to ensure it is not eaten.

 

[BY Bob]

More Pony Sunday

It’s a rather nice day today, so I grabbed some more pony pics

These three were snoozing till I disturbed them and they came looking for treats
View attachment 3285668
View attachment 3285669

Lulu was hanging out grazing
View attachment 3285670

Sally and I stopped to check out the colourful trees
View attachment 3285671

Truly agreed they were lovely
View attachment 3285672

All glowing with colour
View attachment 3285673

Your trees are beautiful.

The horses are bad either!

 

[ChicoryBlue]

Maggie is warming herself in the sun. Temperatures are dipping into the 30s at night this weekend. I don’t know if that is too cold for her to cope given she is half naked.
All you cold-climate people any advice? It will be 38 on Sunday pre-dawn. Probably a few degrees warmer inside their roosting area.

View attachment 3282542

Can you see if she is shivering? I’m watching for that with the ones molting here now. Hazel and Peanut, molting horribly, were both very active during the day, but I could see Hazel shiver when standing out in the open. How drafty or breezy is it in the roosting area of the Palace? Does Maggie get a good snuggle in her spot at night?

I didn’t put any heat in the Buckeyes coop until it got below freezing, and then what I did was place a covered heating pad in one half of the roosting bars area so they could be on it or not. The really bare ones got fully on it, and other times judging from the poop pattern below that just getting their breasts on it was good….or, the lower-ranked hens only got what they could get. Last year Popcorn (#4) did not molt hard, it was Hazel (#2), Peanut (#1), and Butters (#3).

Elsewhere I set up a Cozy Coop panel in the very protected and sunny run area below the coop (so any heat would go up) and they could periodically retreat to it and get warmed up, yet still be “out and about” and more or less with everyone during the day. Peanut and Hazel never retreated up to the coop and heating pad except on the very coldest days, but made lots of use of the radiant panel. I’d set one up and watch how much use Maggie makes of it to tell you what more she might need.