Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[BY Bob]

My only political opinion this whole week:
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I would prefer that we refrain from anything political here please.

 

[TX Chick Noob]

Thank you for sharing your story with us. It is never easy to remember these events in our lives but sharing them really can help others.

I do not remember you posting here before so let me give you the "welcome to the thread". We are glad to have you along for the ride. Please do not be shy about posting in the future.

Thanks for the welcome.

A few bits of “Strider Trivia”.
He was almost a firecracker, but was born on July 3 instead of July 4. (Yes that is late in the year to plan to have a foal, explained in next item.)

I wasn’t going to breed his dam, especially not at that time of year. But some people I knew had a young paint stud they were breeding for the first time, and wanted to prove he would “throw color” on solid colored mares. And they loved the look of my little quarter horse mare, so offered me a really good deal on the stud fee considering his bloodlines ($200).

His color was a total shock to me. His dam was a dark buckskin, and his sire a red dun paint. Imagine my surprise when Strider arrived as a black and white paint. Turned out his dam was homozygous black, and Strider was negative for both the buckskin and dun genes.

When I traced his bloodlines, turned out he was a distant descendent of Man o’ War on his dam’s side. Can’t remember exactly but it was something like 9-10 generations.

His dam was barely tall enough to be considered a horse instead of a pony. We used to say she was 14 hands if she had shoes on and was past due for a trim.

 

[BY Bob]

I feel like I owe a “picture tax” of some type for such a long post. So since all my pictures of Strider appear to be well hidden in some old computer file or flash drive, here are a few pullet pics instead.

Scarlett has taken to flying onto my back/shoulder lately. In one of them she is supervising while I inspect Crystal’s surgery incision (she had an impacted crop).
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And all the girls enjoying a treat. I think this one is the first time I gave them eggshells.
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Wonderful! So nice to meet them.

 

[featherhead007]

I have been sneezing lately. Don’t know why, I started it yesterday. Maybe it’s the chooks, their dusty feathers or particulates. I didn’t sneeze all morning though, and now I have Coco inside with me. I started sneezing a few times. I’m worried that I am susceptible to chicken dander ? I better not be. I love to be close to my feathered family. They are all I have! (Especially Coco!)

This morning, I’m sneezing again. (Allergies to oatmeal with scrambled eggs and yogurt maybe?)

 

[featherhead007]

I would prefer that we refrain from anything political here please.

Okay

 

[TX Chick Noob]

Thirsty Thursday tax

From the day my chicks arrived last April. Still hard to believe they came in the mail, and were so small back then compared to now.

 

[rural mouse]

Cheetah is so beautiful! I think his mane and tail are slightly similar to Theo's both in appearance and in the way they molt.
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Also do you know how they get blue legs ? Chipie also has them and I find them so pretty! I only read it's a combination of white and black legs but I'm not even sure that's true.
Do you know what breed Cheetah is ?
He is very sleek and racy.

Chipie's legs.
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No idea on how they get the blue legs. He's a gold penciled Hamburg. (German breed, I think, but American bred)

 

[fuentemoon]

My supervisors checking my work yesterday.

Been cutting down blackberries, a few good ones left to gobble down.

 

[RoyalChick]

An experiment. I had this cage thingy for wild birds. But since Avian Influenza I have stopped feeding the wild birds not sure why really as they hang out here anyway!
So I tried this for corn on the cob. I think it is a bit too swingy. But Maggie in particular is quite skillful at timing her lunges with the swing.

I need advice on Maggie’s rear end. It is in a shocking state. She is sleeping in the nest box and that combined with her perpetual diarrhea and of course her very fluffy butt is a terrible combination.
I could wash or trim or crumble it off - but I don’t want to handle her too much until she is less like a porcupine. If she keeps sleeping in the box it will get worse and worse.
It is getting cooler so I suppose fly strike is a bit less of a worry.
If her fluff is old she will molt it off naturally, but I am not sure - her fluff might be new feathers.
I am wondering whether to block off the nest boxes and force her to roost. She is perfectly capable of going up the ladder. At least I think she is. And I could always giver her a lift her up and down if she seems to have trouble.
What do you all think?

 

[RoyalChick]

My supervisors checking my work yesterday.
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Been cutting down blackberries, a few good ones left to gobble down.

Did you pass the inspection ?