Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[ValarieF]

Lots of rain the chooks will get a bath lol.

 

[bgmathteach]

I will be working alone tomorrow. Mrs BY Bob has gone to see Eve.

I frowned for the working alone

. Would be nice to have a knowledgeable assistant, especially with so much to do while roof is off, and the need to be done by 'lock-up' time.

While this is far from ideal, if you don't get done in time, could everyone be locked up in the Cluckle hut, and you close the pen door to the Fluffy butt acres coop? I'm sure there will be some unhappy campers tomorrow if you have to do this, but at least they will still be around to register their protests!

Well, here's to hoping you are able to finish it - both for your sake & for the girls' sakes!

 

[Ponypoor]

Regarding ground rods. If you have your ground rod relatively close to a building or semi-protected spot, people will dump water around ground rod to keep soil moist. Also, if ground is very rocky/gravely/sandy, if you can use an auger/post hole digger, and put some peat and decent soil in auger hole, then drive rod, it will help 'some' with retaining moisture/being effective regarding electricity. It does need to 'pull' from an area, so just the 8-9" diameter hole filled with decent moisture retaining soil alone won't 'fix' the issue of dryness, but will go a long ways to helping, especially if you dump water on area regularly (as needed)

Winter and frozen ground also can reduce the ground rods function.

Well like BY-Bob I need to do some roost work today, so best get to it, and with the time change I am sure it will be one of those ‘it’s 3pm, but really it’s 4pm’ days!

 

[Ponypoor]

I frowned for the working alone

. Would be nice to have a knowledgeable assistant, especially with so much to do while roof is off, and the need to be done by 'lock-up' time.

While this is far from ideal, if you don't get done in time, could everyone be locked up in the Cluckle hut, and you close the pen door to the Fluffy butt acres coop? I'm sure there will be some unhappy campers tomorrow if you have to do this, but at least they will still be around to register their protests!

Well, here's to hoping you are able to finish it - both for your sake & for the girls' sakes!

Wish fuel prices weren’t so horrendous I would hop down and help then check out the chocolate factory

 

[BY Bob]

I frowned for the working alone

. Would be nice to have a knowledgeable assistant, especially with so much to do while roof is off, and the need to be done by 'lock-up' time.

While this is far from ideal, if you don't get done in time, could everyone be locked up in the Cluckle hut, and you close the pen door to the Fluffy butt acres coop? I'm sure there will be some unhappy campers tomorrow if you have to do this, but at least they will still be around to register their protests!

Well, here's to hoping you are able to finish it - both for your sake & for the girls' sakes!

Well we are not off to a banging start. It rained last night. I was hoping to paint the inside of the roof first. I need to adjust the plan of action some. At least when I flame the inside of the coop I can be less concerned about burning it down.

 

[BY Bob]

Wish fuel prices weren’t so horrendous I would hop down and help then check out the chocolate factory

That would have been great. I would have had some music to help the time go faster.

 

[ChicoryBlue]

Buckeyes de-Mite-ing Day Yesterday

Confined everyone to the Big Run, set up a stool and the spray bottle, thinking they would stand on the chair. Nope, ended up on my lap. Decided to do Peanut first, as she is top hen and if she ended up all funny-looking from wet ruffled feathers she would maybe not get any guff from the others. That was a good choice, as when she was done and I let her jump off my lap she did look different and Hazel The Enforcer immediately ran up to her and stared at her, stock still, neck all stretched out toward her. Hazel then decided all was well. Until I proceeded with her!

Found it went better to start with my fingers ruffling their hackle / back feathers to the skin and putting a tiny squirt there, while massaging and ruffling, than starting with the neck, it seemed more stressful on poor Peanut when I did her neck first. I held them with my forearm and ruffled with that hand reaching around them and squirted and ruffled with the other. Of course the mixed solution water was cool which I hadn’t thought about at first. Their skin is so warm it must be a shock. So I worked my way back, then did under their wings, then the vent area and lower fluff (most mites there) & some belly, then did their neck and finally stroked their wattles and cheeks and lobes and combs with a wetted cotton handkerchief, and by then they were more used to it all. I even had the feeling that the massaging felt good at times, especially around their fluffy rears. They still had the automatic reaction of moving the head away when I got back there to do the neck and head, but let me hold their head gently at first, and then held still by themselves, I think the regular gentle stroking helped.

Such good chickens, and it’s such an honor and a big responsibility to hold their trust like this. I feel terrible that with my health issues and getting the coop ready for winter I didn’t catch this earlier. Poor Peanut had two very red sores on either side of a small poop ball below her vent, and a lot of mites there. Broke up and removed the poop ball. I had looked at their vents before my surgery and I think the sores are new. Are the sores from the mites? I hope it’s not fly strike. I am going to gather her up again today and put some coconut oil or Vaseline on those spots. I hoped the permethrin solution did not sting, and she actually appeared to relax while I worked back there so I am guessing it didn’t.

They gathered in a quiet group together as each one was done, and started preening and ruffling. When everyone was done I let them out and they all immediately headed over to their dust bath holes and proceeded to dustbathe for at least a half-hour. Everyone was sleeping soundly when I checked the coop cam last night, and they seem okay today.

I’d like to put Saturday lime in those dusting areas and also where they hang out under the lilac bush, but I don’t want to put them off their favorite spots. Will UV light kill mites and eggs? Dust mites yes but chicken mites? So maybe it’s not necessary? I haven’t found definitive answers on that. What do you all know in that department?

Managed with a leaf rake to get the low six foot run litter mostly cleared up to the ground in a pile, and I could kneel with the operated leg not bent much at the hip, holding onto the inside run wire to help me move forward, and gather the litter into a plastic bag with my hands. Pilates coop cleaning basically! I had with me a Parmesan shaker plastic jar with the Saturday Lime and sprinkled it all over the ground. The three feet under the coop itself I got through the coop floor raking and then bending over to gather it, then it got soaked with the permethrin solution dripping down from the open coop surfaces when I sprayed them (ceiling, walls, rails & brackets). Then I sprinkled more Saturday Lime there too. That is a shady area under there.

From earlier this year

 

[Marie2020]

That would have been great. I would have had some music to help the time go faster.

Music always helped me get a job done quicker, I don't know why

 

[knoturavggrl]

Buckeyes de-Mite-ing Day Yesterday

Confined everyone to the Big Run, set up a stool and the spray bottle, thinking they would stand on the chair. Nope, ended up on my lap. Decided to do Peanut first, as she is top hen and if she ended up all funny-looking from wet ruffled feathers she would maybe not get any guff from the others. That was a good choice, as when she was done and I let her jump off my lap she did look different and Hazel The Enforcer immediately ran up to her and stared at her, stock still, neck all stretched out toward her. Hazel then decided all was well. Until I proceeded with her!

Found it went better to start with my fingers ruffling their hackle / back feathers to the skin and putting a tiny squirt there, while massaging and ruffling, than starting with the neck, it seemed more stressful on poor Peanut when I did her neck first. I held them with my forearm and ruffled with that hand reaching around them and squirted and ruffled with the other. Of course the mixed solution water was cool which I hadn’t thought about at first. Their skin is so warm it must be a shock. So I worked my way back, then did under their wings, then the vent area and lower fluff (most mites there) & some belly, then did their neck and finally stroked their wattles and cheeks and lobes and combs with a wetted cotton handkerchief, and by then they were more used to it all. I even had the feeling that the massaging felt good at times, especially around their fluffy rears. They still had the automatic reaction of moving the head away when I got back there to do the neck and head, but let me hold their head gently at first, and then held still by themselves, I think the regular gentle stroking helped.

Such good chickens, and it’s such an honor and a big responsibility to hold their trust like this. I feel terrible that with my health issues and getting the coop ready for winter I didn’t catch this earlier. Poor Peanut had two very red sores on either side of a small poop ball below her vent, and a lot of mites there. Broke up and removed the poop ball. I had looked at their vents before my surgery and I think the sores are new. Are the sores from the mites? I hope it’s not fly strike. I am going to gather her up again today and put some coconut oil or Vaseline on those spots. I hoped the permethrin solution did not sting, and she actually appeared to relax while I worked back there so I am guessing it didn’t.

They gathered in a quiet group together as each one was done, and started preening and ruffling. When everyone was done I let them out and they all immediately headed over to their dust bath holes and proceeded to dustbathe for at least a half-hour. Everyone was sleeping soundly when I checked the coop cam last night, and they seem okay today.

I’d like to put Saturday lime in those dusting areas and also where they hang out under the lilac bush, but I don’t want to put them off their favorite spots. Will UV light kill mites and eggs? Dust mites yes but chicken mites? So maybe it’s not necessary? I haven’t found definitive answers on that. What do you all know in that department?

Managed with a leaf rake to get the low six foot run litter mostly cleared up to the ground in a pile, and I could kneel with the operated leg not bent much at the hip, holding onto the inside run wire to help me move forward, and gather the litter into a plastic bag with my hands. Pilates coop cleaning basically! I had with me a Parmesan shaker plastic jar with the Saturday Lime and sprinkled it all over the ground. The three feet under the coop itself I got through the coop floor raking and then bending over to gather it, then it got soaked with the permethrin solution dripping down from the open coop surfaces when I sprayed them (ceiling, walls, rails & brackets). Then I sprinkled more Saturday Lime there too. That is a shady area under there.

From earlier this year
View attachment 3314209

I am sorry your dealing with mites I want to thank you though for writing the details of what you did and how you did it. I bookmarked your post. If I get them, I will for sure reference this.

 

[BY Bob]

Buckeyes de-Mite-ing Day Yesterday

Confined everyone to the Big Run, set up a stool and the spray bottle, thinking they would stand on the chair. Nope, ended up on my lap. Decided to do Peanut first, as she is top hen and if she ended up all funny-looking from wet ruffled feathers she would maybe not get any guff from the others. That was a good choice, as when she was done and I let her jump off my lap she did look different and Hazel The Enforcer immediately ran up to her and stared at her, stock still, neck all stretched out toward her. Hazel then decided all was well. Until I proceeded with her!

Found it went better to start with my fingers ruffling their hackle / back feathers to the skin and putting a tiny squirt there, while massaging and ruffling, than starting with the neck, it seemed more stressful on poor Peanut when I did her neck first. I held them with my forearm and ruffled with that hand reaching around them and squirted and ruffled with the other. Of course the mixed solution water was cool which I hadn’t thought about at first. Their skin is so warm it must be a shock. So I worked my way back, then did under their wings, then the vent area and lower fluff (most mites there) & some belly, then did their neck and finally stroked their wattles and cheeks and lobes and combs with a wetted cotton handkerchief, and by then they were more used to it all. I even had the feeling that the massaging felt good at times, especially around their fluffy rears. They still had the automatic reaction of moving the head away when I got back there to do the neck and head, but let me hold their head gently at first, and then held still by themselves, I think the regular gentle stroking helped.

Such good chickens, and it’s such an honor and a big responsibility to hold their trust like this. I feel terrible that with my health issues and getting the coop ready for winter I didn’t catch this earlier. Poor Peanut had two very red sores on either side of a small poop ball below her vent, and a lot of mites there. Broke up and removed the poop ball. I had looked at their vents before my surgery and I think the sores are new. Are the sores from the mites? I hope it’s not fly strike. I am going to gather her up again today and put some coconut oil or Vaseline on those spots. I hoped the permethrin solution did not sting, and she actually appeared to relax while I worked back there so I am guessing it didn’t.

They gathered in a quiet group together as each one was done, and started preening and ruffling. When everyone was done I let them out and they all immediately headed over to their dust bath holes and proceeded to dustbathe for at least a half-hour. Everyone was sleeping soundly when I checked the coop cam last night, and they seem okay today.

I’d like to put Saturday lime in those dusting areas and also where they hang out under the lilac bush, but I don’t want to put them off their favorite spots. Will UV light kill mites and eggs? Dust mites yes but chicken mites? So maybe it’s not necessary? I haven’t found definitive answers on that. What do you all know in that department?

Managed with a leaf rake to get the low six foot run litter mostly cleared up to the ground in a pile, and I could kneel with the operated leg not bent much at the hip, holding onto the inside run wire to help me move forward, and gather the litter into a plastic bag with my hands. Pilates coop cleaning basically! I had with me a Parmesan shaker plastic jar with the Saturday Lime and sprinkled it all over the ground. The three feet under the coop itself I got through the coop floor raking and then bending over to gather it, then it got soaked with the permethrin solution dripping down from the open coop surfaces when I sprayed them (ceiling, walls, rails & brackets). Then I sprinkled more Saturday Lime there too. That is a shady area under there.

From earlier this year
View attachment 3314209

That sounds like it went really well. I was imagining if I had to do that to Aurora. I may have nightmares about that now. You have such a wonderful relationship with your ladies. I'm glad it went so well.