Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[BY Bob]

Someone needs to remind Aurora that her beard was not always so clean and well groomed.

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I had forgotten about that.

This trend of people showing me my own photos is a little disturbing though. You know them better than me!

 

[BY Bob]

Now for some happy pictures.
Goose showing off her good looks. She wants everyone to ooh and aww over her beard.
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Twig looking even more handsome.
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Karen
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and of course my boy
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Aurora says that Goose has a very nice beard.

 

[BY Bob]

Hello everyone ! Glad to hear your chickens made it through the cold. I believe frostbites, though painful, isn't a major problem for the chicken. Please be kind with yourselves, take into account that most of you have had temperatures falling so suddenly it's unlikely to happen ever again in your chicken life time!
@knoturavggrl not the subject, but Oreo is gorgeous in those close ups.

I'm also glad @RebeccaBoyd is slowly getting back into jeans and that Mama hen is still with us, and that @RoyalChick can shower again.

I've encountered a hawk attack on my hen Blanche a few days ago, but I was close by and able to scare it away quickly, so she had only superficial pecks on the eyes and ears. She's healing up slowly. And you may remember I was worrying about little Merle's health-, it wasn't at all mites like I expected, she turned broody on me . I know this is very usual for most of you but having ex-batts I never encountered it before. She's only six months and a half, laying for less than a month, we don't leave her eggs and it's winter. It seems she'll come out of it just by bringing back to the coop at night luckily!
I hope you all have a nice day and more pleasant temperatures.
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Sydney was pretty close to that when she went broody the first time. She might have been 7 or 8 months old. Maleficent was a similar age when she went broody.

 

[BY Bob]

Well, heck. They say it will be 56 F on New Year's Day. I sure hope so.
Grandma's hopes and dreams of almost 60 F weather.
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Grandma tries to knit herself a burrito blanket. Emphasis on tried. Instead, she ended up making a fool out of herself by untangling the string... she is okay.
Here's another one:
Announcer: Ladies and gentlemen, here's Grandma! She tries to knit herself a blanket but makes a fool of herself and instead untangles string. What a mess!
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Grandma finishes up a puzzle. I don't know what her deal is on looking like a bread bun.
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Finally, Tony is relaxed enough for a photo.
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I don't know what is happening here but Parmesan lost her tail from molting.
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Will Grandma be the only chicken eating corn? Come on! You'll warm up!
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Those are great!

 

[Ponypoor]

I went outside, this is the first thing I found. NO NO NO NO. Until dark the coop is now closed. Crazy hens. Excuse the poop in the coop, after I took the video and kicked her out I cleaned it out real quick.

Miss personality is so NOT happy with me at the moment.
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Holy cow! Your girls have it bad! I am just cringing at the thought of my gals going broody on my mum

I have read the rules though… no broody stuff till April first!

 

[Ponypoor]

Momma gets them because I cannot get to her to break her up.
These should give you a idea of how steep the hillside is.
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Head on view not zoomed in. I'm standing at the edge of the yard.
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I swear she is gloating in this picture.
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Wowah what on earth! That hen is determined I’ll give her that!

 

[knoturavggrl]

This winter has already been colder than normal, earlier than normal. The way the cold hit, I'm a bit surprised more aren't showing the effects. Next immediate project: set up space in the garage so if it drops like that again, can move them in there, especially if it's for more than a couple of days. Looks like the younger crew has mostly stayed outside today with visits from the older ones.

Whiskey found the banana and tidbitted. Responders: Pear, Nellie, and Storm, all older ladies. He's turning out to be a fantastic roo if the older ladies are listening to him!View attachment 3358602

Ask Aurora

This week's question comes from Muffless in Massachusetts.
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She asks........

Dear Aurora,

You have such legendary beard and muffs. How do I get them? People say ‘drink coffee, it puts hair on your chest”. Is there something I can eat or drink to grow myself a stylish beard & muffs?

Signed,

Muffless in Massachusetts



Dear Muffless,

You are of course correct. I have splendid beard and muffs. I have spent a lot of time growing and grooming them to be the truly spectacular display you see today.

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How can you grow them if you don’t already have them is quite a conundrum. But of course, I understand why you want such luscious facial feathers. What is a chicken that is not blessed with superior genetics like me to do? Time for some research. I grabbed my trusty bearded sidekick and we set off to solve the mystery.

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We asked every chicken we could find, performed exhaustive research on both Beakbook and the internet. These are all the things we could find that will supposedly put “Feathers on your Face”.

• Black Coffee
• Tabasco Sauce (or Anything Spicy)
• Bread Crust
• Hard Work Scratching and Digging
• Wheaties
• Whisky
• Spinach
• Horseradish Sauce
• Worcestershire Sauce
• Buttermilk
• Responsibility

There seem to be 2 categories of ways to get “Feathers on your Face”, eating certain foods and Working Hard. First, let’s look at all of those things you can eat to achieve a thick gorgeous set of facial feathers. We can rule out some of these immediately:

• Bread Crust
• Spinach
• Wheaties

All of these have been consumed here by many birds including hundreds of songbirds. Have you ever seen a songbird with muffs and/or a beard? Crazy. This is just patently false. Busted!

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• Black Coffee
• Whisky

These two are just flat out dangerous. These myths are put out there by chickens trying to get revenge on other chickens without being hen enough to do it themselves. Both of these will kill you if consumed in any quantity. Dare we call them busted? I say so, Busted!

• Tabasco Sauce (or Anything Spicy)
• Horseradish Sauce
• Worcestershire Sauce
• Buttermilk

These are your bitter and spicey foods. I can honestly say that Betty and I love spicey food. There may actually be something to these. Of course, Sydney also eats spicey foods and she has a clean face but maybe it just doesn’t work for everyone. These may be worth giving a try.


That leaves the activity-based means of growing facial feathers. Let’s address them individually.

• Hard Work Scratching and Digging

There is one hen here who never stops moving. She is always scratching and digging. To be frank, I find her exhausting. She is even difficult to peck when needed as she moves so much. That hen is Glynda. If scratching and digging was going to grow facial feathers, Glynda would have a beard down to her knees. She definitely does not. I call this busted!

What would Glynda look like if this were true?

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Our final way to grow facial feathers

• Responsibility

I’m pretty certain this one is busted as well. I have heard of no hen who carried more weight and responsibility than the queen who was before me, Queen Lilly. Her reign was peaceful and just. Even when injured and it was hard for her to move, she still made certain we were all protected as best she could. She oversaw multiple successful tribe expansions. Yet she never grew a beard. This photo alone says Busted!

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So, my best available advice is to eat as much spicey food as possible. You will need your human’s support as it is hard to find spicey plants. Perhaps one of your roosters might know where some are. Don’t be disappointed if it doesn’t happen for you. Not everyone can be blessed with beautiful facial feathers. That does not mean you are less of a chicken. Every chicken has value and purpose no matter what they look like………..

except maybe for Phyllis…………

Although I guess her purpose could be to just annoy the crap out of me.

Yours,
Aurora

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Omg so funny I laughed out loud for real at the stethoscope on Betty! Made me smile and laugh, I love these so much!!

Momma gets them because I cannot get to her to break her up.
These should give you a idea of how steep the hillside is.
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Head on view not zoomed in. I'm standing at the edge of the yard.
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I swear she is gloating in this picture.
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she REALLY wanted to hatch those eggs and was taking zero chances of you intervening. Well if she pulls it off she deserves those babies 1000%

Bubba is breaking my heart. I have several frostbite victims but none are as bad as Bubba. It has affected both his comb and wattles. He is acting fine, but I am going to crush up a chewable asprin and give him a small dose for a few days because that has got to hurt. I have never had frostbite on wattles before. I fear this gorgeous boy is going to loose every point on his comb.
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My heart goes out to you. I feel the same guilt and the same what could I have done differently questions. They will survive that is most important. I find the baby aspirin easy to give crushed in something yummy. I am gonna do that for just a few days. If you decide to do the same at least it is easy to administer.

That looks like a bite to me. The top photo is even beak shaped. I would suspect a rooster fight before I did frostbite. Frostbite starts at the tips, not the base and is not generally beak shaped.

I no longer have any other roosters, he is my one and only. The other two I had were rehomed. If someone bit him it was surely one of my feistier girls, Peanut Butter is my too suspect! He is so docile and would not likely retaliate either. I could see it happening 100%. I hope it is a result of an unwanted mating attempt and not frostbite, I have hope now that it might be.

My top biting suspect (in dark gray feathers)

 

[Ponypoor]

Bubba is breaking my heart. I have several frostbite victims but none are as bad as Bubba. It has affected both his comb and wattles. He is acting fine, but I am going to crush up a chewable asprin and give him a small dose for a few days because that has got to hurt. I have never had frostbite on wattles before. I fear this gorgeous boy is going to loose every point on his comb.
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Well now, let’s just wait and see, I think tjat the surface tissue will slough off and leave the rest behind. They might be smaller but I am hopeful he won’t lose all the points.

The wattles I am less sure about, it’s a wait and see thing now. I agree with you on the pain meds. Well he is still one handsome fella

 

[Ponypoor]

The rest of the frostbite victims. To say I feel terrible would be a understatement.
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My poor Lilly
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Squirrel
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Oh dear

I really hate winter - it’s so tough on everyone and everything. Not much you can do other then pain meds and keep an eye on them

 

[ValarieF]

Woo Hoo, we have hit 47 outside people. As soon as my camera finishes charging I'm heading outside. If I get nothing else done today I can at least take some pictures.

Yay I hit 51