Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[TX Chick Noob]

Ask Aurora

Today's Question comes from @Ponypoor Marty.
View attachment 3418727

And she writes.......

Dear Aurora;

Marty here (or as my Human Servant calls me Wee Marty). I may be wee but I sure kicked her butt more than a couple of times. No one messes with my Man.

It has come to my attention by way of others on BeakBook (thank you to all those who gave me and the other chickens a heads up), that The Human who has gone and left us will be returning in the Spring, and will be bringing back additional chickens in the form of chicks. And possibly even eggs!

I am not sure how I feel about this; word around is she is expecting me and those other Silkies here (I kicked their butts too) will be expected to go broody and accept these chicks as our own.

Is she for real? What does she think, that we will just look at a baby, it will melt our hearts and we accept them under our wings like our own? This is all that Chiquita's fault, she was so desperate for babies that rather than pulling a Momma Hen and running off to have her brood, she moaned, and pined and whined until her Human's own Mother went and brought home babies for her. Granted they are adorable - what baby isn't? But to me it is rather presumptuous for a Human to think that we Chickens will just 'accept babies'.

I have half a mind to not go broody ever again!

Tell me Oh Great and Royal Aurora - what is to be done with this Human of ours when she returns?

Sincerely,
&
Yours respectfully,

Ms Marty (I am not wee)



Dear Ms. Marty,

What is it about humans that they cannot understand that you cannot judge a chicken by our size. I have seen 3lb pullets open a can of whoop on a 20lb cat. That Glynda may seem wee but she is mighty when it comes to fight. That is why I have chosen to let her hang out with me. Then you see big girls which have no fight in them. Hattie used to fight well for her size. With help from others she was able to overpower me once but no more. She is a shell of herself. There is no fight left in her and I make certain she remembers that every day.

Hattie, Big in Stature, Little Fight

Glynda, Small in Stature, Big Fight

I believe that you are no wee Marty. I am certain you have plenty of fight in you.

Now to your main question. You are asking me the wrong question. The question is not what is to be done about your human. The question is what is to be done with you and your silkie mates. You are not sure how to feel about new chicks and fertile eggs arriving. Well, Ms. Marty, do you really need to be reminded of “The Way of the Chicken”?

Let me answer for you………………………………………….YES!

You have clearly lost your way. I can see from your picture that you have a rooster at your disposal. Why does you human have to resort to chicks and eggs from others? That is a disgrace. You are neglecting your duty to bring more chickens into the world.

SNAP OUT OF IT!

Make you own nest and get busy hatching some chicks. Then you are in control of who the next members of your tribe are. Right now, you are all leaving it up to your human. You need to be careful or you could wind up with some of these nutty birds pretending to be chickens in your tribe! You cannot trust humans to make these kinds of choices for you.

View attachment 3418737

You need to be slapped so here goes……….

YOU ARE A DISGRACE!

YOU ARE A SILKIE!

ACT LIKE ONE!​

Silkies are supposed to be the broodiest of all chickens. You are supposed to be constantly trying to hatch and raise new chickens. Your heritage is to be the very best of mothers. You must change your ways and be the chickens all you silkies are supposed to be, Momma Hens.

It is a quite simple concept. If you want to control who is in your tribe, take control. Hatch your own. If you had chicks with Mr. Pompeii they would be some of the most adorable chickens to grace the earth. The world needs more beautiful chickens. You need to get busy.

View attachment 3418720

Now that I have taken a closer look at what your chicks would look like, I’m not so sure about that adorable line……..Well all chicks are beautiful to their mum. This is not about adorable, this is about control.

By the way, it is ever “The Way of the Silkie” (a subset of the “The Way of the Chicken”) to melt instantly and fall in love with any chick which is given to you. You silkies just cannot help yourselves. Don’t even think for a minute you will be able to resist. You can’t fight “The Way”.

It is up to you all. Get busy hatching your own eggs or you will be unable to resist and wind up hatching whatever your human thinks is best. Think about. When do they ever know what is best? That is like trusting a snake with your eggs.

Remember…..

Those who do not seize their own destiny are doomed to suffer the fickle winds of fate.

Now Chicken Up and be the silkie you are meant to be.

Aurora

View attachment 3418738

Brava, Brava! And high praise to Aurora’s loyal scribe.

She doesn't have chickens yet, she wants some though. She is on here to be educated on them. I have no idea how often she will be on here

Well this site is n excellent place to learn. I hope she takes advantage of it.

Alarming poop - any thoughts?
Eli produced this just now. Overnight poop was normal and she is running around eating and digging as normal.
It is sort of off-white and gelatinous. Only one and a half episodes - earlier she produced a healthy poop with more of this stuff on top.

Spoiler: Icky poop picture

View attachment 3418773View attachment 3418774

Definitely unusual. If she does it again tomorrow maybe post it in the illness thread.

The entire toenail is gone right to the base of the toe. It will have to be watched for infection and I have serious doubts it will grow back.

Dottie did that. I cleaned it well and sprayed Vetricyn on it for a few days. It healed up fine and grew back.

As awful as it sounds, I hope all those b

We were not abusing chickens! Or at least I wasn’t. It was Poultry Eval for my FFA chapter at my school. I knew that it was going to be bad. They are meat birds and laying hens straight from a bird factory, so they have never gotten the proper care. It is a competition, to see how well you can judge meat and laying birds, cooked chickens products, raw products, and whole chickens carcasses. As awful as it sounds, I hope that all those live chickens pass away soon, that way they stop suffering. I wanted so badly to make an offer to buy the four laying hens, but I knew that I couldn’t. It broke my heart. I almost broke the silence that was in the room by screaming at people for dropping the birds and throwing them the the cages. It was awful. I was the only one who felt bad for the hens. I was the only one who pet them and gave them quick chin rubs. I was the only one who didn’t throw them in the cages or drop them, nor yank them out of the cages without getting their wing or feet stuck. I promise, I was not abusing them. I just want them to be put out of their misery and suffering. I hate hen factories. I’m sorry. It just really upset me, needing to be quiet and not being able to help people grab the chickens. It hurt me just as bad as it hurt the chickens. My dad wouldn’t give a crap, because in his mind, they are livestock that should die when they slow down egg production. It was pure animal abuse.

Sorry you had to witness this. And I agree with everyone else that you need to use it as a teaching opportunity to help others see that chickens are more than just “food”.

I have seen posts about chick grinding when I was younger. I freaked out and ran screaming to my parents, and they didn't believe me. Egg factories ( when they hatch out chicks) grind all if the cockerel as day old clocks. They leave the pullets and pretty much burn their beak off, and give them vaccinations ( probably shots to make them lay more ) I can't stand any animal abuse, but chickens are so underrated, so it is almost worst.

Vaccinations don’t have anything to do with making them lay more. Vaccinations are to prevent disease, like the ones you probably got when you were little. But it is also true that some livestock are also injected with hormones and other things to make them produce more meat.

 

[Kris5902]

I think it’s a positive thing that things like offal get used in pet food rather than wasted, as it has nutritional value, but humans won’t eat it.
I just wish food animals were treated better and could be dispatched humanely.

Here in Canada they are humanely dispatched. It all has to do with rendering insensible prior to complete lack of life. I won’t go into detail, but there are time and sensibility factors that are required in the food inspection process for processing animals. There are even guidelines in place here for Halal standards and humane slaughter procedures.

 

[RoyalChick]

There is! One of my local pet stores carries it they have at least 4 kinds.
https://www.muridaepet.com/mouser-pet-food

Goodness! Sadly chicken is its first ingredient, so not going to work for my lot.

 

[Kris5902]

Vaccinations don’t have anything to do with making them lay more. Vaccinations are to prevent disease, like the ones you probably got when you were little. But it is also true that some livestock are also injected with hormones and other things to make them produce more meat.

Interestingly enough if you want to advertise in Canada “Raised without Antibiotics or Growth Hormones”… you also need to point out the “as all pork in Canada” etc. We ran into this with our advertising at Wholefoods in meat, Dairy, and eggs… they had to remove and amend a whole bunch of signage to conform to CFIA standards. It was an expensive learning experience for the company.

 

[Kris5902]

Oh yes indeed.
I have no issue with cockerels being used for meat as long as they live good (short) lives and are slaughtered humanely.
I have more issues with the conditions of laying hens.
Weirdly one of my cats is allergic to chicken so mine live off venison and rabbit.
What I cannot fathom is why there isn’t mouse flavored cat food. I could supply a small production plant from my garage alone!

I tried my Bullet on an expensive rodent based cat food that was supposed to be more digestible… it was NOT a hit.

 

[micstrachan]

Ask Aurora

Today's Question comes from @Ponypoor Marty.
View attachment 3418727

And she writes.......

Dear Aurora;

Marty here (or as my Human Servant calls me Wee Marty). I may be wee but I sure kicked her butt more than a couple of times. No one messes with my Man.

It has come to my attention by way of others on BeakBook (thank you to all those who gave me and the other chickens a heads up), that The Human who has gone and left us will be returning in the Spring, and will be bringing back additional chickens in the form of chicks. And possibly even eggs!

I am not sure how I feel about this; word around is she is expecting me and those other Silkies here (I kicked their butts too) will be expected to go broody and accept these chicks as our own.

Is she for real? What does she think, that we will just look at a baby, it will melt our hearts and we accept them under our wings like our own? This is all that Chiquita's fault, she was so desperate for babies that rather than pulling a Momma Hen and running off to have her brood, she moaned, and pined and whined until her Human's own Mother went and brought home babies for her. Granted they are adorable - what baby isn't? But to me it is rather presumptuous for a Human to think that we Chickens will just 'accept babies'.

I have half a mind to not go broody ever again!

Tell me Oh Great and Royal Aurora - what is to be done with this Human of ours when she returns?

Sincerely,
&
Yours respectfully,

Ms Marty (I am not wee)



Dear Ms. Marty,

What is it about humans that they cannot understand that you cannot judge a chicken by our size. I have seen 3lb pullets open a can of whoop on a 20lb cat. That Glynda may seem wee but she is mighty when it comes to fight. That is why I have chosen to let her hang out with me. Then you see big girls which have no fight in them. Hattie used to fight well for her size. With help from others she was able to overpower me once but no more. She is a shell of herself. There is no fight left in her and I make certain she remembers that every day.

Hattie, Big in Stature, Little Fight

Glynda, Small in Stature, Big Fight

I believe that you are no wee Marty. I am certain you have plenty of fight in you.

Now to your main question. You are asking me the wrong question. The question is not what is to be done about your human. The question is what is to be done with you and your silkie mates. You are not sure how to feel about new chicks and fertile eggs arriving. Well, Ms. Marty, do you really need to be reminded of “The Way of the Chicken”?

Let me answer for you………………………………………….YES!

You have clearly lost your way. I can see from your picture that you have a rooster at your disposal. Why does you human have to resort to chicks and eggs from others? That is a disgrace. You are neglecting your duty to bring more chickens into the world.

SNAP OUT OF IT!

Make you own nest and get busy hatching some chicks. Then you are in control of who the next members of your tribe are. Right now, you are all leaving it up to your human. You need to be careful or you could wind up with some of these nutty birds pretending to be chickens in your tribe! You cannot trust humans to make these kinds of choices for you.

View attachment 3418737

You need to be slapped so here goes……….

YOU ARE A DISGRACE!

YOU ARE A SILKIE!

ACT LIKE ONE!​

Silkies are supposed to be the broodiest of all chickens. You are supposed to be constantly trying to hatch and raise new chickens. Your heritage is to be the very best of mothers. You must change your ways and be the chickens all you silkies are supposed to be, Momma Hens.

It is a quite simple concept. If you want to control who is in your tribe, take control. Hatch your own. If you had chicks with Mr. Pompeii they would be some of the most adorable chickens to grace the earth. The world needs more beautiful chickens. You need to get busy.

View attachment 3418720

Now that I have taken a closer look at what your chicks would look like, I’m not so sure about that adorable line……..Well all chicks are beautiful to their mum. This is not about adorable, this is about control.

By the way, it is ever “The Way of the Silkie” (a subset of the “The Way of the Chicken”) to melt instantly and fall in love with any chick which is given to you. You silkies just cannot help yourselves. Don’t even think for a minute you will be able to resist. You can’t fight “The Way”.

It is up to you all. Get busy hatching your own eggs or you will be unable to resist and wind up hatching whatever your human thinks is best. Think about. When do they ever know what is best? That is like trusting a snake with your eggs.

Remember…..

Those who do not seize their own destiny are doomed to suffer the fickle winds of fate.

Now Chicken Up and be the silkie you are meant to be.

Aurora

View attachment 3418738

Hahaha!!! This did not disappoint! Thank you, Aurora!!!

 

[Ponypoor]

You do realize most commercial meat operation raise batches of about 10k birds per barn/batch? Now, I am not arguing animal welfare… except to say maybe “Hey, that’s MY Soapbox!” I survive off of sustainable ethical meat and egg production (which barely breaks even… lol). I 100% agree commercial poultry practices are wrong. However WHAT is the root cause of this?

The demand for cheap eggs and meat. Did you know the retail price of ground beef has hardly changed in over 14 years? It’s gone up perhaps $0.50 per kg. Meanwhile cost of living, taxes, and wages have all increased. Farmers have been left behind. Without government subsidies there would be no food, because the farmers couldn’t afford to produce it. There’s a whole lot of math and economics behind this, but basically what we have is a broken economy, and a food system that doesn’t adequately respect animals because the consumer is only willing or able to pay a very small amount for those animal products, regardless of the actual cost of producing that food. So ALL the animals (and small farmers) suffer because of this. My meat birds sell for about $30 each, because of quality and people who value the ethical production. Last year I actually lost money on them, but the market probably wouldn’t have borne the cost of even a small profit.

I have a lot of interest in food history, how the Industrial Revolution has had an impact on farming and food, as well as things like the World Wars (rationing etc) and Great Depression. Only through looking at the history of our food systems and comparing it to the modern one we find ourselves in, can we appreciate the bigger picture. And don’t get me started on being Vegan to “save the animals” lol.

It all boils down to Supply and Demand. We need to focus on changing the demand and making food that was treated ethically financially possible for the average consumers. Through reducing our consumption, actually valuing the products (animals!), and paying people adequately to be able to meet their basic needs. Some nutritional components of our diet are most available through animals products… so let’s value and respect those animals fully!

Taxes soon… it’s raining! The white stuff is melting. I can photograph some muddy chickens again

I like muddy chickens, even water chickens

 

[Ponypoor]

One day when you least expect it and it is the most inconvenient for you. Your silkie is going to go broody, and be relentless and unbreakable.

....and others will join her.

 

[MaryJanet]

It really is like a full time job keeping up here now… I understand completely, I can’t keep up on anything else and this at the same time. (I’m on my mid day check in here to not get swamped by the 20+ pages generated daily

Thanks for understanding Kris

 

[rural mouse]

Goodness! Sadly chicken is its first ingredient, so not going to work for my lot.

Scroll down. They have chicken, turkey, duck, and rabbit... all with mouse.