Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[RoyalChick]

O

This has stuck in my mind. Now that my gang is three, with Butters a concern, I thought of it again and am thinking of moving up my plan to add to the group. I didn’t remember the word “secure” though and am not sure what you meant. Can you elaborate?

Probably a poor choice of word.
What I was trying to convey is that a flock of only 3 birds is at risk of becoming not a flock at all if one or more birds die.
So that to have some confidence that the flock endures means having a larger number of birds so that the flock can survive the death of any one bird.
I was thinking both at the level of the individual hen (don't want one left on its own) and at the level of the flock (one chicken is not a flock).
I realize that not everyone loses as many chickens as I have, but the whole realization that there was a real chance Bernie would be left on her own made me commit to keeping my flock numbers between 6 and 12 birds.
Hope that helps explain my thinking.

 

[RoyalChick]

Momma chickens are NO MATCH for a rat.
Kill cats

Yes a cat vs rat fight is not a sure thing either way. Rats can do a lot of damage to a cat, but cats definitely kill rats if they can get them behind the head and bite through their spinal cords.
I would imagine a chicken could also do damage to a rat, but again not a certain win by any means.

 

[featherhead007]

I'm so glad. He's a wonderful rooster. He's getting along ok, isn't he? You haven't said anything about him having problems.

He has no problems except for his temper! Otherwise he manages well

 

[featherhead007]

Yes a cat vs rat fight is not a sure thing either way. Rats can do a lot of damage to a cat, but cats definitely kill rats if they can get them behind the head and bite through their spinal cords.
I would imagine a chicken could also do damage to a rat, but again not a certain win by any means.

Sounds like a job for super chicken!

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

So, @RebeccaBoyd :

Here are some pics of my 10 TSC babies.

I supposedly bought 2 BO pullets, 4 BR straight run and 4 marans straight run. The BO and BR were in the same bin, the marans were in a different one. View attachment 3577113View attachment 3577114View attachment 3577115View attachment 3577116

This is what I believe I got:
2 BO pullets
2bcm pullets
5-6 Cuckoo marans cockerels, 1 is questionable.

Not a single BR in the lot, I am SURE of it. The 'striping/barring' that is coming in is A) too dark for a BR roo, and too 'muddy (i.e. not crisp lines) for any BR. And, BR roos don't pop their combs @ 2 weeks. 5 of the 6 have definitely popped combs - one looks like it is trying....but it isn't as big as the others. It definitely is not a BR - pullet nor roo - so it is either a slightly late blooming cockerel CM (very possible with the # of roos I have in this lot), or an early blooming CM pullet (less likely, but I'm not a marans expert...so could be)

Sorry the pictures aren't better, but they wouldn't stand still - these are the best 3 of 10 or 11 photos.

3rd picture down.
What I see at this age, 2 for sure males. the 2 closest to the front. Now, I am not basing this off comb I am zooming in and looking for wattles. The one looking away, not sure need a clear picture of it's face. The 3 in the back facing the camera, I do not see wattles so I would wait and hesitantly say pullets. No matter what the combs say, if they pop wattles before 3 weeks of age those are boys. This is my hard rule for Black Copper Marans. I would assume Cuckoo Marans would be the same.

 

[ChicoryBlue]

Probably a poor choice of word.
What I was trying to convey is that a flock of only 3 birds is at risk of becoming not a flock at all if one or more birds die.
So that to have some confidence that the flock endures means having a larger number of birds so that the flock can survive the death of any one bird.
I was thinking both at the level of the individual hen (don't want one left on its own) and at the level of the flock (one chicken is not a flock).
I realize that not everyone loses as many chickens as I have, but the whole realization that there was a real chance Bernie would be left on her own made me commit to keeping my flock numbers between 6 and 12 birds.
Hope that helps explain my thinking.

Perfectly, thanks!

 

[featherhead007]

My poor chooks. It’s hot out there and they insist on being outside.

 

[featherhead007]

My poor chooks. It’s hot out there and they insist on being outside.

 

[Lilion]

initially, let her be safe with the chicks. In a week or two (you will know) you can let her out with them ...but that also means that you will have to let her in by moving the creep door - so she can go to bed with them in the evening. Keep the creep for a while so they always have a safe place, and so the bigs don't gobble up their food. (Can the chicks reach the adult feeders? If so, this won't be as much of an issue if you are willing to feed everyone the starter - I'm assuming it is unmedicated?)

Medicated? Uh...I have no idea...

Feeling really stupid now. I just went to MFA and asked for chick starter.

Yes a cat vs rat fight is not a sure thing either way. Rats can do a lot of damage to a cat, but cats definitely kill rats if they can get them behind the head and bite through their spinal cords.
I would imagine a chicken could also do damage to a rat, but again not a certain win by any means.

I'm so annoyed by this rat. We've tried so hard to keep rodents at bay. Not just traps, but we keep all the food in metal containers and cap all the feeders at night. Or did, until I put food out for Eenie.

 

[Ponypoor]

If the broodies aren't at the top of the pecking order, the others don't want them hatching. Simple as that, I think.

And, when they are broody, they are much more vulnerable. They are in a trance-like state frequently, don't want to run ( want to keep sitting and stay on eggs), and, even if they are fighters - they aren't eating and keeping up their energy to be fighting with the others all the time.

I found that it seemed to be the behaviour - they were not acting ‘normal’ and that set the others on them.

The broodies would puff up and act all aggressive and the others would react and before one knows it a brawl is happening!

I noted that my hand reared chicks were integrated faster and with less drama than the mama hen babies - those mamas were constantly starting fights with anyone who came close, and the higher ranked birds do not back down!

As I have stated before, Fluffy and Curly were such terrors always fighting and getting the snot beat out of them, I will NEVER let them raise chicks again. In fact I will hand raise any further chicks I get from now on. Having a
Broody raise chicks is too much drama - but letting 10 day old chicks run with the gang is calm and stress free, the adults don’t bother with them, and the chicks quickly learn to follow the grups.

I figured Sophia would be different being one of the Big Three, but she also got the snot beat out of her by her two sisters, and caused so much drama with her chicks. Thankfully now she has settled down and gets along with the others again.

Chickens! Who knew they could be so stressful!