Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[ChicoryBlue]

Thanks Kelly, a big factor for us was that Louise was not a human friendly hen. I have three other Orpingtons who are your typical broody, friendly gals, but that was not Louise's way. When I thought of taking her to the vet, I knew it would be incredibly stressful for her and I didn't want that for her, especially since we don't have avian vets here and I was pretty sure her prognosis was not good.

A moulting Louise with two of her pals. She is the one furthest from the camera.
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Maybe it's her stance here, but she looks like she had the body type of the English Buff Orpingtons, very bowling-ball shaped. Lovely.

 

[Ponypoor]

It kind of did look like a flat piece of twine, but the only twine around here is plastic and light blue or orange and it definitely looked pale green and not plastic. I thought it was a flat stem, of something fibrous. I buried it with the poop in the litter, didn't have my phone on me. Later when @RoyalChick said a picture would be best I dug around where I thought I buried it and couldn't find it. Yes, Hazel was nearbby watching me dig, and maybe thought about helping but she probably decided it was too weird and she kept her distance...

If you can find it cut it open to see
What it is; it’s always good to do a good inspection of something like this, just in case it’s something the others might get into.

Or it may be some infectious material in which case you can treat it.

And there is always the intrigue aspect of wondering ‘what on earth is that?’.

 

[Lexicon]

That has also been my experience. Several of my hens who have died have done so with a friend sitting with them or at least visiting.
I wrote about this when Eli died and how extraordinary it was how the flock treated her on her last day. I am of course very sad that Eli has left us, but I am glad I got to witness their behavior.

Read the section titled Eli's last day in my memorial posting.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...es-stories-of-our-flock.1286630/post-26930660

Aww, that is simply lovely . What a wonderful tribute to a special hen!

 

[ChicoryBlue]

It's interesting how often we hear about hens attacking their ill flockmates, but it wasn't like that at all. No one gave Louise so much as a peck when she was ailing. In her last week, she would sometimes go to roost early and often one of the other hens would come in early to sit with her. I loved to see that.

Hazel has spent a lot of time sitting next to or near Butters.

She did peck her once on the back of the head but that was during foraging, when Hazel was unusually interested (she often stands back and stands guard, and lets them dig, or digs her own spot) and both Butters and Popcorn were trying to get in on it too.

 

[Lexicon]

Maybe it's her stance here, but she looks like she had the body type of the English Buff Orpingtons, very bowling-ball shaped. Lovely.

Yes, she was a very curvy lady!

 

[ChicoryBlue]

Make sure she has good grit and also oil in case there is stuff in there that still needs to move on through.

I was thinking of adding coconut oil to the tube feed mix. A clue has been that after every tube feeding she has gone directly to the grit bowl and beaked around in there and I've seen her eat one or two while there, mouthing the rest. She also digs in the wet earth and mud and is eating some little thing, but maybe just taking in mud. Thoughts of @lightm 's Light and sand in her crop have come to mind. I've been feeling her crop for the size and general texture, but this morning about 9am I checked her crop and really brought my fingers together here and there enough to feel the contents between the skin, and I felt a few pieces of grit.

I confess I have not been getting up at 5:30 to feel her crop, my sleeping has been not great, and interrupted too, so if I can sleep soundly the last few hours of the morning I've been doing that.

 

[ChicoryBlue]

There's a population explosion among the rabbits here, too. Maybe from all the rain this spring?

Lots of rabbits here too. The coyotes have been hunting elsewhere, I understand they have a large territory they rotate through. Maybe there are rabbits everywhere. I've been expecting to hear them close again but nothing yet.

 

[ChicoryBlue]

Mugshots for Monday

Sylvie the beauty queen who is maturing way too fast.
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Calypso who is very elusive, and possibly metallic
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Tassels - who is a very imposing lady and not very suited to her rather trivial-sounding name
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Happy Mugshot Monday everyone.

You could call her Lady Tassels, now that she is growing into her station...

 

[RoyalChick]

I was thinking of adding coconut oil to the tube feed mix. A clue has been that after every tube feeding she has gone directly to the grit bowl and beaked around in there and I've seen her eat one or two while there, mouthing the rest. She also digs in the wet earth and mud and is eating some little thing, but maybe just taking in mud. Thoughts of @lightm 's Light and sand in her crop have come to mind. I've been feeling her crop for the size and general texture, but this morning about 9am I checked her crop and really brought my fingers together here and there enough to feel the contents between the skin, and I felt a few pieces of grit.

I confess I have not been getting up at 5:30 to feel her crop, my sleeping has been not great, and interrupted too, so if I can sleep soundly the last few hours of the morning I've been doing that.

She probably knows she needs grit.

 

[featherhead007]

In this up-and-down course of things now Butters has improved today. Since passing the fibrous strand she is eating a little better and acted much more comfortable. So I went ahead and tube-fed her, this time getting almost 30ml into her. Later, her energy was way better in the afternoon, and her interest in life perked up a lot. She was very interested in following Popcorn in foraging, but I don't think she is eating very much on her own. She did eat two tiny worm/centipedes and a little snail, and two more blueberries, actually hiking them back, not just mashing them around. Then she would lose interest. But the periods of being interested were more frequent. She was picking at the lawn greens but I don't know how much got in, definitely some baby's breath seeds did get in.

I saw her poop and looked at it - a very normal looking one, darker green than others but a fibrous tube-shaped poop. Good, way better than the urates-heavy drips she was pooping before.

Her crop moves along. So I suspect gizzard problems, which could spell doom but it doesn't seem imminent. I will keep checking it. What can be done for a gizzard that's not working well? Not grinding well?

Supply a type of grit on the ground to help the digestive system