Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[BY Bob]

There is something about this picture. It just makes me smile. It is the expression on her face combined with the jaunty tail!

No matter how rumpled she still has that joie de vivre!

 

[BY Bob]

Just had 3 days of 100+ temps and smokey air. Probably would have been 110 monday except for the smoke. It was so bad in our building on tuesday, the crew bosses went around giving permission to leave early, apparently some air vents had been left open monday night.

Anyway just like during our last heat wave, Rosie is broody again. Everyone has been too hot, but doing ok. Kittens are growing and being crazy in between naps.

Broody, but too hot to sit on her fake eggs.
View attachment 3611869View attachment 3611870View attachment 3611871
View attachment 3611887
We went to lake Dorena Sunday and made some new friends
View attachment 3611876View attachment 3611877
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Just look at those kittens!

 

[knoturavggrl]

Ask Aurora
Today's question comes from @RebeccaBoyd Owly.

View attachment 3610648

And she asks.........

Dear Aurora,

Little Owly here.

I have a question about my hooman. Since I was adopted by my momma Raven I have worked very hard to become a favorite chicken. I heeded the words of wisdom from Butter to always sit in a available lap. I watched as Branch and Bubba strutted around and posed for the black box she calls a camera and followed suit. I may not be a rooster but I can strut and pose with the best of them now. Goose, Chiquita and Branch claimed she loves beards so I am eating everything spicy and growing a beard to rival their own. I want my human to be happy so everything my elders say makes her happy I try to do. Why then is my hooman sad? What is sad by the way, I do not know? My elders are the ones claiming she is sad. I know happy, I have always been happy, this sadness is new to me. I continue to jump on her lap or shoulder every chance I get. Instead of the smiles that once followed this now come hugs and her eyes start raining. Branch says I have to let her give me the tight hugs and never mind the rain it will pass. Will it? I strut and I pose but the black box never appears anymore why? Am I doing it wrong? Are pullets and ladies not supposed to strut, is it only a rooster thing? Momma Hen says give it time and one day it will appear again and I need to keep practicing. I am not sure I should listen to her, my Hooman has began to glare at her and telling her not to think about it. Of course, I do not know what she is thinking about, she is Momma Hen and everyone calls her crazy. Is my beard making her sad? I am young and loosing my baby fuzz and just starting to grow a beard. Did I get everything wrong and should I have instead grown feathers on my feet? The majority of my elders agree that beards mean nothing it is the feet and legs extra feathers must grow. I am so confused and just want things back to the way they were. We do not have a Queen now so that is why I am turning to you. I hear whispers of the Great Queen of all flocks Aurora who knows everything. The Marshmallows claim they once sought out your help and you kindly replied and solved their problem as teens. Will things go back to as before? Will my Hooman be happy again? I do not know of this sadness but I do not like it. Do other flocks experience sadness as well? If so how did you help to bring back the happiness? Can we tiny baby chickens bring back happiness or is it something only my elders can do?

Yours truly
A very lost and confused Owly



Dear Owly,
Oh dear little Owly. You have so many questions and no Queen to help you better understand. I am so sorry you find yourself in this difficult place. First, rest assured that you will soon have a new queen. The tribe requires one and soon, if not already you will have another.

Let me start with this question of yours.

What is sad?

You are so young and have so much life ahead of you that I almost hate to be the one to explain to you that there are times when the world is not a happy place. I truly wish it were not so, but bad things do happen and someday you will experience sadness. The best example I can provide is for you to think about your best friend. How would you feel if they were suddenly gone and you never saw them again?

That is sad.

As you can see, you will not like being sad. I’m sorry to have to tell you this but sadness is a fact of life. One cannot have happiness without sadness. One requires the other to exist. The greater the happiness the greater the sadness you risk. It is important to remember that a life without great happiness is not worth living.

Now please don’t worry. It is very unlikely that your best friend will disappear tomorrow. However, this sadness is what your human is feeling.

For human servants, there is no greater pleasure than tending to us chickens. Over time they form special bonds with some of us. We are darling animals. We entertain them. We provide them with great joy. They are clearly fascinated with us.

When a human forms a special bond with a chicken it makes them sad when something happens and we are no longer there for them to take care of. The stronger the bond, the sadder the human becomes. It is clear that your human had a very special bond with your previous queen Butters. Butters brought her great happiness and her no longer being there has thus made her very sad.

The good news is that sadness is not a forever state.

How can you help your human?

It is very important that our humans operate at top efficiency. This is never the case when they are sad. I have seen our human forget to do important things when sad. Therefore, it is our responsibility to help them through the sadness.

Branch and Momma Hen are right. You can help your human by doing exactly what you are doing. Keep jumping on her shoulder or lap every chance you get. Keep posing for the black box. Anyone can pose and strut for the black box whether they are chicks, pullets or fully grown. Phyllis is the master of posing here but all of us have taken turns being the one to pose.

One day she will not squeeze you and her eyes will not rain. The first couple of times her eyes may seem to get wet but the rain will stop. A small smile might show up. This will be a sign that you are helping and she is starting to feel better. The next thing you know the black box will be back and she will be smiling at you poses as well.

You can also learn something important here. Your elders are your betters. They know what they are talking about. They have seen your human be sad before. Maybe not this sad but the cycle is really the same. The humans need to let their eyes rain and be sad but eventually because we are such amazing animals they recover and become their old selves again, perhaps even happier.

Your elders are clearly wrong on one thing. Your beard is giving her great happiness. While I am certain they believe that feathered feet make humans happy but I disagree. I happen to know of humans who are not crazy about feathered feet. However, every human loves a beard and sideburns. In fact, here is an international recording star leaning down just to take a picture of my amazing beard. You keep eating spicy food and working on yours. Your human loves it. (I must say that I believe it will be spectacular when you are fully grown)

View attachment 3610652
International recording star Anthony Snape takes photos of Aurora so he can show his friends a chicken with a beard!

What you are experiencing has happened here serval times, most recently about a year ago. Our human spent hours working with a young pullet named Gucci. She was real sweetheart but she had many problems. For example, it took them weeks working together for Gucci to learn how to use the ramp to her house. They grew very close. When she finally passed away from all the problems, she had our human servant was inconsolable. No matter how many times Glynda jumped into his lap or Phyllis did something really silly, nothing would cheer him up. He was truly sad.

The good news is that he did not remain this way. Slowly the sadness passed and he return to being his old self again. This was because we kept being the entertaining, fascinating, chickens we have always been.

You, young Owly, have it within your power to create great happiness. It does not matter if you are young or not. You must not shirk this responsibility for it is the “The Way of the Chicken”. Humans need us to bring meaning to their lives and along with that meaning we can and must bring great happiness. Do all you can to bring happiness to your human. Hop up in her lap or onto her shoulder. Pose for pictures whether she has the black box or not. In general, be the special young lady that you are and if you are patient your human will come around and you will both go back to the joyful life you had before.

Aurora

View attachment 3610647

What a wonderful response from THE Queen. It is a good reminder of how the smallest things can make a huge difference and that it applies to both chickens and humans as well. Well written and deeply touching.

 

[knoturavggrl]

Perfect timing on this response. My MIL passed away from a widowmaker heart attack yesterday morning. We're all raining. Thank you.

I am so sorry

 

[ChicoryBlue]

Perfect timing on this response. My MIL passed away from a widowmaker heart attack yesterday morning. We're all raining. Thank you.

My condolences to you and your family, that is very tough

 

[knoturavggrl]

For those of you with facebook here is a video for you all. I know it should not, but this video makes me smile. There are some days where I think everybody wants to "be like Brad." It helps that the little sh!t is a silkie.

https://www.facebook.com/watch?v=2305119403016453

I follow her on TikTok, she is a brave soul and quite funny. I have no idea how she handles Karen, she is absolutely terrifying and completely cured me of any inclination to add an Emu to our family Brad is quite the charmer isn’t he?

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

It is Thirsty Thursday and NONE of my chickens feel the need to drink.
Instead I got this gem. 11 weeks old, and she needs no introductions. Look at that beard growth. That is no longer baby fuzz.

 

[Ponypoor]

The trend in the US is actually going the other way because of laws in various states about what you can and cannot ask a potential employee.
I think you would be better off putting in a number that is at the high end of what you would find acceptable and then adding negotiable. That puts the onus on them to talk you down and avoids you selling yourself cheaper than they would have paid.
Sorry that was frustrating.
Is Ducks Unlimited actually anything to do with ducks?!

Normally I just enter negotiable in those fields, when/if anyone calls then I ask them what their range is and if it in my range I say so if not I thank them.

Ducks Unlimited is a conservation non-profit organization that has been around a long time. They work to preserve wetlands and other ecologically sensitive areas.

https://www.ducks.ca/

Anyways I couldn’t very well put $60/hr as I know darn well they are likely somewhere between $19 and maybe $25/hr. But I am sure not gonna guess as they might actually be paying better than that. They are asking for a lot of project experience.

 

[Ponypoor]

He is beautiful, very striking. I have a thing for Rico!

He is a handsome boy, and his brother Penne is also - if they were ponies they would make a perfect driving team

 

[Marie2020]

Ask Aurora
Today's question comes from @RebeccaBoyd Owly.

View attachment 3610648

And she asks.........

Dear Aurora,

Little Owly here.

I have a question about my hooman. Since I was adopted by my momma Raven I have worked very hard to become a favorite chicken. I heeded the words of wisdom from Butter to always sit in a available lap. I watched as Branch and Bubba strutted around and posed for the black box she calls a camera and followed suit. I may not be a rooster but I can strut and pose with the best of them now. Goose, Chiquita and Branch claimed she loves beards so I am eating everything spicy and growing a beard to rival their own. I want my human to be happy so everything my elders say makes her happy I try to do. Why then is my hooman sad? What is sad by the way, I do not know? My elders are the ones claiming she is sad. I know happy, I have always been happy, this sadness is new to me. I continue to jump on her lap or shoulder every chance I get. Instead of the smiles that once followed this now come hugs and her eyes start raining. Branch says I have to let her give me the tight hugs and never mind the rain it will pass. Will it? I strut and I pose but the black box never appears anymore why? Am I doing it wrong? Are pullets and ladies not supposed to strut, is it only a rooster thing? Momma Hen says give it time and one day it will appear again and I need to keep practicing. I am not sure I should listen to her, my Hooman has began to glare at her and telling her not to think about it. Of course, I do not know what she is thinking about, she is Momma Hen and everyone calls her crazy. Is my beard making her sad? I am young and loosing my baby fuzz and just starting to grow a beard. Did I get everything wrong and should I have instead grown feathers on my feet? The majority of my elders agree that beards mean nothing it is the feet and legs extra feathers must grow. I am so confused and just want things back to the way they were. We do not have a Queen now so that is why I am turning to you. I hear whispers of the Great Queen of all flocks Aurora who knows everything. The Marshmallows claim they once sought out your help and you kindly replied and solved their problem as teens. Will things go back to as before? Will my Hooman be happy again? I do not know of this sadness but I do not like it. Do other flocks experience sadness as well? If so how did you help to bring back the happiness? Can we tiny baby chickens bring back happiness or is it something only my elders can do?

Yours truly
A very lost and confused Owly



Dear Owly,
Oh dear little Owly. You have so many questions and no Queen to help you better understand. I am so sorry you find yourself in this difficult place. First, rest assured that you will soon have a new queen. The tribe requires one and soon, if not already you will have another.

Let me start with this question of yours.

What is sad?

You are so young and have so much life ahead of you that I almost hate to be the one to explain to you that there are times when the world is not a happy place. I truly wish it were not so, but bad things do happen and someday you will experience sadness. The best example I can provide is for you to think about your best friend. How would you feel if they were suddenly gone and you never saw them again?

That is sad.

As you can see, you will not like being sad. I’m sorry to have to tell you this but sadness is a fact of life. One cannot have happiness without sadness. One requires the other to exist. The greater the happiness the greater the sadness you risk. It is important to remember that a life without great happiness is not worth living.

Now please don’t worry. It is very unlikely that your best friend will disappear tomorrow. However, this sadness is what your human is feeling.

For human servants, there is no greater pleasure than tending to us chickens. Over time they form special bonds with some of us. We are darling animals. We entertain them. We provide them with great joy. They are clearly fascinated with us.

When a human forms a special bond with a chicken it makes them sad when something happens and we are no longer there for them to take care of. The stronger the bond, the sadder the human becomes. It is clear that your human had a very special bond with your previous queen Butters. Butters brought her great happiness and her no longer being there has thus made her very sad.

The good news is that sadness is not a forever state.

How can you help your human?

It is very important that our humans operate at top efficiency. This is never the case when they are sad. I have seen our human forget to do important things when sad. Therefore, it is our responsibility to help them through the sadness.

Branch and Momma Hen are right. You can help your human by doing exactly what you are doing. Keep jumping on her shoulder or lap every chance you get. Keep posing for the black box. Anyone can pose and strut for the black box whether they are chicks, pullets or fully grown. Phyllis is the master of posing here but all of us have taken turns being the one to pose.

One day she will not squeeze you and her eyes will not rain. The first couple of times her eyes may seem to get wet but the rain will stop. A small smile might show up. This will be a sign that you are helping and she is starting to feel better. The next thing you know the black box will be back and she will be smiling at you poses as well.

You can also learn something important here. Your elders are your betters. They know what they are talking about. They have seen your human be sad before. Maybe not this sad but the cycle is really the same. The humans need to let their eyes rain and be sad but eventually because we are such amazing animals they recover and become their old selves again, perhaps even happier.

Your elders are clearly wrong on one thing. Your beard is giving her great happiness. While I am certain they believe that feathered feet make humans happy but I disagree. I happen to know of humans who are not crazy about feathered feet. However, every human loves a beard and sideburns. In fact, here is an international recording star leaning down just to take a picture of my amazing beard. You keep eating spicy food and working on yours. Your human loves it. (I must say that I believe it will be spectacular when you are fully grown)

View attachment 3610652
International recording star Anthony Snape takes photos of Aurora so he can show his friends a chicken with a beard!

What you are experiencing has happened here serval times, most recently about a year ago. Our human spent hours working with a young pullet named Gucci. She was real sweetheart but she had many problems. For example, it took them weeks working together for Gucci to learn how to use the ramp to her house. They grew very close. When she finally passed away from all the problems, she had our human servant was inconsolable. No matter how many times Glynda jumped into his lap or Phyllis did something really silly, nothing would cheer him up. He was truly sad.

The good news is that he did not remain this way. Slowly the sadness passed and he return to being his old self again. This was because we kept being the entertaining, fascinating, chickens we have always been.

You, young Owly, have it within your power to create great happiness. It does not matter if you are young or not. You must not shirk this responsibility for it is the “The Way of the Chicken”. Humans need us to bring meaning to their lives and along with that meaning we can and must bring great happiness. Do all you can to bring happiness to your human. Hop up in her lap or onto her shoulder. Pose for pictures whether she has the black box or not. In general, be the special young lady that you are and if you are patient your human will come around and you will both go back to the joyful life you had before.

Aurora

View attachment 3610647

@RebeccaBoyd

Ask Aurora
Today's question comes from @RebeccaBoyd Owly.

View attachment 3610648

And she asks.........

Dear Aurora,

Little Owly here.

I have a question about my hooman. Since I was adopted by my momma Raven I have worked very hard to become a favorite chicken. I heeded the words of wisdom from Butter to always sit in a available lap. I watched as Branch and Bubba strutted around and posed for the black box she calls a camera and followed suit. I may not be a rooster but I can strut and pose with the best of them now. Goose, Chiquita and Branch claimed she loves beards so I am eating everything spicy and growing a beard to rival their own. I want my human to be happy so everything my elders say makes her happy I try to do. Why then is my hooman sad? What is sad by the way, I do not know? My elders are the ones claiming she is sad. I know happy, I have always been happy, this sadness is new to me. I continue to jump on her lap or shoulder every chance I get. Instead of the smiles that once followed this now come hugs and her eyes start raining. Branch says I have to let her give me the tight hugs and never mind the rain it will pass. Will it? I strut and I pose but the black box never appears anymore why? Am I doing it wrong? Are pullets and ladies not supposed to strut, is it only a rooster thing? Momma Hen says give it time and one day it will appear again and I need to keep practicing. I am not sure I should listen to her, my Hooman has began to glare at her and telling her not to think about it. Of course, I do not know what she is thinking about, she is Momma Hen and everyone calls her crazy. Is my beard making her sad? I am young and loosing my baby fuzz and just starting to grow a beard. Did I get everything wrong and should I have instead grown feathers on my feet? The majority of my elders agree that beards mean nothing it is the feet and legs extra feathers must grow. I am so confused and just want things back to the way they were. We do not have a Queen now so that is why I am turning to you. I hear whispers of the Great Queen of all flocks Aurora who knows everything. The Marshmallows claim they once sought out your help and you kindly replied and solved their problem as teens. Will things go back to as before? Will my Hooman be happy again? I do not know of this sadness but I do not like it. Do other flocks experience sadness as well? If so how did you help to bring back the happiness? Can we tiny baby chickens bring back happiness or is it something only my elders can do?

Yours truly
A very lost and confused Owly



Dear Owly,
Oh dear little Owly. You have so many questions and no Queen to help you better understand. I am so sorry you find yourself in this difficult place. First, rest assured that you will soon have a new queen. The tribe requires one and soon, if not already you will have another.

Let me start with this question of yours.

What is sad?

You are so young and have so much life ahead of you that I almost hate to be the one to explain to you that there are times when the world is not a happy place. I truly wish it were not so, but bad things do happen and someday you will experience sadness. The best example I can provide is for you to think about your best friend. How would you feel if they were suddenly gone and you never saw them again?

That is sad.

As you can see, you will not like being sad. I’m sorry to have to tell you this but sadness is a fact of life. One cannot have happiness without sadness. One requires the other to exist. The greater the happiness the greater the sadness you risk. It is important to remember that a life without great happiness is not worth living.

Now please don’t worry. It is very unlikely that your best friend will disappear tomorrow. However, this sadness is what your human is feeling.

For human servants, there is no greater pleasure than tending to us chickens. Over time they form special bonds with some of us. We are darling animals. We entertain them. We provide them with great joy. They are clearly fascinated with us.

When a human forms a special bond with a chicken it makes them sad when something happens and we are no longer there for them to take care of. The stronger the bond, the sadder the human becomes. It is clear that your human had a very special bond with your previous queen Butters. Butters brought her great happiness and her no longer being there has thus made her very sad.

The good news is that sadness is not a forever state.

How can you help your human?

It is very important that our humans operate at top efficiency. This is never the case when they are sad. I have seen our human forget to do important things when sad. Therefore, it is our responsibility to help them through the sadness.

Branch and Momma Hen are right. You can help your human by doing exactly what you are doing. Keep jumping on her shoulder or lap every chance you get. Keep posing for the black box. Anyone can pose and strut for the black box whether they are chicks, pullets or fully grown. Phyllis is the master of posing here but all of us have taken turns being the one to pose.

One day she will not squeeze you and her eyes will not rain. The first couple of times her eyes may seem to get wet but the rain will stop. A small smile might show up. This will be a sign that you are helping and she is starting to feel better. The next thing you know the black box will be back and she will be smiling at you poses as well.

You can also learn something important here. Your elders are your betters. They know what they are talking about. They have seen your human be sad before. Maybe not this sad but the cycle is really the same. The humans need to let their eyes rain and be sad but eventually because we are such amazing animals they recover and become their old selves again, perhaps even happier.

Your elders are clearly wrong on one thing. Your beard is giving her great happiness. While I am certain they believe that feathered feet make humans happy but I disagree. I happen to know of humans who are not crazy about feathered feet. However, every human loves a beard and sideburns. In fact, here is an international recording star leaning down just to take a picture of my amazing beard. You keep eating spicy food and working on yours. Your human loves it. (I must say that I believe it will be spectacular when you are fully grown)

View attachment 3610652
International recording star Anthony Snape takes photos of Aurora so he can show his friends a chicken with a beard!

What you are experiencing has happened here serval times, most recently about a year ago. Our human spent hours working with a young pullet named Gucci. She was real sweetheart but she had many problems. For example, it took them weeks working together for Gucci to learn how to use the ramp to her house. They grew very close. When she finally passed away from all the problems, she had our human servant was inconsolable. No matter how many times Glynda jumped into his lap or Phyllis did something really silly, nothing would cheer him up. He was truly sad.

The good news is that he did not remain this way. Slowly the sadness passed and he return to being his old self again. This was because we kept being the entertaining, fascinating, chickens we have always been.

You, young Owly, have it within your power to create great happiness. It does not matter if you are young or not. You must not shirk this responsibility for it is the “The Way of the Chicken”. Humans need us to bring meaning to their lives and along with that meaning we can and must bring great happiness. Do all you can to bring happiness to your human. Hop up in her lap or onto her shoulder. Pose for pictures whether she has the black box or not. In general, be the special young lady that you are and if you are patient your human will come around and you will both go back to the joyful life you had before.

Aurora

View attachment 3610647

@RebeccaBoyd
@aurora