Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[BY Bob]

Welp, hubby says if they are both confirmed hens then he is fine with it!!!
Today I'll be taking the feed bags and using them to wrap the west side of the coop and run. We have translucent plastic for the rest of it, but I don't have a plan for wrapping it yet. Maybe I'll install hooks? Going to staple the stuff to the back though, visibility that way is less important than wind protection.

Congrats!

 

[BY Bob]

I think it must be something like that. Even little Piglet chased her just now.
I would have said she was not the absolute bottom - I think that is actually Piglet.
It is a bit hard to tell. Sylvie was first to lay and until she went broody was sleeping on the roost next to Babs and far away from the other Pentagonists. Maybe she moved because she was being bullied by her peers and Babs is more easy-going.
Poor Sylvie. It is a bad day when even little Piglet pecks you. Piglet is tiny!

Hens who raise children may also have the opportunity to move up the pecking order as well and that could be an issue for the others as well. Not wanting to lose their spot.

 

[BY Bob]

That took some work!

BYC does it for you.

 

[RoyalChick]

It just occurred to me - aren't poor old laying hens a big part of cat food, either dry or canned? So we're feeding chickens to cats but can't feed chickens to chicken?

Are you basically vegetarian then? To me that would mean you would find it very hard to see another animal eat an animal, much less one of their own. I'm not vegetarian and I find it hard. But once it is dead, then there's a "best use" idea that comes into play I think. The main point in the roast is we can see a whole chicken there in the carcass, we can tell it really was one of our chicken friends, and feel very badly for it. On the other hand you are making a full use of what it offers to fellow beings who will use it gladly, instead of sending the remains to a landfill.

I am not vegetarian - I just find that I don’t eat that much meat.
But I totally believe in ‘best use’ and I hate waste. So throwing out the carcass would have been hard for me.
I guess I could see it as feeding the foxes.

 

[BY Bob]

Yes. It did the trick in enticing the cat out of her hiding spot.
Out of curiosity is the line you won’t cross just the ick factor (which I am clearly feeling), or something else?

Ick factor. There is an intellectual part of me that explains it away as not encouraging cannibalism but it really is the ick factor.

 

[BY Bob]

Now I am feeling bad about doing it.
Does anyone else let their chickens eat chicken?

The cause of the rotisserie chicken emergency
View attachment 3660886

Is everything OK?

 

[RoyalChick]

Is everything OK?

Yes! She needed her rabies shot. But she disappeared.
This cat normally trips me up by winding herself around my legs.
No sign of her.
I searched high and low.
I pushed the vet appointment back twice.
Then I walked around the house with the rotisserie chicken and she was there like a flash!

 

[knoturavggrl]

Some BFTP mugs

Muffy
View attachment 3660734

Little Grey
View attachment 3660735

Petunia
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Mr P
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Wonderful photos!!! What a dashing crew!

As you are in OH and it can get pretty cold you need to make certain that their toes are fully covered by their feathers while using the curved pipe. Otherwise there will be the risk of frostbite from. Exposed toes. 2x4 on the wide side is optimal so they set their feet flat when roosting for areas where it can get quite cold.

I agree and this isn’t going to be permanent, I was trying to see if it would make a difference. Ironically, the one roost bar that is turned wide side is the one none of them will use. Now that I know it worked I will have my husband remove that unusable(to them) bar and stick it on top instead of underneath and remove the pipe altogether. Thank you for looking out for their toes

Don't rush crowing. It will come. And then never stop.......

My coop is far enough away that I cant hear it when I am inside, so honestly its not a problem Truly though @ 23 weeks I am beginning to wonder if they ever will

Now I am feeling bad about doing it.
Does anyone else let their chickens eat chicken?

The cause of the rotisserie chicken emergency
View attachment 3660886

I feed mine leftovers on occasion and sometimes that includes chicken. I have zero issue with it myself. It’s a wonderful source of protein for all meat eaters and that includes chickens. I wouldn’t worry over it, way better to use it than it going into the garbage.

 

[SimpleJenn]

The chickens are looking gourd-geous today!



Got their coop all nice and ready for the winter...as well as I could. I even raked up a big tote full of soft pine needles for their nest boxes!

 

[BY Bob]

It's up to you, how you feel about it, because although you are Servant, you are paying the bills and provide the housing and are due a certain amount of say, I think.

These guys are meat-eating dinosaurs and cannibals, and no part of their Chicken Code of Morals, a sub-chapter in The Way Of The Chicken, says there's anything wrong with that.

The laugh emoji is for the picture of Bernie with a wingtip in her beak running around, obviously very happy with it.

I would give them chicken if we didn't eat all of it ourselves. We don't give anyone here the bones after soup, probably out of the cat-keeping habit of "never give a cat or dog chicken bones because it could splinter and they might choke on it" thing. Which may be an urban myth anyway. Then I'd want to clear the trash for fear of attracting bear, so there's that additional chore. It never occurred to me to try a little wing tip though!

Chicken bones will splinter and damage a dog's mouth and throat. This is the voice of experience as our dog got into the trash once and I have the vet bills to prove it.

That and a baby back rib bone that got wedged sideways between the teeth on the top of her mouth. They were both vet visits.

Stupid dog tax