Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[rural mouse]

I was trying to decide to delete all the photos of Pretty Boy. Floyd. I deferred that decision to another day…. I have such sadness about him. This is why I am so worried about Bert. What if. He and Mr P start fighting ?

Put the photos on a flash drive. You don't have to look at them, but they're there so you can look at some point if you need to.

Bert is NOT Floyd. Their personalities are not the same. Bert also does NOT have a brother (or more boys) to push him into spats.

Tuff is Horus' son. However, he isn't teaming up with the older boys to pester the ladies. He lost Zulu and then Granite early enough to not be in full hormonal idiocy. As such, he has NEVER (that I've seen) needed to be thoroughly walloped like Horus and Kren needed to be. The most I've seen is one of the adults chase him....for about 5 steps. Then the adult stops and he goes a couple more, giving space. The adults recognize he is retreating and Tuff recognizes their authority. Now, spring is coming and hormones will be at their peak then. The 2 idiots were showing signs (hindsight and all that) of being problems. Tuff isnt....at this point.

Bert won't hit that year mark until fall....when hormones aren't as high. He'll be at the end of the worst idiocy range by the time next spring comes. I think he's much less likely to be a problem, and his fall hatch is actually a blessing for this (offsetting idiocy vs springtime).

 

[rural mouse]

And wow can ever move dirt! Can’t they! I have to stop letting them up on mount poopmore they have been kicking all the manure piled up, down and spreading it around, generally making a mucky mess..

Chickens are great earth movers. They DON'T like hills.next time you put fresh shavings in either hen house, dump them in a pile in the middle. The birds will happily spread it....and maybe stay off of poopmore for a couple of hours.

 

[featherhead007]

Chickens are great earth movers. They DON'T like hills.next time you put fresh shavings in either hen house, dump them in a pile in the middle. The birds will happily spread it....and maybe stay off of poopmore for a couple of hours.

That works for my chooks. I put the bundle of shavings in the middle of the coop, take off the plastic and let them go to town on it!

 

[BY Bob]

I was trying to decide to delete all the photos of Pretty Boy. Floyd. I deferred that decision to another day…. I have such sadness about him. This is why I am so worried about Bert. What if. He and Mr P start fighting ?

I have faith in Bert. He will be a good fellow. Mr. Pompeii needs the help. This is going to work out.

 

[BY Bob]

Put the photos on a flash drive. You don't have to look at them, but they're there so you can look at some point if you need to.

Bert is NOT Floyd. Their personalities are not the same. Bert also does NOT have a brother (or more boys) to push him into spats.

Tuff is Horus' son. However, he isn't teaming up with the older boys to pester the ladies. He lost Zulu and then Granite early enough to not be in full hormonal idiocy. As such, he has NEVER (that I've seen) needed to be thoroughly walloped like Horus and Kren needed to be. The most I've seen is one of the adults chase him....for about 5 steps. Then the adult stops and he goes a couple more, giving space. The adults recognize he is retreating and Tuff recognizes their authority. Now, spring is coming and hormones will be at their peak then. The 2 idiots were showing signs (hindsight and all that) of being problems. Tuff isnt....at this point.

Bert won't hit that year mark until fall....when hormones aren't as high. He'll be at the end of the worst idiocy range by the time next spring comes. I think he's much less likely to be a problem, and his fall hatch is actually a blessing for this (offsetting idiocy vs springtime).

Thus helps me to be even more confident that he just what Mr Pompeii needs. This is going to work out. I just know it somehow.

 

[bgmathteach]

Taking a closer look at the australorp....skin as yellow as the barred rocks....austalorps are supposed to have white skin (Hector does). 1. Poor breeding at the hatchery, 2. Mislabeled either at the hatchery or at the feed store, 3. Chick jumped ship when they were packing.

Will have to wait and see, but, maaaaybe I have a jersey giant instead.....

View attachment 3755662Am I seeing things?

What hatchery did they come from? (i.e. where does your local feed store source them from?)

We might be able to narrow it down some - it seems to have a lot more white than the black jersey giants do when I did a general search for their chicks.

 

[rural mouse]

What hatchery did they come from? (i.e. where does your local feed store source them from?)

We m ight be able to narrow it down some - it seems t have a lot more white than the black jersey giants do when I did a general search for their chicks.

They get chicks from McMurray, hoovers, and cackle. I agree on the white down. My first batch of chicks had both australorps and giants in it. We were even comparing feet between all the black chicks. We couldn't tell the difference between them until one of the boys pointed out that the roos (the giants were straight run) had a different eye color from some of the hens. By that point, the ladies were all laying.

The little one in question now is feathering out oddly, too. I'm seeing random feathers all over the body, including the back of the neck at the base of the skull. These are widely spaced apart. The down is extra fluffy where it has loosened. Just from yesterday morning to yesterday evening there were several spots where the down could be groomed away up around the head...which usually isn't the case until 6-8 weeks...and the rest of the body is feathered out by then. The next few days will have to be a close examination....(excuse to hold each one).

 

[RoyalChick]

They get chicks from McMurray, hoovers, and cackle. I agree on the white down. My first batch of chicks had both australorps and giants in it. We were even comparing feet between all the black chicks. We couldn't tell the difference between them until one of the boys pointed out that the roos (the giants were straight run) had a different eye color from some of the hens. By that point, the ladies were all laying.

The little one in question now is feathering out oddly, too. I'm seeing random feathers all over the body, including the back of the neck at the base of the skull. These are widely spaced apart. The down is extra fluffy where it has loosened. Just from yesterday morning to yesterday evening there were several spots where the down could be groomed away up around the head...which usually isn't the case until 6-8 weeks...and the rest of the body is feathered out by then. The next few days will have to be a close examination....(excuse to hold each one).

I feel obliged to weigh in with my considerable expertise to help you out.
The chicken in question is undoubtedly a pretty chicken. And you can trust me on this complex identification because it will be a pretty BLACK chicken, and I am particularly adept at identifying those.
Mark my words, it will turn out to be a pretty black chicken.
You heard it here first!

 

[rural mouse]

I feel obliged to weigh in with my considerable expertise to help you out.
The chicken in question is undoubtedly a pretty chicken. And you can trust me on this complex identification because it will be a pretty BLACK chicken, and I am particularly adept at identifying those.
Mark my words, it will turn out to be a pretty black chicken.
You heard it here first!

I stumbled upon this last night and thought of you....now seems the perfect time to share it.

Info on some is incomplete

https://cluckin.net/the-complete-list-of-chicken-colours-with-pictures-video-and-breed-examples.html

 

[RoyalChick]

I stumbled upon this last night and thought of you....now seems the perfect time to share it.

Info on some is incomplete

https://cluckin.net/the-complete-list-of-chicken-colours-with-pictures-video-and-breed-examples.html

Oh thank you!
This definitely helps - though some of my head scratchers are in the incomplete data, and while I conceptually understand the difference between blue and lavender, I am not sure I can reliably tell by looking.
I am saving this for future reference!