Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[rural mouse]

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!

The incomplete parts are my head scratchers too. Hazarding a guess, those are the incredibly rare/extinct types so we will never see unless we do some serious breeding specifically for those traits...........

I don't see either of us doing that.

Blue vs lavender: the lavender is all over. Blue seems to have a darker toned head (at least in the ladies), probably extended into saddle feathers in a roo (based upon pics I've seen of Blue andalusians).

 

[rural mouse]

The little barred who was snuggled semi-under the bark last night moved down under "mama" before morning. The rest stayed on mama and were a bit chilled this morning. After a short drink, they started the shrillish peeping. Human mama moved them under "mama". The smart little Rock had a bit of a poopy butt (a rarity since doing the "mama" pad). Squawledover getting cleaned up, then had a snuggle before going back under mama. 20 min and they're popping back out to investigate life again.

 

[Ponypoor]

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.

Oh they love fresh shavings! I used to dump a pile in the horse stalls when I used just shavings. They would dust bathe in it spread it around, snooze in it

Yes they love the straw bedding’s I use now, but they don’t dust bathe in it.

Maybe I will buy them a bag of shavings for the Summer House - they can fluff aboit in that

 

[Ponypoor]

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).

Yes that is my hope, next month the silkies will be sequestered in the Summer House with the borrowed silkie Roo, Mr Bert will be on his own at that point. I am trying to decide if I will keep Betty with the silkies or with the main gang.

I have my calendar set for the 18th of March to bring Mr Silkie here. He will stay for about 6 weeks. 3 weeks to get the girls used to him, and for the girls to get rid of any of Mr P’s genetic material. And three weeks to get eggs together for my niece - hopefully no one goes broody!!

Henny should be good and done with being broody, Marty also should be ok, Fluffy and Curly are just finishing moulting so hopefully they have no desire to go broody!

If any of the other girls in my main herd go broody I might get some Peavey chicks. I won’t hatch my own chicks. I aim tired of dealing with cockerels, I will have to deal with the eggs my niece hatches at her school though.

 

[Ponypoor]

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!

Oh it’s so much fun watching isn’t it

 

[Ponypoor]

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 agree with this assessment - a black chicken it willl be. Am very pretty black chicken

 

[rural mouse]

Yes that is my hope, next month the silkies will be sequestered in the Summer House with the borrowed silkie Roo, Mr Bert will be on his own at that point. I am trying to decide if I will keep Betty with the silkies or with the main gang.

I have my calendar set for the 18th of March to bring Mr Silkie here. He will stay for about 6 weeks. 3 weeks to get the girls used to him, and for the girls to get rid of any of Mr P’s genetic material. And three weeks to get eggs together for my niece - hopefully no one goes broody!!

Henny should be good and done with being broody, Marty also should be ok, Fluffy and Curly are just finishing moulting so hopefully they have no desire to go broody!

If any of the other girls in my main herd go broody I might get some Peavey chicks. I won’t hatch my own chicks. I aim tired of dealing with cockerels, I will have to deal with the eggs my niece hatches at her school though.

Will Betty be laying full sized (for silkies) eggs by then? If not, keep her with Bert. If she's just barely started laying, her eggs shouldn't be incubated as they aren't quite big enough for chicks to properly develop. You don't want to be dealing with chicks (those that survive) with physical problems, do you?

 

[Ponypoor]

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

They have cuckoo silkie ??!!!! Where where where!!!??? Oh have got to get me one of those! Great site thanks for sharing!!

 

[BY Bob]

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).

It's a mystery!

 

[rural mouse]

They have cuckoo silkie ??!!!! Where where where!!!??? Oh have got to get me one of those! Great site thanks for sharing!!

https://indigoegg.us/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/how-do-you-make-a-cuckoo-silkie.260169/