Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Ponypoor]

Oh crap, I forgot that you had a Calypso. I can choose another name if you’d like.

I have an Eli, well actually Eli-too as she kept flying everywhere and would ask her ‘are you an Eli too?’ - so I started calling her Eli-too

And yea she still flies everywhere - she and Tippy are my naughty adventure seekers.

 

[Ponypoor]

Happy Friday

View attachment 3760836View attachment 3760837View attachment 3760838View attachment 3760839View attachment 3760840

Oooo those are nice fluffy butts!

 

[Ponypoor]

We've had hailstones this morning and Princess is hiding in her coop.
So I've put her food and dandelion leaves in lnside the run and shut the door. It to cold for my old lady.

Yesterday she enjoyed the garden
View attachment 3760756

Awwww a jungle chickie

 

[Ponypoor]

Pretty names but rather charged ... You do know about Circe and the pigs ?

I'm glad she is better and hope she is on her way to recovery ! Maybe the Corid did help, or maybe she is getting over whatever she caught.
And I hope I wasn't obnoxious. It was more than a year and a half after I got my first chickens that I became aware of things to check for .
About the ear, if there is an infection it could be clogged, swollen or full of waxy stuff which would be hidden under the protective cap.
The pale comb could also be from hormones if she has stopped laying.

Do you remember that you corrected me about the golden eagle I thought translated as bald eagle ? I realised I was probably making another bird translation mistakes. I kept thinking we have lots of crows here that everyone says are so good for chickens - but I think I was wrong and we don't have crows, we have ravens ? They do work very well to harass the hawks and eagles too, but they are rather big birds themselves, and scary for the chickens.
************
I took some butt pictures ! But.... I can't wait for my phone to die so I can get one with a better camera .

Laure is on the big and fluffy side of the force.
View attachment 3760785
So is Nougat ( and dirty hum )
View attachment 3760788
Annette is sleek
View attachment 3760789
This is the smallest butt of my chickens, Chipie
View attachment 3760787
Next to Annette for size
View attachment 3760786
Happy butts with a bit of unexpected sun this morning. Léa, Gaston, Blanche and Lulu. Now it's pouring ! I am very glad as we need the rain, but the chickens not so much !
View attachment 3760790

Gosh Chipie sure is petite and beautiful in colour. You certainly have gorgeous chickens.

I for one appreciation the reminder in what to observe and look for if one of my gang is sick.

 

[Ponypoor]

Mornin
Samara View attachment 3760826

And Morinth
View attachment 3760827
I made sure she got out for some cabbage when I opened the coop this morning.

Well those are happy chooks for sure

 

[ILoveDaffy]

Meanwhile Cardhu, Cumulo, and Lark
View attachment 3760737Displayed their fluff in profile.....

And the wind did thisView attachment 3760738

Yikes! Where's her face?

 

[ChicoryBlue]

@ChicoryBlue
I know you previously posted where you got your treadle feeders, and I swore I had bookmarked it, but I can't seem to find it in my bookmarks. Could you please post again the purveyor?

Also:
If I remember correctly, you got the medium - about how much feed does each hold? (can you guestimate volume wise, since I fill things using a quart scoop - volume is how I mentally measure/figure out how much feed gets used daily, not weight wise)

And, if I remember correctly, you weren't originally using the feed lip (?called?) to prevent 'flicking - but I thought later you said you were going to...are you, and is it worth getting that, or not, in your opinion??

I am going to try the bucket feeder that @RoyalChick posted a looooong time ago (with an eyebolt - makes chickens work for their feed), but that really won't work for the ducks, even if it is great with the chickens.

Thank you!!

Hi - am fairly far behind, got an email notice though!
https://ratproofchickenfeeder.net/

Yes I have the higher lip part but haven't needed it. My standards - Buff Orpingtons and Buckeyes - can just reach inside the basic lip, and unless the front part is filled with crumbs/powder so the pellets are up at the brim they don't flick pellets out. Both Popcorn and Tedi are sweepers and I don't see stuff coming out unless the front is filled up.

Bigger chickens, or ducks, might be another story, can't they reach further and pull better? So depends on how they feed.

I did get the outdoor weather-proof styles and would recommend that. I still put a protector over or nest to the back corners because that is one weather-vulnerable part when the wind blows. Last summer I had a small piece of spare plastic roofing on top held down with three bricks on one that was out in the open (lashed to the lilac bush/maple sapling). For one in the covered run against the open north wire wall I fastened a wind block on that wall right behind it and that worked.

What I've got are two Medium ones, an old style 2019 one I got in 2020 (had the counterweight) and a new one (works by two springs on the door). I retro-fitted the older one with the springs, the guy sells all the wearable parts cheaply and I keep some on hand. The feeders aren't perfect or maintenance-free - the springs and pull bar will wear over time - but I'm happy enough with them, and am VERY happy with the support I've gotten since the guy is a small business and generous with his advice and help.

My one concern with the new one is that it has a lower back internal divider which goes lower, so there's a smaller space for feed to come through to the front, which should be good, but I'm not sure I've set it level right now, because I am pulling down feed from the back into the front a lot. It does come down into the main feeder area - but my gals can't reach that far back. I've got it secured with a rubber bungee which may be pulling it back, and it's set on pavers on litter, so things may have shifted.

HOWEVER, this feature/bug/maybe it's tipping backwards thing does make the chickens eat the crumbs that pile up in the front. I'm just spoiling them pulling pellets forward - "here, have some fresh pellets!"

Hmmm, I'm terrible with volume also except by a reference. I decant a feed bag once I open it, into clean large tall plastic pretzel jars, like this Utz pretzel container below, and I store them in a covered bin in our garage/barn, which is dark and tends to be cool even in the heat of summer. My idea is that the containers help hold in any smell better than an open bag so rodents aren't attracted. A 40lb bag of pellets will fill about 5-6 of these I think. DH is off pretzels now so these are hoarded items, they're very handy for all kinds of things! I have old glass & metal ones from my mother I store flour in.

The Medium feeder will fit 3 of these? The Rat-Proof Feeder owner says the new Medium will hold 32 lbs of pellets. With four chickens last summer, two that were basically unwell, and with two feeders (anticipating the new chicks), consumption was slow between the two. So the garage was a better place for the pellets to be stored during summer heat. During this winter I was refilling by bringing one container out with me and dividing it between the two. At most I went back for another container and put that in them also. I just haven't lugged out more at once or lugged a bag out there!

I can test this volume question because I will be cleaning them out and refilling - right now I'm mixing the last of the Nutrena Feather Fixer with some new Purina Layena+ I'm trying and letting it go down as much as possible before filling with just Layena+. (I would stick with Nutrena, but TSC's available Nutrena Layer bags were much too old and the Purina was really fresh.)

 

[ChicoryBlue]

Ugh! Babs is roosting on top of the flat panel heater. That thing is only like a quart of an inch thick at the top. It just can’t be comfortable!
View attachment 3759765

Attach a small piece of wood on top of the holding board just there where the panel top is, so it is level with the top. that will make a great perch!

 

[ChicoryBlue]

Correction: I’m 140 pages behind. That’s nine days worth of chatting! But I’m going to get through it to see who has already gotten Spring chicks

View attachment 3759943
Albert is still unwell. She did perk her tail up when she saw me taking her picture though haha.

She doesn’t seem to be eating except when I offer something exceptional- ie: scrambled egg. But I don’t have enough hens laying to supply the eggs to feed her. It’s day three of Corid and I expected better results by now if coccidiosis were to blame.

What to do, what to do. I sure hope she pulls out of this.

View attachment 3759942 Also, check out these mortal enemies dust bathing together. Albert and Perry- so heartwarming!

You have looked through her poo carefully? You see nothing out of normal? Crop normal now, though empty? Vent normal? Walking normally? She is dust bathing, that’s a new picture? That’s a good sign. If all she’s eating is eggs, buy some then…I’d not worm unless you can confirm worms, it is hard on them. I wonder if she will be passing a difficult egg, or something is bothering her in that process, intermittently. Not then while she was dust bathing, for instance.

 

[Ponypoor]

Attach a small piece of wood on top of the holding board just there where the panel top is, so it is level with the top. that will make a great perch!

….and toasty warm to boot