Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Themellowyellows]

$500!

That's actually a bargain! ~ in comparison to how much over the years we've spent for hatching eggs/chicks/chickens, their coops/runs/brooders, heaters, humidifiers, fans, misters, backyard remodeling including patio roof to shelter coop/run, solar pop doors, vet bills, meds/syringes/tubing, mite/lice treatment products, bluecoat, poultry protector, feed, feed troughs & treadles, egg skelters, egg cartons, treats, chicken diapers, landcapeded gardens/trees, sand dust boxes, bird toys, drinking systems, safe water hoses, home/property water filtration, fortified property fencing/block walls, predator prevention products like rat traps and solar predator eyes, lighting, increased electricity bills, other security mechanisms like padlocks/carobiners/fortified gates, popup canopies, tarps, spring grips, zip ties, buckets, broody cages, hardware cloth, bird netting, cleaning and paper products, sandbox sifters, flat shovel poop scoopers, brooms, dustpans, swiffer mops, paver stones, cinder blocks, lumber, straw, pine shavings, curtain material, nestbox pads, outdoor perches, chicken care books, chicken yard decor, locked storage cabinets, etc etc etc. And then there's the cooperative neighbor negotiations!

Did I miss anything? I'll probably remember more later!

Edit: I forgot about the 5 dog houses placed around the yard for the hens to use as hiding places!

Are chickens should start paying us back....Maybe that robe...

 

[BY Bob]

Yes, this.
@ManueB I was waiting to get inside to my computer to respond, but @bgmathteach beat me to it and covered everything.

The only thing I have to add is that many of the diseases people worry about transmitting to their flocks are not transmitted by the egg. Things like Marek's for example. So as long as the incubating and hatching facility is sterile and separate from any actual chickens, you can be pretty confident those little chicks are disease free.
Of course things like poor genetics or even genetic disorders that come from a narrow gene pool or breeding for traits like over-production of eggs, are not diseases and therefore the chicks can have all of those.

When introducing an adult, you really cannot screen out diseases like Marek's, but you can make sure that things like respiratory illnesses including mycoplasma are not introduced to an existing flock.

 

[BY Bob]

Others can probably add to this, but this is what I know regarding purchasing baby chicks in the US:

Since large hatcheries incubate eggs separately from the flock and in controlled environments (i.e. different people work the incubators, so they are physically removed from the flock/isolated, and use biosecurity measures), there isn't the cross contamination with chicks hatched in flock/with a broody or with a backyard flock where they aren't kept separate with biosecurity measures. So, chicks shouldn't transmit/carry flock diseases (unless they are genetic OR transmissible through the egg/shell).

The other reason it is really common to buy/ship day old chicks in the US is convenience. Since chicks absorb the remaining yolk just before hatching, they can live a few days with no need for food or water - so we exploit nature (I assume that this happens so that chicks can survive until all are hatched and Momma can take the whole clutch off the nest to search for food and water.). This allows them to be shipped all across the country with minimal issues - sometimes a heating pack is added - especially in colder months, and they add a gel liquid (with electrolytes) for them to peck at, but otherwise, they generally travel fairly well as long as there are no delays in shipping.

Shipping older fowl (pullets, adults) required express shipping and more thoughtful travel arrangements - plus are more likely to also carry diseases with them that chicks would not yet be exposed to so aren't carriers (yet).

Besides, it means that as soon as chicks hatch, they are processed and shipped, so for many large hatcheries, they don't need much for brooders (only if they keep pullets for replacement or for later sale at a significant price bump). Otherwise, the 'extras' (mostly males) get, unfortunately, disposed of.

 

[featherhead007]

Nobody seems to appreciate my stale jokes anymore.
It’s not easy to find new material to be funny. The world is not a fun place lately. Fires, heat, floods, volcanic activity, etc. the list goes on. Maybe I should just crawl under a Rock, but I can’t. They always seem to move away when I try.

 

[featherhead007]

You can't get a new phone for only $550. How could you get a robe and a phone?

Tax
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[featherhead007]

Think how many designer clothes you could have.

Actually, I know of an outlet that sells high end clothing for yard sale prices. But I’m kinda about that. My Maui Jim sunglasses cost me $40

 

[Ponypoor]

Oh my Kelly, he is gorgeous. I really hope you can keep him.
I am optimistic that he will simply fly up out of Mr.P’s way.

He’s a naughty boy, he simply thinks I am his love bird - or my hand is

But he is still cuddly.

 

[Ponypoor]

We have a pip!
View attachment 3907348
This is one of the purebred cochins! Morinth was very concerned over it, fretting away at me checking under her. But no threats of violence...like Samara did.

Polish chicken lady says the chicks are one boy and one girl. So Ric Flair and Bab Ross.
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I was wondering! Just checking in - will read ahead

 

[Ponypoor]

Door to door it was a bit over 14 hours, just over 245MPH. I never thought of it that way before.

I just woke up (jet lag) and I am covered in cat slobber. Nightshade has been giving me a good wash and brush up while I was sleeping. I feel a little offended as I did shower after getting home so I wouldn’t smell like all that travel!

Travel tax: only 5 chickens on the roost, why do they scare me like this?
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Oh, it is OK. It is Sylvie pulling a Greta Garbo. And she is positioned perfectly to poop in the waterer that my chicken carer hung there (I never hang waterers under roosts or perches)! I will deal with that in the morning.
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In case anyone doesn’t understand the reference to Greta Garbo

Wonder if she was lonely? Greta I mean, Sylvie seems quite content on her own.

 

[Ponypoor]

Yesterday there wasn't a chance of her being in my garden. The heat was terrific. I honestly believe it was much hotter than the forecast had said.

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Still hot and humid here, I have the fans going full tilt in the barn again. Poor chooks and horses