Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[featherhead007]

Granma's are great, eh? Lost my mom at 98 & her baby sister died this year at 94! I miss them so much.

None of our female family members were mustache/nose hair ladies!

Maybe on the Italian side of the family?

 

[SimpleJenn]

Morinth trying to introduce the kids to me without them being scared

"Got any snacks?"

Cutie patooties

I swear he was facing me when I went to snap the picture...

 

[Ponypoor]

That is a very good question and depending on who you ask you will get varied answers. Also every families needs and set ups are different so there is no 1 right or wrong answer to this question.

My personal take on this.

My flock free ranges. I do not want high production breeds, I prefer they have as long of a life as possible. Broodies are welcome even if they are a pain in my rear to break. Every girl this year has taken a few weeks to break, it is ok, that is time their bodies needed to take a break from laying even if they did not get to raise chicks. I do not keep them under lights in the winter to encourage laying either. Their bodies are designed for these breaks, they need them. If I have to hang my head in shame and buy store eggs in the winter I will. Actually i do not and go eggless if I have to but that is me.

If you free range I'm going to warn you now. Everything and I mean everything loves to eat chickens. There will be losses at some point. There is a unspoken rule that the ones taken are the ones you love the most and there is going to be heartbreak. Those older hens who no longer lay but free range. I keep them. They are the survivors and they are smart. They may not lay anymore but they have value. They teach the younger generations. They are predator savy and know how to escape.

My dearly departed Momma Hen is my best example. A stray game hen who would become the bane of my existence. Chronic broody who would disappear if not allowed to hatch and come home with chick in tow. Terrible egg layer. Terrible due to the broodiness. She would start laying. Lay for a week, then hide and start building her clutch. Once she hit about 7 to 10 eggs she would start setting. When broody and or raising chicks she would turn into a chicken keepers worst nightmare. She did not growl, she bit. She would get a beak full of tender skin and then twist drawing blood. If that did not get the message across then she came at you like a bat out of you know where, with your head and face the target. She lost the toes on one foot to a hawk and was left with a stump for a foot. That became her club and let me tell you she wielded it like one. Once her chicks hatched she was worse. You did not look, touch or get within a few feet of those babies. It was not fun making sure they had fresh water and chick feed available. You needed a suit of armor to protect yourself. She struck fear into every cat and dog in this neighborhood. My big girl CeeCee, she simply walked by her with a few day old chicks and Momma had her cornered in a dog crate beating the crap out of her. I had to save poor CeeCee as she was cowering. She raised smart chicks though. The majority of my flock fish for minnows in the creek. Momma hen taught them all this. A couple roost in the trees, again, thank you Momma Hen you bat.

Momma Hen passed from old age this spring. She was at least 11. I have cursed that hen. Called her every name under the sun and made up a few for her. I lost count the times I threatened to wring her neck. I miss her. She was useless as a layer but there will never be another like her. I do not have any of her biological chicks. But through the lessons she taught the flock she will live on for a long time after she is gone.

We all miss Momma Hen the old bat

She was a true survivor. And I hope to high heaven Mrs LC is not like her when she matures! - she is one who can likely get into the loft and sit eggs. I will have to enclose the loft against this. For if she gets into that loft and hides away I won’t find her until she decides!

 

[Ponypoor]

I've known so many great small dogs and owned one for a short time (I was a teenager, my parents were getting divorced, neither wanted to keep him. I was devastated. Still angry about it to this day ). I've known very few small dogs with issues.

My boyfriend's parents (do not like them at all. Won't get into it) have 3 chihuahuas. When I lived with them I did what I could to train them. Bf's parents didn't cooperate to say the least. Refused to. The dogs have a lot of potential to be good, happy dogs but 2 of them are neurotic messes (one of them to the point where it would be merciful to have him euthanized if the parents aren't willing to change or rehome him— and they aren't). The third is truly a sweetheart, but with guarding issues. She's possessive of her person/people and certain areas like the couch and the bed. And they all howl and bark and cry the entire time bf's dad is out of the house. They pee and poop in the house, on the floor, the couch, the bed. They have potty pads but only use them half the time or less. They deserve so much better and I really tried my best to give them that while I was living there. Bf tries his best to care for them but there's only so much he can do

Fact is, it has nothing to do with the size of the dog and everything to do with 1) training 2) breeding 3) environment. Guess where the 2 with the worst neuroticism came from? The worst came from a backyard breeder with no knowledge of breeding or genetics. The other anxious dog came from an accidental pregnancy from an unspayed female dog being cared for by a woman while her son was in jail, and a stray male. The third dog is a rescue who had a good home and was loved before but couldn't be cared for by the previous owner anymore

My own small dog that I had as a young teen was given to me as a birthday present because I'd been wanting one and talking about it nonstop. He was free from my (at the time) stepdad's friend who had a bunch of dogs. Little Dog (his name) was a chihuahua mix. Here he is cuddling with our pitbull mix Stitch

View attachment 3941448

He was Stitchy's mini-me. And a little rascal. Little Dog came with some of his own issues but he was a very good boy otherwise. For the first few months he pooped inside. Never peed inside, but would poop mostly in the basement. I quickly broke him of that habit just by keeping an eye on him and letting him outside when he started sniffing around in that certain "is this a good potty spot?" way dogs do. And lots of praise and treats when he went potty outside!

He started getting into things. And onto things. A couple times he jumped up onto the dogfood bin in the kitchen, and then up onto the counter, to grab a box of poptarts and bring it back into the living room to rip open and share with Stitch. So I started focusing in on Little Dog's command training specifically, and he learned no, and down, and leave it, etc. Again, with lots of praise and treats!

The key to training dogs of any size or breed is positive reenforcement! And keeping up your end of the work, too. Adjusting your human ways of thinking, to thinking like a dog. It's a joint effort!

As for Stitch, we got him from a rescue the year I turned 11 and I trained him myself from a young age. Of course I made mistakes because I was a kid, and he was still a puppy (about 10 months old when we brought him home). But he was so smart and so eager to learn and please! I taught him so many commands and tricks over the years, he was so friendly and respectful to dogs and people. He chased our indoor cats that we'd had previous to him for a time but quickly settled down and would sleep on his bed and the couch with one of them in particular. She was a funny cat and liked to chew on his nylabone

Anyways, yeah, Little Dog taught Stitch some bad habits so I had to work with both of them simultaneously. They were both star students

Any dog has the potential for behavioral issues. Unfortunately it's big dogs that are more likely to be punished for it because of their sheer size, along with certain breeds like pits and other bullies, rotties, etc.

Tangent over

You made the right decision for both your family and the dog, no doubts there

We have a saying in the horse world

“It costs just as much money to feed a good horse as a bad one”

Some dogs are not trainable due to genetics, etc. it is better for them and the safety of others if they are euthanized. Big small doesn’t matter. If it’s a bad behaviour animal it should be removed from society.

In the wild animals who are unstable do not survive.

TAX
Ok and here is the tax for non chicken chit chat
(FYI TOMTE when we get off topic and chat about anything other than chickens we must pay a tax - photos of our chooks , I look forward to seeing more of your beauties )

Grabbed some photos this evening.

One of the youngest chickies - not sure if it’s Patches or Icy - I think Patches, isn’t her little topknot cute?! I have no idea what she is, I thought Sapphire Gem, but they don’t have crests.

And Daisy’s look alike Little Mouse the wee chick who I was afraid would perish from coccidiosis, one of the Hoover Americana chicks.

And hey Fluffy where are you going?!

 

[Ponypoor]

Morinth trying to introduce the kids to me without them being scared
View attachment 3941759
View attachment 3941760
"Got any snacks?"
View attachment 3941761
Cutie patooties
View attachment 3941762
I swear he was facing me when I went to snap the picture...

Hahaha cute little tush! They are fast little monkeys!

 

[Ponypoor]

Dear Raven,

We tried but it was not meant to be. I candled her remaining egg last night after dark. It was clear. This morning I tore up and removed her nest. She is still clucky but she has been on the go all morning. I'm confident in a day or two she will have snapped out of it by herself. No more attempts at hatching this year and I will not be buying her chicks either this time around. I will use this fall and winter to observe the silkies. I still hope I have one male in the group. Come late January into early February I will need to make a decision. As far as hatching goes am I going to focus on solely silkies or do I want to get some more Marans eggs and continue on with those as well. There is a market in my area for both. I will say it is easier to place silkies. People who want silkies know it takes forever to determine sex. They have no issue buying day old straight run chicks. People who are after the Marans, well, if you cannot promise pullets at day olds it is like pulling teeth to place them.

Is there anyone around that can teach you to check for gender in the Marans? They are large enough chicks to check, the silkies of course too small (though there is always DNA if you wish).

 

[rural mouse]

We have a saying in the horse world

“It costs just as much money to feed a good horse as a bad one”

Some dogs are not trainable due to genetics, etc. it is better for them and the safety of others if they are euthanized. Big small doesn’t matter. If it’s a bad behaviour animal it should be removed from society.

In the wild animals who are unstable do not survive.

TAX
Ok and here is the tax for non chicken chit chat
(FYI TOMTE when we get off topic and chat about anything other than chickens we must pay a tax - photos of our chooks , I look forward to seeing more of your beauties )

Grabbed some photos this evening.

One of the youngest chickies - not sure if it’s Patches or Icy - I think Patches, isn’t her little topknot cute?! I have no idea what she is, I thought Sapphire Gem, but they don’t have crests.
View attachment 3941778

And Daisy’s look alike Little Mouse the wee chick who I was afraid would perish from coccidiosis, one of the Hoover Americana chicks.
View attachment 3941779

And hey Fluffy where are you going?!
View attachment 3941780

They're looking good! That top-knot is darling!

 

[Sylvester017]

Maybe on the Italian side of the family?

Nope! Mostly fair-haired green or blue-eyed beauties -- teehee!

Speaking of blue eyes!

 

[Ponypoor]

Look at those wonderful wattle! If she lays it will be her first egg! View attachment 3941665

I hope she laid an egg!

 

[Logar]

I hope she laid an egg!

She did… sort of. (Top egg is ceramic)