Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Ponypoor]

After finding someone's renegade loose foot-long, sharp sawtooth, hissing reptile/baby alligator(?) caught in our garden bird-netting (thrashed his whole body & tail but stopped by net) I don't trust anything larger than a blue belly garden lizard that peacefully goes about its business & leaves me & the chickens alone!

Glad we don’t have those to worry about with the chickens! Bears at least can be controlled by electric fencing!

Gosh I love electric fencing

 

[Logar]

That's Magrat! She's a SLW and a sweetie pie she's about a month behind the other 4 girls in growth at this point but she keeps up with them just fine, eats, drinks, poops like normal... So I don't know what the deal is with her growth. She's production bred from a hatchery though so I'm chalking it up to bad breeding

Magrat is the one most willing to be picked up and held, though she protests at first. But she's fallen asleep in my arms a couple times and loves when I groom her face with my fingers!

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They grow so fast

I'm so happy she has fans!

She is very pretty! I love the SpongeBob shirt as well

 

[Ponypoor]

Greetings all. I have good news and bad news today.
Good news first:View attachment 3947521That brown egg is Sheba's! She laid in the nest for the first time since we moved them! Yay!

Bad news is also Sheba. Maybe she's finally moulting, but she just always looks so bad. Today I caught Meanie pecking at her wings today. We keep putting blu-kote on her, but it wears off so fast. Do you think she'll ever get feathers again? She was such a beautiful chicken before those roosters did this to her...View attachment 3947524View attachment 3947525View attachment 3947526

Just keep spraying on the blu-kote.

This is what I have to do with Mr P.

You can also try a hen apron/saddle. @lightm has a really awesome one she used on one of her chooks, it even had guards for the wings.

 

[TOMTE]

She is very pretty! I love the SpongeBob shirt as well

Thanks! It was a hand-me-down (up?) from my younger sister one of my favorite shirts

 

[Ponypoor]

Your birds have a lot of nice free range foraging & can pick & choose what their body needs while we w/ less free range access should pay more attention to the onion issue in meats/protein offered. Other than our two 4'x8' garden beds (fall/winter access only) our hens don't have grassy/weedy grounds, lawn, or Mt Poopmores to counteract overindulgence in processed foods.

Always moderation I've been advised. If there's not enough foraging range for them hungry/curious chickens eat what is given them by us whether good or bad for them ~ including finding loose styrofoam in the yard . They are trusting little sweeties.

Unfortunately mine only get to free range for about and hour and half each day, thought weekend they are out for most of the day in good weather. And now the bad weather is going to come sooner than later (I hate winter!), and they will be stuck in the barn.

No to worry mine have eaten styrofoam, and Roxol insulation , the paint off the barn door, and even tried pine-sol (ooo yummy - not!), oh and my eyeball. They are worse than kids!
Brats I tell you brats!

Here is Marty, she is almost finished moulting - maybe… I don’t know - she is still full of pin feathers.

 

[Sylvester017]

Not even potato?View attachment 3947529

Teehee! Depends on whether he stays in your own yard & not mine I can appreciate him ~ he's got a cute smile! I do love animals including reptilians as we had resident gopher and king snakes on my folks' farm, little garden lizards & some kinds of frogs , even saw a huge toad once. However, I don't welcome uninvited larger thrashing hissing renegade reptilians in our small backyard chicken flock .

 

[Sylvester017]

Unfortunately mine only get to free range for about and hour and half each day, thought weekend they are out for most of the day in good weather. And now the bad weather is going to come sooner than later (I hate winter!), and they will be stuck in the barn.

No to worry mine have eaten styrofoam, and Roxol insulation , the paint off the barn door, and even tried pine-sol (ooo yummy - not!), oh and my eyeball. They are worse than kids!
Brats I tell you brats!

Here is Marty, she is almost finished moulting - maybe… I don’t know - she is still full of pin feathers.

View attachment 3947556View attachment 3947555

I feel so sorry for moulting birds but Marty actually looks pretty w/ those silver undercoat feathers. How I love Silkies!

 

[Ponypoor]

Teehee! Depends on whether he stays in your own yard & not mine I can appreciate him ~ he's got a cute smile! I do love animals including reptilians as we had resident gopher and king snakes on my folks' farm, little garden lizards & some kinds of frogs , even saw a huge toad once. However, I don't welcome uninvited larger thrashing hissing renegade reptilians in our small backyard chicken flock .

I have to rescue the snakes from
The chickens here.

Last year (June 2023) the youngsters found a snake

I finally rescued the poor thing and moved it away from the chicks. They were trying to peck it.

 

[Ponypoor]

I feel so sorry for moulting birds but Marty actually looks pretty w/ those silver undercoat feathers. How I love Silkies!

She a grumpy old thing, and only has eyes for Mr P

 

[Sylvester017]

Petunia has been plagued with egg laying issues, which is very odd since she is essentially a mutt. She has laid soft ones, been egg bound, laid a couple egg on egg ones.

Then her crop was impacted for over a month and I was going to do surgery on it. Then one night it resolved itself and she started a heavy moult!!

I am thrilled that she is moulting. Hopefully her factory will reset.

She is just another one that worries me.

Her sister Butterscotch lays brittle eggs - I am hoping she will also moult soon and reset her factory.

Poor babies. Sounds like the sisters may have inherited weak genes? Would you chance hatching any of their babies in future?