Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Ribh]

Things are a little hairy here right now

That nasty weather I told you all about yesterday has arrived. Everyone but Lilly was locked out of the coop as the door closed 30 min before sunset. Poor Hattie and Maleficent were standing on the porch complaining when I went out. It was very dark out. Tornado watches are up. It has rained since last night with the worst still to come. Here is the sky 30 min before sunset.
View attachment 1948806

Stay safe, Bob. I don't like weather like that.

 

[BY Bob]

Stay safe, Bob. I don't like weather like that.

I don't either and I've been antsy all day. I can't wait until it's over.

 

[BY Bob]

Happy Halloween from Fluffy Butt Acres

Our first lady dressed up as her namesake.

Lilly wanted to remind everyone of her Iron Beak by dressing as the Iron Chancellor, Otto Von Bismark. Be sure to check out that monocle.!

Hattie wanted to try out a flashy outfit and some red hair!

And my little princess wanted to be anything but a princess. She went for the pirate look.

 

[LozzyR]

Happy Halloween from Fluffy Butt Acres

Our first lady dressed up as her namesake.
View attachment 1948893

Lilly wanted to remind everyone of her Iron Beak by dressing ad the Iron Chancellor, Otto Von Bismark. Be sure to check out that monocle.!
View attachment 1948897

Hattie wanted to try out a flashy outfit and some red hair!
View attachment 1948898

And my little princess wanted to be anything but a princess. She went for the pirate look.
View attachment 1948899

You're a crack-up Bob! Great Photoshop skills!

 

[BY Bob]

I don't either and I've been antsy all day. I can't wait until it's over.

Looks like the worst is over. Coop is intact. Our power is back on. All things seem to be calming down. It was pretty nasty. They say the wind gusts topped 70 mph (112 kph).

 

[Ribh]

Looks like the worst is over. Coop is intact. Our power is back on. All things seem to be calming down. It was pretty nasty. They say the wind gusts topped 70 mph (112 kph).

That is ugly. The sort of thing we get @ the edge of a cyclone. Glad you are ok & power is back on.

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

It's a very long story. A bit about the changes undergone here can be read in my articles and the chicken stories in my signature.
Basically I let them arrange themselves with regard to their living arrangements. They arranged themselves into tribes. The breeds sticking together and the group sizes reduced to something close to what most keepers here on this mountain have, which is no more than three hens per rooster.
I also put the incubator in the rubbish and allowed the hens and roosters to raise their own families. People aren't very good at this. Despite all the oh they're so cuddly and cute and the fascination with hatching (an addiction for some it seems) humans cannot teach chicks what a mother hen can. The hens that survive here survive because they've learn't how to in this environment. They teach this to the next generation.

Looks like I'm going to have to find time for a long read. I'll look forward to it!

So, natural selection has played a part. Sounds eminently sensible.

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

In and Out before I can even pull my phone out of my pocket

Miss Aurora just tried to fly the length of the pool. I cannot say why. While she did chewable nearly 6 feet in height I knew she would not make the length. She splashed down in the deep end, coasted to the edge, placed her feet on the lip, and flapped her way out. Like she had done it a million times before! I did not even have time to get my phone out of my pocket to snap a photo! The only proof, a few feathers on the water.

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She's been watching ducks hasn't she Bob?

Hello Biophiliac.
I've read a couple of published papers on this subject, one in Nature I think, can't remember the other.
I think what I'm about to write was accurate at the time of reading the papers. A friend of my niece is currently doing a research project on avian brains. Tbh, I don't know enough about biology to follow the stuff in the papers.
I think, chickens have the largest relative brain size of any bird/fowl.
There is a story that some American aeronautical engineers were frustrated by the inability of the flight computers in combat aircraft to make the same maneuvers as a bird.
As the story has it one engineer mentioned that if a bird can decelerate from say 30 mph to zero and land on a branch with perfect balance, jump and do a 360 turn and this bird has the brain the size of a very small walnut then we either need to examine the birds brain, or reinvent the computer.
Apparently it's not just the neuron density, it's the firing speed. I can't recall exactly how much quicker the firing rate is but it's double integers faster than humans. Bird brains are like a modern hyper threading multi core computer processor while ours, while powerful are like old main frame computers from the 60's.
There has been a problem with human interest in animal intelligence for quite a few centuries now. Firstly, there was no profit seen in it. The next problem was trying to define intelligence. The term is used a lot but there is no short definition.
Some scientists stopped making the rather pointless comparison between human and avian intelligence. You're then left with the possibility that in this case chickens could be just as intelligent as we are but with a different skill set that makes different demands on their brain depending on physiology.
That is getting into very hot territory. Very few people, let alone academics want to go down that route. You can imagine the outcry from the various institutions that have elevated man above the other creatures on the planet.
I think the chickens here are very smart. Their ability to adapt which I consider a major component of intelligence is incredible. I've seen incredible levels of cooperative behaviour with the tribes here. That I think is also a factor in intelligence.
Sry, going on a bit.
Mind you, I did join BYC to chat about chickens.

Feel free to go on as far as I'm concerned Shad. It's very interesting and educational.

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

Things are a little hairy here right now

That nasty weather I told you all about yesterday has arrived. Everyone but Lilly was locked out of the coop as the door closed 30 min before sunset. Poor Hattie and Maleficent were standing on the porch complaining when I went out. It was very dark out. Tornado watches are up. It has rained since last night with the worst still to come. Here is the sky 30 min before sunset.
View attachment 1948806

Take care Bob and co

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

Happy Halloween from Fluffy Butt Acres

Our first lady dressed up as her namesake.
View attachment 1948893

Lilly wanted to remind everyone of her Iron Beak by dressing as the Iron Chancellor, Otto Von Bismark. Be sure to check out that monocle.!
View attachment 1948897

Hattie wanted to try out a flashy outfit and some red hair!
View attachment 1948898

And my little princess wanted to be anything but a princess. She went for the pirate look.
View attachment 1948899

Oh that's very silly ...and vaguely disturbing Bob .

Thanks for the Halloween treats

Looks like the worst is over. Coop is intact. Our power is back on. All things seem to be calming down. It was pretty nasty. They say the wind gusts topped 70 mph (112 kph).

Thanks for the update Bob. I'm glad everyone is safe.

What sturdy coops you must build!