Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Cynthia12]

So pretty! What is the black and white one in the first picture (I am trying to learn about chicken breeds).

Speckled Sussex. She lived to be 8 years old.

 

[MaryJanet]

@RoyalChick here's a tricky one for you to guess

 

[Cynthia12]

Ooo.. pretty..some type of .. partridge in color? Plymouth Rock?

 

[MaryJanet]

Ooo.. pretty..some type of .. partridge in color? Plymouth?

No, not Plymouth.

 

[Cynthia12]

Barnevelder?

 

[Cynthia12]

I had one years ago. Nice birds. Mine was friendly.

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

Quiz Time: What kind of chicken is Ned?

We currently have a family of deer living just on the other side of the creek. Of course they don't bother the chickens. I did spread some cracked corn and rye out for the deer and Ned was down eating it this morning.

There you go, Ned has answered the question by going off to meet his people.

He is actually a deer!

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

Not sure if you have seen this - they really are stunning birds.

The BBC really does the best documentaries.

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

Here's how we lock the lift up doors.
View attachment 2378193

This may seem like insufficient security, and I'm sure it is woefully inadequate for many of you. I don't know why, and I will probably jinx us for saying this, but other than one cat longingly looking at our chickens, we've never encountered any ground predators in our yard. Not even any evidence of one. We occasionally can smell a skunk, but have yet to see one. We do see lots of aerial threats circling around but I'm not aware of any attack ever having been made.

You've never had a problem with raccoons? That latch seems incredibly easy for them to open.

I was wondering about raccoons too. I understand that foxes are pretty good at opening latches too. At least they are here in Australia.

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

Is it possible that chickens can fall out of love with me? I don't seem to get the same responses, that I used to get? No interest in lap sitting, and the hens seem more stand offish than usual. It feels like, they don't want to be touched. (But they still eat from my hand)
Very unusual for my flock to act this way.

I think that they miss Rocket as much as I do. Maybe they sense my attitude? I just don't know?

Perhaps they are in mourning too?

Any change to the flock will affect the flock dynamics and therefore flock behaviour. Hopefully with time they will get used to this new normal.

How is Jaffar? Is he still being your alarm clock?