Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[TOMTE]

I didn’t know how many varieties that leghorn come in!

https://www.thefeatherbrain.com/blog/leghorn-chickens?format=amp#look

Now this is just hilarious

 

[Sylvester017]

Thank you - I was prepared to have her culled if she was not going to be able to walk at least enough to escape bad Roos.

I will keep her in the crate another couple weeks to make sure she is healing well. She really is getting fed up with being contained though.

Just like toddlers ~ they don't realize what's good for them! It's so good to know it seems to be on the mend

 

[ManueB]

It's funny how some birds either love or hate a food. If it's in our hand the birds fall all over each other to eat ~ put the same food immediately in a dish they walk away!

Some food lists say not to feed peanuts to chickens. DH once got wild bird seed mix w/ chopped peanuts that we put into treat toys ~ no chicken but Dana ate ALL the peanuts. We figured some peanuts wouldn't hurt but she was throwing everything away except peanuts!

No wonder, most chicken love peanuts !

Some of those forbidden food lists sound like they are trying to convince people not to give ANY real food to their chicken .
A bit like sunflower seeds, peanuts are very fat and very rich in protein, but they dont contain enough of the main amino acids useful to chickens, methionine and especially lysine.
They would be harmful to chickens contained in a run that don't get exercise and tend to be chubby, I suppose, but like all nuts they can help chickens get through a cold winter, when they tend to loose weight, or when they are molting.

My chickens get a handful of bird peanuts once or twice a week in fall and winter, that's about three to dour peanuts per chickens, and have for years without anything indicating that it harms them.

My ears will ring every day for the rest of my life. It's a side effect of a med I have to take. Some times are worse than others but it is omnipresent.

Ear ringing tax

View attachment 3970708

I'm sorry about that. I had inner ear issues for about six weeks after getting hit by a rock on the head which included ear buzz on top of vertigo, and I found it very difficult. How do you cope ? Do you listen to music or other sounds, or do you just focus on something else ?

Any clue why some moult hard while others don't?

Storey's guide to raising chickens by Gail Damerow explains that the best layers (which I take to mean the most frequent layers that don't get broody) tend to go for harder moult. Not sure how true that is, but it makes sense that hens that get broody and do every time a mini moult would have less of a yearly moult in autumn.
(Sorry everyone who read this from me several times before, I think I already wrote about it on this thread and on others.)

Yes....
Pecking and exploring and preening me back there is one thing. Hazel still maneuvers around me to do that, she always has ever since she was a pullet. Diane does it too. But hard pecks and bites is another! Diane will come around to my arm and really jab, then look up at me to see what reaction she's getting, she's trying to get a rise out of me. Sometimes ignoring her works best.

Could it be that she takes the role of a rooster and doesn't approve you going to the other hens or getting too busy in "their" territory?
I do remember we had a lot of discussion when she was just a pullet about what could cause that, and there was no clear explanation.
Let's hope she never goes broody

Nice wattles, Gaston. But molting sure makes you grumpy!

 

[rural mouse]

I've never had one of those. But I can say that the trackball mouse absolutely works, and a good keyboard also makes a difference as well.

I can't stand the track ball mice. Maybe because I have short thumbs and small hands. dunno if they're avaliable for children's hands, but that's more likely what I would need.

more ding-a-ling pic

I didn’t know how many varieties that leghorn come in!

https://www.thefeatherbrain.com/blog/leghorn-chickens?format=amp#look

I like that article. It's actually GOOD for leghorns. It also details the breeding lines of the assorted hybrids. (Build wise, I think Aster is Mediterranean build so the hybrids are very possible)

 

[Sylvester017]

I didn’t know how many varieties that leghorn come in!

https://www.thefeatherbrain.com/blog/leghorn-chickens?format=amp#look

Mankind has been crossbreeding the royal Leghorn vigorously since 1950's to increase egg production in other breeds ~ not just for looks. Porcelain Leghorns was left off website list. Ages ago I was considering adding Exchequer, Porcelain & Brown to the flock but there's absolutely nothing to beat the original White.

 

[Sylvester017]

No wonder, most chicken love peanuts !

Some of those forbidden food lists sound like they are trying to convince people not to give ANY real food to their chicken .
A bit like sunflower seeds, peanuts are very fat and very rich in protein, but they dont contain enough of the main amino acids useful to chickens, methionine and especially lysine.
They would be harmful to chickens contained in a run that don't get exercise and tend to be chubby, I suppose, but like all nuts they can help chickens get through a cold winter, when they tend to loose weight, or when they are molting.

My chickens get a handful of bird peanuts once or twice a week in fall and winter, that's about three to dour peanuts per chickens, and have for years without anything indicating that it harms them.

Storey's guide to raising chickens by Gail Damerow explains that the best layers (which I take to mean the most frequent layers that don't get broody) tend to go for harder moult. Not sure how true that is, but it makes sense that hens that get broody and do every time a mini moult would have less of a yearly moult in autumn.
(Sorry everyone who read this from me several times before, I think I already wrote about it on this thread and on others.)

Nice wattles, Gaston. But molting sure makes you grumpy!
View attachment 3971039

Sunflower seeds & corn are recommended for winter feeding cuz of the fat content. Recommended far less for summer months.

Storey's chicken guide is a good reference. I should go thru it again!

Gaston has some fine wattles!

 

[SimpleJenn]

We had an overnight guest. He's doing the hunch, runny pale brown poo, and very thin.

He slept on nice warm straw in the bathtub, got some wormies and unsalted peanuts, and there's hydro hen in the water.
I think worms, my dad found our microscope so I guess I'll try to do a fecal exam.
If I do meat birds again I will hatch my own, this is ridiculous.

 

[BY Bob]

I didn’t know how many varieties that leghorn come in!

https://www.thefeatherbrain.com/blog/leghorn-chickens?format=amp#look

That is a well written article.

 

[BY Bob]

I'm sorry about that. I had inner ear issues for about six weeks after getting hit by a rock on the head which included ear buzz on top of vertigo, and I found it very difficult. How do you cope ? Do you listen to music or other sounds, or do you just focus on something else ?

I just accept it as background noise. I do have to turn the TV up sometimes when it is very loud as it is right now.

Storey's guide to raising chickens by Gail Damerow explains that the best layers (which I take to mean the most frequent layers that don't get broody) tend to go for harder moult. Not sure how true that is, but it makes sense that hens that get broody and do every time a mini moult would have less of a yearly moult in autumn.

Hattie would bust that theory. I don't think she laid an egg all year. Maybe one or two at best. She is going through her typical horrible molt again this year.

Daisy, the greatest hen ever, also busted this theory in the opposite way. She laid 360 eggs one year with her typical smooth mild molt.

I wonder if their data might not be tainted by only studying "production" chickens. I find a huge problem with studies focused only on those chickens that are being "farmed". They tend to not reflect what I see in "pet" chickens.

 

[BY Bob]

Mankind has been crossbreeding the royal Leghorn vigorously since 1950's to increase egg production in other breeds ~ not just for looks. Porcelain Leghorns was left off website list. Ages ago I was considering adding Exchequer, Porcelain & Brown to the flock but there's absolutely nothing to beat the original White.

I agree!