Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[BY Bob]

I'm inclined to think once Aurora is gone, one of yours will take over on the threats.

As I said earlier, Daisy, the greatest hen ever, did not behave this way. Patsy most definitely did and I have watched Lilly and then Aurora perpetuate the behavior. I hope that Sydney will not carry it on but I've already seen the tendency to do so in her behavior already. I expect that it will ever be the way things are done here as they have learned that's what leaders do.

 

[BY Bob]

There is lots of pecking at roosting time in the Chicken Palace, but it is only if someone is in the wrong place. Nobody goes out of their way to attack anyone. It is more of a 'get the hell out of my spot' or 'don't burrow under me like that' kind of thing.
Often a chicken is driven to roost elsewhere.

During the day some chasing happens but it always starts with a 'get your face out of my food' sort of squabble.

I pray it stays that way there. I only watch roosting by accident these days.

 

[SimpleJenn]

Been working on this for my sister's oldestView attachment 4042063their oldest pullets are pinking up and likely to start laying by the end of the month.

https://www.gathered.how/knitting-and-crochet/crochet/free-egg-basket-crochet-pattern

Pretty! I might have some super bulky yarn laying around, I'll have to make one like that and see if it's better than the design I came up with. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Sylvester017]

 

[Sylvester017]

They are very cute......



But they are not chickens

View attachment 4041845

We thought so too....till we got some

 

[ValerieJ]

Good to see you back here!
Every Saturday one of us does a synopsis of the week’s chicken news (no chit chat) to make it easier to catch up.

I think this is the link to the most recent one.
Post in thread 'Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock'
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...es-stories-of-our-flock.1286630/post-28375664

Wow...even that is a lot to catch up on!!! You all are busy in this room. And thanks for the welcome note!

 

[Sylvester017]

View attachment 4041869
Fenix approves of you getting a beaked Pomeranian

Picture postcard gorgeous!

 

[Sylvester017]

You speak truth! You never know when the surprise might cause a cardiac arrest as well!

Good point!

 

[Sylvester017]

The Order

The pecking order here remains quite obvious. Most of you should know that I stopped watching roosting a long time ago because of how nasty Aurora can be. Last night I was checking to make sure everyone was safe in the coop when i caught Aurora at work. I'm putting this behind a spoiler because it is not for the faint of heart.

I had checked in twice because the first time Hattie was not in the coop. On my first check Lady Featherington and Aster were on the low roost in front of the heat panel. When we check in this time you will see they are now in the high roost with Sydney. Im pretty certain they moved to avoid Aurora. Hattie was probably not in the coop because Aurora was keeping her out.

If you don't want to see poor Hattie picked on, don't watch this video. She is the only hen Aurora can reach.

Spoiler: Aurora at Work

I share this so everyone is reminded how Aurora maintains her position through brute force and terror at roosting time. She is not all warm and friendly.

I wonder what can make chickens so mean? We had a large body Cuckoo Breda Fowl that insisted on terrorizing our older little Silkie. Dominique hens would come to the Silkie's defense to put the Breda in her place. BBS Breda are gentle temperament birds but Cuckoo Breda have been crossed w/Malines which are a larger more aggressive breed so our Cuckoo Breda turned out a large heavy terror. We finally found a rescue farm friend for her where she isn't mingled w/other hens.

 

[ValerieJ]

Reading all your posts about nesting time squabbles, I realize we have not seen that in our flock. Maybe we aren't there when it happens.

After the first four years of adding coops to the run, we finally have a walk in coop that is 8x10 with roosting bars all around. Everyone has their place. When new young pullets first start roosting up on the bars, they settle on the lowest one and naturally go up last.

These days, when it's chilly outside, we go out at dusk and they are already in and roosted. Maybe the squabbling already happened, but we have never seen it.

We do have two roosters, but only 13 hens and I think that is not quite a workable ratio. At the moment, one rooster has his own run and coop, separate but right next to everyone. He hangs out with them along the fence. The two roosters are not fence fighting anymore, so we may soon be able to combine them. We'll give it a try when it warms up some.

As for new chicks this year, I'm hoping one of my girls raise a few for me. The reason we got a second rooster is that a year of broodies did not result in a single chick. Cooper, the separated rooster and my avatar pic, seemed to only go after the old ladies and they don't lay! Wordy, Birdie and Gertie are well over 8 now and they were his favorite girls. They are Australorps and I believe that it's normal for them to live a long time. I think they are relieved to have Ralphie taking care of the flock. He is a Buff Orpington and tends to like the Buff ladies the best.

Have you all experienced segregation in your flocks? Mine hang out with their same breed mostly. That's so interesting to me.