Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Ponypoor]

Dumplings are fully integrated with the Summer House Gang.

Mr P has been great with them.

 

[Ponypoor]

I also need to figure out my digestive issues... Ugh. I had one scan done last year(?) where they injected me with something so they could see how my liver, pancreas, etc were working. Had to lay still for I think 2 hours but it was kind of cool watching my guts do their thing on the monitor Everything looked normal there so on to the next tests. Eventually. Have to wait for my insurance to re-up since my renewal form got lost in the mail

So basically, I feel ya. It's no fun not knowing why your body can't handle food. I really hope you get answers

Tax:

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Magrat is being picked on. She had a bloody comb (and head) yesterday evening and they're still going at it today. I'll have to spend some time in the cold today pinching necks until they get it— LEAVE HER ALONE!

If you can get some Blue-Kote spray that should work.

In case I owe SHRA

For RC who likes these photos of the chooks playing in the flooded lawn:

 

[Sally PB]

just wish I could have bought a couple Brahma of any type now… maybe in a few years when AI subsides I can get some brought up here.

The TSC near me has chicks! And yes, they have light Brahmas. I thought of you!

Just eyeballing (and I'm really bad at eyeballing measurements so...

If you know how tall you are, that should be very close to what your arm span is, fingertip to fingertip. Unless you're like my husband who has really long arms. I've used that method for estimating measurements.

 

[Sylvester017]

I'm gonna have to make friends w/some children cuz everyone I know my age are dropping off like victims in an Agatha Christie novel ! Mortality is all too real...& then I look at this clown & the world is bright again

 

[RoyalChick]

Braved the roads to head to the feed store. My girls were running low on feed. I had enough for tomorrow, but they are eating like crazy right now out of boredom and severe temps.

To my surprise my feed and hay guy now carries Kalmbach. I have heard rave reviews over this feed, I think maybe several of you on here feed it as well. So, I got to looking and comparing and it looks similar to what I have been feeding. I will not lie, I have picky chickens who really do not prefer pellets, they prefer more whole grain type feeds. I was sold when I saw the Henhouse Reserve layer feed. Added bonus it is 17% protein. I really feel my silkies have looked better overall feather quality wise since I switched to higher protein feed. While talking to my feed guy I told him I am getting ready to set up my breeding pen for the silkies and he showed me another formula. It is the 18% Game Bird Breeder formula. I got a bag as well.

So we will see. I will mix the gamebird food with the henhouse reserve for the silkies once I get their pen set up. Forget building a coop, I am getting a 10x10 covered dog lot and will modify it to my needs. The silkies will only need to be separated from February to August, then they can intermingle again the rest of the year. Price is very comparable to what I was feeding, I only paid $2.00 more for both bags to what I was using. I figure by June I will know if I am happy with Kalmbach or if I want to switch back over.

I have been very happy with the Kalmbach feed. Which reminds me, I am running low!

 

[RoyalChick]

If you can get some Blue-Kote spray that should work.

In case I owe SHRA

For RC who likes these photos of the chooks playing in the flooded lawn:
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I seriously never tire of those pictures. There she is with her pant legs all rolled up!

 

[TOMTE]

If you know how tall you are, that should be very close to what your arm span is, fingertip to fingertip. Unless you're like my husband who has really long arms. I've used that method for estimating measurements.

LOL dad and I were just talking about it... It might be closer to 5'×5' on the inside. I'm 5'2"-ish so now that I think about it... If I laid down straight in there it would be a close fit. I have bad spacial awareness and afantasia (which means I can't picture things in my mind), makes things difficult but I deal

Either way it'll be about twice as big when we wall off the deck.

This is so fun!

 

[SimpleJenn]

Red Green is not considered an education! Just saying

He is in my part of the woods!

 

[SimpleJenn]

LOL dad and I were just talking about it... It might be closer to 5'×5' on the inside. I'm 5'2"-ish so now that I think about it... If I laid down straight in there it would be a close fit. I have bad spacial awareness and afantasia (which means I can't picture things in my mind), makes things difficult but I deal

Either way it'll be about twice as big when we wall off the deck.

This is so fun!

I totally understand being unable to figure out lengths and distances! Hubby got me a very cute tape measure for everyday measuring with the kid. He's hoping it's something I will learn to do by sight, not likely haha.

@RebeccaBoyd I love kalmbach feeds! In fact, it's the only stuff I use haha. I liked the henhouse reserve mixed 50/50 with wild mix birdseed as scratch.

@Ponypoor Your love of brahmas helped me when kiddo asked for Yeti. Hubby says if our coops are big enough for her we might get more. Certainly easier to find in feed stores than cochin.
That said, I need my bowling ball birds. Bantam or standard, doesn't matter. I want the floofypoofies

 

[Ponypoor]

No measurements yet but I did get lots of pics of the playhouse yesterday.

I'll put pics and ideas under a spoiler since there's a bunch.

Spoiler: the playhouse

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The goal is to make this into a two story coop. We'll put walls around the deck to make it the ground floor of the coop. Underneath, we'll fence it up with hardware cloth, and that will be part of the run.

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It is bigger than it looks. Just eyeballing (and I'm really bad at eyeballing measurements so...) maybe 8' by 8'? And the ceiling is tall enough that I can stand up straight in there. Maybe 8' at the roof's highest point. And that's just the main "house" part. Walling off the deck will make it about twice as big.

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The hatch could make a great access door for the chooks to get to the run below during the day. Lots of reinforcements to make though. This playhouse is a favorite of squirrels, chipmunks, mice, and groundhogs. As you can probably tell by all the nut shells laying around and lots of prey means lots of predators sniffing around, too.

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Below on this side, we could make it one big door for cleaning.

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The tree growing through the deck needs to come down if we're going to go through with this. And there's a lot of brush removal and cleaning up to do around the area. So many fallen branches and trees (which is something else to think about— definitely don't want huge branches or trees coming down on the coop and run).

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There are several good spots for nest boxes, roosts, and ventilation. I'm thinking we'll keep the front window, close off the door where a slide used to be attached, and nest boxes will go on one of the sides. Keep one or both of the side windows for summer and make it so we can shut them in winter. More ventilation higher up.

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More pics from inside. The back (last pic) we could leave open. It'll look, feel, and be more roomy. I figure the chooks could use that railing as a roost, maybe (not the only roost, obviously).

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You can't see the deck because it's under a layer of snow and ice (which I tried to clear off with my boots to no avail ) but if you follow the rope you can kind of see the other post which rotted through and broke years ago, and that's the other edge of the deck.

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The swingset portion I think would be perfect to build a run off of, which they'd access from under the playhouse. Plus with another hooman access door, maybe at the A-frame part?

So that's all I've got so far!! Ideas from you all are more than welcome! I'll be sure to bookmark them so I can go back and look when we're really starting the planning process!

Bonus pictures of the teeter totter which has seen better days

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Those are great ideas! Can’t wait to see how it looks when you’re done