Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Ponypoor]

All great commands. Our most useful training tip was having the pup walk left next to us without it meandering all over the place to suddenly trip over a dog that steps erratically in front of our step. We had Rottweilers & it was crucial not to trip over one of them! Ours trained well enough to walk next to us w/o a leash ~ but in our area it's the law to use leashes but on mtn walks we used no leash.
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The number 1 cause of elderly injuries like broken arms and hips, was tripping over the dog (or cat).

My grandmother trained our menagerie to get the heck out of the way - that came of hers came in handy. Mind you mostly it was me on the receiving end of that cane!

I really feel guilty I never got some hens when my grandma wanted some. She would have loved having them around.

 

[Ponypoor]

I need to train my dogwood! View attachment 4069577

Is it too noisy? It seems to have a bark issue from here.

 

[Ponypoor]

For mugs Monday, I present to you the possible ring leader of this small group of chicks. She makes sure she stays between me and the other chicks if she can, and has even charged my hand. Supposedly they are all female, but she has me wondering.
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They are all taking a nap now. Tomorrow they will go out into the coop brooder, so it will be harder to get photos. I think I will wait until they come out from under the sweeter heater and get a little adventurous before I name them. I have not been able to see distinctive personalities in this first week. Well, except for the aforementioned ring leader. I might just call her bossy. They do all look different. Bossy has more white on her wing, but that will go away with time. The smallest one is nearly all black. And the other one is somewhere between the two in coloring. They are all cute as ever and I will miss having them in here. But I think they will do better if I get them out where there is more space to run and they can see the other chickens. I want them all to be used to each other long before integration.

This is so much easier when a hen does it. Someone on BYC keeps one breed especially for their propensity to raise young, even when they aren't their own. She incubates them and pretty early on puts them in their coop. I'll have to ask again which breed that is, but I think it is silkies. Fascinating idea anyway.
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I popped a lavender Orp and a Marans hybrid under my silkie hen. She is a good mama. And it was hilarious when they were bigger than she was, trying to snuggle under her

Laverne the Orp is twice her size now, and Shirley the Marans (ya she turned out to be a he) is about 4 times her size!

 

[knoturavggrl]

Today is a very sad day. I went out to the coop and found my beautiful Sunny dead on the coop floor under the roost. I bawled like a baby. She wasn't even 2 years old.

Yesterday she was fine, as far as I could tell. I have no idea what happened. I could not bring myself to do a necropsy. Just couldn't. I have her bagged up in the freezer, and I'll bury her in the garden when the ground thaws. I will not throw her away or let the raccoons have her.

She was my lap chicken. (Pip is too, but less so.) Sunny would let me pet her. I petted her when I took out chickie snack yesterday afternoon.

I cried again when I took out chickie snack today, because she wasn't there.

Fly high and free, my beautiful Sunny Girl!
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I am sorry I lost one in much the same way. She seemed perfectly fine the day before and then the next day I went out to top off their water and she had passed, also 2 years old. I couldn’t see or feel anything at all amiss.

Its always so hard and it never does get easier.

 

[knoturavggrl]

A BFTP Mug - Ginger (Wellsummer)

 

[featherhead007]

He isn’t the poison neighbor is he?!

Yes

 

[featherhead007]

Are you lucky enough to have all pullets there?!

 

[featherhead007]

Mugs Monday

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So pretty, I had to look twice!

 

[featherhead007]

I love blue birds period ! Oh, & black, & cuckoo. & splash, & speckled, & laced, & partridge, etc.

Some blue birds we've had:

Blue Ameraucana
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Blue Breda cockerel
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Blue Breda hen
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Blue Breda pullets
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Our Blue Silkie
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Here’s a loaf of Breda:

 

[Sally PB]

Thanks for the condolences, everyone. Calling it a day. It's been a hard one.