Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[BY Bob]

And how, pray, did they get the door open?

The french doors that lead to the deck are not latching as they should. If you do not swing the door hard or press them shut, they drift quietly open about the width of hen. I was rushing and did not press the door closed. It drifted opened and in they came. The whole thing was so quiet I almost missed them. That's how they got so far into the house.

By the way, the cats were gone. I have no idea where they were hiding.

 

[MaryJanet]

Painless Roosting

Second night in a row with no problems. Perhaps the fuss is over.

I also finally went out and got that silly piece of straw off of the camera.
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Straw! That's what that thing was... I could not figure it out! Fingers crossed their peaceful bedtimes become a habit

And following up on chickens being where they ought not to be... in some stretches, the chicken yard fence is repurposed puppy play pen panels. Between two of these panels, I set up a little gate for myself, which is held shut with a peg from the clothesline. This was a perfect system until Saturday when I went out after breakfast to discover Sandy and Mary wandering around OUTSIDE the chicken yard with the gate standing open! I ran and got some lettuce and of course they came sprinting and followed me back into the yard. Crisis easily averted.

It turned out Blossom had opened the gate and was rolling around on her back in the sun, blissfully unaware of having released the chooks. The 'gate' is now held shut with a carabiner which allows room for Blossom to squeeze through but it doesn't let the gate hang open for chooky escapes.

Cheeky rascals...

 

[Shadrach]

Mine did not wait today. They came into the big coop and were headed for the living room when I cut them off!

They are getting fearless!

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You haven't fallen prey to the open door policy have you Bob. You'll have problems getting the poop of that carpet!

 

[BY Bob]

You haven't fallen prey to the open door policy have you Bob. You'll have problems getting the poop of that carpet!

I am desperately trying to avoid it but Iam concerned about what my wife is doing when I'm not home. They acted like it was no big deal yesterday.

As far as the poo goes, if I had a dog to eat it that would be an easy clean up.

[Every house chicken thread I see mentions dogs cleaning up.]

Unfortunately I have scardy cats.

 

[CrazyChookChookLady]

Cob Webs

It had been so long since I have gotten eggs the are now cob webs in my nesting boxes.

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Hey @BY Bob I got 2 eggs tonight!!! Maybe your drought will end soon too. I got 2 nice sized white eggs from my leghorn crosses.

Of course one of those ladies decided to sneak outside this morning, not sure how, but she was one the wrong side of the fence. Thankfully she was reasonably easy to catch. My 3 are flighty little things.

 

[Shadrach]

Go on, blame the wife.
It's been a point of constant amazement just how readily the chickens here take to being in the house. I have to keep repeating this, but I have never enticed them in; they just decided it was a safe place and that was it. Tribe 1 wanders in and out at will. Tribe 3 will come in if Tribe 1 isn't in the locality. Tribe 2 rarely enter the house but will congregate just outside. Tribe 4 when it was a full tribe came in occasionally.
The dogs do not come into the house. I have had a donkey arrive and investigate.
The ducks have been in a couple of times. One day Solomon followed the chickens in and a few days later brought Jenny down to have a look.
I get wild birds in here most days after the chicken food probably although a pair of Robins have taked to perching on one of the shelves for a while.

 

[BY Bob]

Hey @BY Bob I got 2 eggs tonight!!! Maybe your drought will end soon too. I got 2 nice sized white eggs from my leghorn crosses.

Of course one of those ladies decided to sneak outside this morning, not sure how, but she was one the wrong side of the fence. Thankfully she was reasonably easy to catch. My 3 are flighty little things.

That is so exciting. It would have to come from Lilly as everyone else is still molting. Unfortunately I don't think Lilly has laid in the winter for a couple years. She's getting up there in years. But stranger things have happened. Maybe I'll get lucky.

Thanks for the good thoughts.

 

[Shadrach]

Peoples reaction to seeing pictures and reading tales of the chickens in my house is interesting.
If for example I was to post a picture of the chickens in the sheep shed and talk about a semi feral flock no one would bat an eyelid. Same applies to the donkey shed. The chickens will hang out in both of these. Because my house is a human habitation peoples perception is different.
Here where I live until very recently people who kept semi feral flocks had chickens wandering in and out of their houses.

 

[BY Bob]

Go on, blame the wife.
It's been a point of constant amazement just how readily the chickens here take to being in the house. I have to keep repeating this, but I have never enticed them in; they just decided it was a safe place and that was it. Tribe 1 wanders in and out at will. Tribe 3 will come in if Tribe 1 isn't in the locality. Tribe 2 rarely enter the house but will congregate just outside. Tribe 4 when it was a full tribe came in occasionally.
The dogs do not come into the house. I have had a donkey arrive and investigate.
The ducks have been in a couple of times. One day Solomon followed the chickens in and a few days later brought Jenny down to have a look.
I get wild birds in here most days after the chicken food probably although a pair of Robins have taked to perching on one of the shelves for a while.

The ladies do like to congregate by the French doors. I think there are a few main reasons.

1. Wind Break: the house and the fence block of the northwest wind which is our primary source of wind.
2. Heat: The house does bleed some heat. It is warmer next to the house
3. Rain Protection: the is a small overhang that keeps the rain from the door
4. Human TV: sometimes I think they like watching us as we watch them.
5. Food: that is where the interesting food comes from

 

[Kris5902]

Hey @BY Bob I got 2 eggs tonight!!! Maybe your drought will end soon too. I got 2 nice sized white eggs from my leghorn crosses.

Of course one of those ladies decided to sneak outside this morning, not sure how, but she was one the wrong side of the fence. Thankfully she was reasonably easy to catch. My 3 are flighty little things.

Leghorn crosses... I would be willing to bet she flew out while you weren’t looking! Sammy managed to fly out of my barn through the open gable end an easy 20’ high (though I’m thinking he probably cheated a little and used some haybales inside to get a bit higher for the initial escape)