Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[ChicoryBlue]

We put thin laminate board up between the conduit after that, and a cage divider in front of the thermostat control. Lol
View attachment 4197429

View attachment 4197430


Also built safety cages around the fans.

View attachment 4197431

View attachment 4197432

That reminds me, I need to take a wire brush and clean the cages again for more airflow.

Nice job repurposing stuff to get the job done, I love it! Great work!

 

[BY Bob]

Good question, got me thinking.

Not bullying by the other Nomads, just enthusiasm, and the approach of a Big, whether to push them or not, even just to go by, frightens them. There’s four Bigs, and one is usually wandering around near where they are. [Edit- this may be because they stick closer to where I am?] When everyone Big and Little is resting and preening they seem fine.

Only four pullets at most fit into the trough feeders at once, and she isn’t motivated to barge in when she’s half-dozing. There are feeders scattered around, but maybe I should double up each trough feeder so there are two in each location? She will stay with the group. So if and when they are done, they move on and she moves with them. The circular chick feeder works reasonably for five.

When Gucci was having her issues I set aside time to feed her alone, away from everyone else. My thought was to get her strong enough that she could mix with everyone else. She never made it there but have you considered making sure she is stuffed every morning and evening? Perhaps that would give her more energy the rest of the day.

 

[ChicoryBlue]

I have tried!
Tassels really is kicking up a storm. I am finding clumps of straw on window sills.
Off out to freshen up water again!

Yep! One chick might be a Buckeye. Digging master class is what she signed up for. Tassels is coming through for her!

The Buckeye chicks here woke me up very early one day when the dirt bath dirt got slammed up through the tent mesh and against the window behind the brooder. Somebody got some altitude with that kick!

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

I needed fresh air for a bit so I walked outside. Mostly I needed to see for myself that Raven's and the silkie's chicks were ok. Both are doing great. They are each a week old now. I am truly amazed with the silkie's and their co-parenting skills. I never would have dreamed I would have 5 momma's successfully raising 1 chick in harmony. They may not be "real chickens", but they truly are something special.

 

[BY Bob]

hi everyone

i am home and finally out of the anesthesia fog. My entire arm feels dead due to a nerve block. Sadly that is starting to wear off in the last 2 hours. I am following the anesthesiologists strict instructions on pain control. i took my first dose at 6. I am to continue taking them every 6 hours until Saturday. Then i take them as needed. He warned me to not delay in taking them even if i was not hurting. if i let the pain set in i will be in a world of trouble. he said if i can keep ahead of it untill saturday then it will be smooth sailing. they do make me a little loopy, but i am sleeping most of the time.

i probably will not be on tomorrow. this typing one handed is for the birds.

Glad you are home safe. Take care of yourself stay dosed, and we can wait to hear from you.

 

[BY Bob]

When I put chicks into the coop/run (segregated in their own part at the beginning), I have a hanging waterer that I use. I put stacked up bricks around it so that they can reach water. As they get bigger, I take out a layer of bricks, until they're gone. Clean waterer, clean water.

Very smart!

 

[Sylvester017]

Well it was going to happen. Tassels is teaching the Littles to be Jungle Fowl.
The hawk is around but this is probably the safest outside place there is.
View attachment 4197586

Same here... every summer we get one of the juvenile Coopers hawks practicing catching House Sparrows in our yard ~ this morning (around 8:30) the Sparrows screamed their alarm & our Silkie hens scattered for cover so fast I couldn't see/find them for about 15 mins!

On its 2nd attempt the hawk dove under the Pomegranate tree thru the lowest thorny branches where I was pruning the tree. It got a Sparrow from the dozens cowering in the tree while my one Dominique hen clung close to my leg (as if I could keep the hawk away from her!). The hawk flew deftly away w/ it's prize Sparrow & 15 mins later all my hens came out of hiding.

Apparently the hawk has hunted around the trees before since I've been finding tiny Sparrow feathers around the trunks. So far these juvenile hawks seem to prefer flying to catch their prey rather than brawling on the ground w/ an equal size hen. Or maybe the Sparrows are easier to snatch... or maybe Sparrows are tastier than chicken?

Our chicken yard Pomegranate trees are thick but it doesn't seem to keep the Sparrows safe from hawks.....

 

[BY Bob]

I have tried!
Tassels really is kicking up a storm. I am finding clumps of straw on window sills.
Off out to freshen up water again!

She's been cooped up. Plus she has to show her babies how a pro does it.

 

[Sylvester017]

New integration pen is here for when we move the chicklets out to the big coop. I will be dividing this group when they go off heat. Anyone with a pompom goes into the run with Riddick, and the rest will be free rangers. I need to repair my coop deck first, it has a fist sized hole that I will put mesh over.
Quartz and Little Dude will be moving out to the coop when the chicklets do.
Tempted to let Periwinkle sit on an egg because she is losing weight being so broody.

My wish is that Periwinkle is worth pampering

 

[bgmathteach]

Don’t have any rafter chickens because I don’t have any rafters. But they sure have found plenty of other high places to roost that they should not. These pics are my first batch of chicks when they got big enough to turn loose in the coop.

You go girls! I love that they found all those high spots - even if they aren't the safest!