Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Ponypoor]

Not sure if it’s my teeth or ear rings she is eyeing!

OR MAYBE SHE'S EYEING YOUR EYES !! Is she not the Mr P pecker?

Hahaha oh ya she is the devil child, an Mr P adores her.

I keep a good “eye” on them so they don’t go for my eyes!

But yep she’s a brat

 

[Ponypoor]

Pony Sunday
The peach trees are full of fruit - still about 3 weeks away from being ripe.
Somehow this is not a timetable that the wildlife are sticking to.
This guy looks like he will choke eating the peach whole.
View attachment 4203240

The squirrels have eaten every single one of the nectarines.

Even Tassels and the Littles are getting in on the peach-fest.
View attachment 4203243

And then there is this guy. The camera is mounted on the Chicken Palace under the roof overhang. He did a bit of a number on the electric fence but everyone is safe.

Did you have the fence plugged in when he was there? The zap should keep him away.

In camp we would use those plastic fence rods for electric twine and have about 4 strands of it - ZAP! Keeps black and grizzly away.

I would not have though you would get bears there, is this common? There have been non here this year.

 

[Ponypoor]

The bear looks small (is it just an optical illusion with the camera & angle?). I was thinking we should see mom (and quite possibly siblings)...I know that isn't what you want, of course, but one that small should have a mom around.

I was thinking a 2 yr old - still small but weaned and learning about life as a bear.

Leave you windows up on your vehicle and don’t leave any food or stuff that smells in your vehicle. They are worse than raccoons!!!

 

[Ponypoor]

Pony Sunday
The peach trees are full of fruit - still about 3 weeks away from being ripe.
Somehow this is not a timetable that the wildlife are sticking to.
This guy looks like he will choke eating the peach whole.
View attachment 4203240

The squirrels have eaten every single one of the nectarines.

Even Tassels and the Littles are getting in on the peach-fest.
View attachment 4203243

And then there is this guy. The camera is mounted on the Chicken Palace under the roof overhang. He did a bit of a number on the electric fence but everyone is safe.

My Asian Pear trees are loaded, the one is ripe, the other is about a couple weeks away.

I only have about a dozen peaches on my tree, and they are not ripe either. I say a couple weeks. I picked one and put it in the kitchen window to see if it would ripen. I think Sylvester017 told me last year about letting them ripen off the tree.

The horses and chooks are enjoying the pears - seems Truly can reach the one tree over the fence, and when she pulls the branchs the pears fall to the ground in the paddock and out where the chooks are. Brats all of them! Brats!

But I am glad they are enjoying the fruits of my labours

 

[RoyalChick]

Did you have the fence plugged in when he was there? The zap should keep him away.

In camp we would use those plastic fence rods for electric twine and have about 4 strands of it - ZAP! Keeps black and grizzly away.

I would not have though you would get bears there, is this common? There have been non here this year.

The fence was off because I have been clearing the weeds from it. He tore one section of it but I can repair it I think.
I don’t see bears every year but maybe every 2-3 years I either see a bear or see signs a bear came by.

 

[bgmathteach]

This is Bucky. She seems to have spots too.
I give up!
View attachment 4203292

Well, she was just making sure you 'spotted' her.

Don't 'give up' just enjoy - she is a pretty chickie, after all!

 

[RoyalChick]

Well, she was just making sure you 'spotted' her.

Don't 'give up' just enjoy - she is a pretty chickie, after all!

Oh I love her. I love them all. I just mean I give up on whether she is really a Buckeye and whether I am right about the breeds I believe I have.
You know I don’t care what they are because they are all just adorable chicks that will hopefully become pretty chickens. But I do think one is a Speckled Sussex and so am on the lookout for speckles!

 

[featherhead007]

She was hoping to be going to Alex's ( @featherhead007 ) place!

Not on one leg she won’t!

 

[featherhead007]

Hope you are ok and feel better soon!!

Feeling a bit better lately. I honestly thought I was going to die. No eating and no sleep, makes a poor combination.

 

[TX Chick Noob]

So, those of you with Duck experience, I may be calling on you for advice.

I got a phone call this evening. My boss has a orphaned baby duck. She claims her hubby had spotted this duckling a few days ago at the lake with no momma and siblings around. He went back daily and kept finding it alone. Today he brought it home. It is currently in a cat carrier with food and water and a hay bed. At first I was asked would it be ok if she turned it loose in her chicken coop, would her chickens be mean to it? I cannot answer that over the phone. I was then asked did I think it would do ok here in one of my coops if she brought it to me. Uhh, not tonight. My one coop is a no go with the big girls I do know this. My only option would be the silkie coop. My silkies are psycho's at the moment protecting that little silkie chick. Even if they did tolerate it in the coop, is a week old duckling big enough to survive without a heat lamp? I mean, temps are in the high 80s to 90s right now in the daytime and staying mid 70's at night. It would wreck the water's making them nasty. With a tiny chick I could not leave a swimming container in there with it. I would have to fill one daily and sit and supervise and then empty it. I cannot use the excuse though I do not have the time to raise a duck, time is all I have right now. I do not want to keep a duck though, ducks are messy. I will also probably fall for said duck if I took it on. Maybe it could work if she loaned me the cat carrier as well so I could isolate it at night and give it a nest so it stayed warm. Also, do ducklings require different feed then chick starter or my henhouse reserve? We had ducks 23 years ago, I do not remember what we used to feed them back then. I do remember they were MESSY.

I'm tagging along with mom to work tomorrow. I'm doing absolutely nothing but sitting and talking to people. I'm also planning on heading up to my boss's house for a few hours in the afternoon. She has horses to love on, goats, chickens, including several she has gotten from me that I need to visit. And now a baby duck. I've thought about it some and at this point it is 50/50 on whether or not I will soon have a baby duck. Temporarily, Ducky can go home to her when it is big enough if I take it.

Yes, ducks are very messy & like to play with their water. No, the baby duck can not go without heat overnight with the temps you have stated - at least for now. They grow like weeds! Ducks grow very fast, and need extra Vit. Bs (niacin in particular). Depending on who you speak with whether chick starter has enough for ducklings. I supplement chick starter by adding brewers yeast and have had very good luck with that.

Ducks do do well with nipple waterers...but they DO need deep enough water to clear their nares...and they also really, really enjoy playing with the water - I hate to deny them of that. That said, having water for a period of time that they can play in/deep water to drink for a period of time. They really do need access to some sort of water all the time, though, as they should drink while eating.

So.....you could possibly have it in a pen within the silky coop, bring in at night for heat/heat plate...and bring it back out i a small sectioned off area with deep water & a small nipple waterer for when the dish of water isn't available (by 'deep', I mean deep enough to cover their nares when they dip their beak in)

Ducklings are ABSOLUTELY adorable, and...I don't know if it is too old for this now or not....but bond even more strongly than chicks. Mine just love to be held...and nibble away at me when I pick them up. They RUN to the side of the pen or mesh coop whenever they see me......talk about warming your heart. They will be a very loving pet if you decide to raise it......

saw the duckling, I did not bring it home. I'm not sure how old it is but it is over twice the size of my silkie chick who is almost 2 weeks old. I will not risk the safety of it. Betty has already modified a section of her coop for the duck. It has a rubber feed bin to use as a pool. She installed a heat light for it to keep it warm. It also had already trashed it's pool and it's section of the pen and needed cleaning twice by the afternoon. I physically cannot take on cleaning after a duckling right now. I will visit Howard the duck.

I hope they can get a friend for the duck. Do you have any idea what breed it is? Some ducks are illegal to possess unless marked that they were bred in captivity.
@bgmathteach You have mother ducks, right? The reason I ask is because I learned that if you don’t have a mother duck to waterproof the ducklings, they should get very limited swimming time until they are 5-6 weeks old. Otherwise they can get waterlogged and drown or catch a chill. Because their oil glands aren’t developed yet. It is recommended to make sure their swimming water is warm, not leave them in too long or unsupervised, and dry them off afterwards making sure they have a warm brooder waiting.

Ours have gotten really big, they are almost 20 weeks old. Two will now charge up to eat from our hand, including the drake. The other two are more hesitant but will sometimes snatch a few BSFL from our hands. They love getting time out in the garden to hunt bugs (it is almost totally overgrown now, lol.

I know right?!

You need a wee bantam Cochin, you can name her Jaffarra (yes there can be two with the same name). I don’t see bantam Cochin around here. Wonder if there are any breeders around…?

My little “bell bottoms” are getting really beautiful. This picture doesn’t even begin to do their feet justice.