Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[drstratton]

Pony Sunday!

My 5yo grandson loves fish. So I told my son to pick out a fish tank. We could put goldfish in it while they are staying with us and then we'll move those out to the wishing well when they head back to their home. This is what he did and I'm afraid it will be left at my house, because I don't know how they will transport it 1700 miles to their house. Sigh.

It is beautiful!

 

[SimpleJenn]

@TOMTE I am so very sorry for your loss. She was a great bird.

If or when you are ready to open your heart to more birds, let me know. I will happily hatch any of my ladies eggs for you, or even raise birds up. Right now I have some cuties that just hit 5 weeks old. I don't want to rush you on any decision, but I know how hard it is to lose a beloved bird.

I worry about dogs all the time, thankfully the resident wandering dog is not a bird hunter, he just comes over to rile up Baxter. And Baxter hasn't gone for any birds (thanks e collar)

 

[TOMTE]

@TOMTE I am so very sorry for your loss. She was a great bird.

If or when you are ready to open your heart to more birds, let me know. I will happily hatch any of my ladies eggs for you, or even raise birds up. Right now I have some cuties that just hit 5 weeks old. I don't want to rush you on any decision, but I know how hard it is to lose a beloved bird.

I worry about dogs all the time, thankfully the resident wandering dog is not a bird hunter, he just comes over to rile up Baxter. And Baxter hasn't gone for any birds (thanks e collar)

Thank you Jenn, you're so sweet I'll definitely let you know when we're ready for more chickies.

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

For Pony Sunday I'll also add these 2 pictures.
Taking pictures is hard. To get one without a flash I had to be on the opposite side of the room and zoom in. Getting a picture of the shrimp, ha, this one I was trying to do just that. Look down under the fish, best shrimp picture I got and that is one of my orange ones. It does show just how little those ember tetra's are though and they will not get bigger.

And one of my 3 embers. I had never heard of these little guys before. I always tried neons, and failed every single time. Neons are beautiful, but so fragile. A month has been the longest I have ever managed to keep them alive. These embers, I'm loving them.

I love my plant, but what I do not love is the algae. Sadly light requirements for the plant means I'm dealing with it. The snails are doing their best and do eat it, it is just too much for them. I also see the shrimp eating it at times as well. So, I scrub the front and one side every other day. I leave the back wall and the black wall alone for the shrimps and snails.

I have been stalking the tank right now. I read up on the breeding cycle of them when I noticed my ghostie was berried. I found out it takes 14 days for those eggs to hatch if they are fertilized. From what I could tell going by pictures her eggs were fertilized. I also found out that the female will molt about 2 days before laying her eggs. I do know one of the ghostie's had molted because Rosie spotted the exoskeleton and came to me crying one of her shrimp had died. I do not remember the exact day that happened. In the future if we find one I will mark it down to have a good idea when to start looking to see if any have became berried. We should be close though to hatching. Both of my berried girls have taken over that green plastic ball. They will probably release their shrimplets inside it. I hope so as that will give them the best chance at survival. The little ones will not be able to swim for a week and then only swim backwards. If any make it It will be about 2 weeks in before I will be able to look and see tiny replica's of their parents. Their food source will actually be the algae that grows on the plants leaves and elsewhere. That is another reason I am not scrubbing the entire tank to get rid of algae or the driftwood which is another favorite spot for the shrimp. The snails will not bother the baby shrimp. The tetra's might when they are super small and not able to swim properly. Best case scenario, 1 or 2 survive each breeding cycle which is about 45 to 50 days.

I do need more shrimp though. To have a healthy stable breeding colony I was told I need at least 10, but more was better. I'm sitting at 9. I want more, and can house more. I'd like to end up with a minimum of 15 adult shrimp.

Rosie is just wanting her snails to breed. I told her be careful what she wishes for because eventually when they start they will not stop and we will have snails everywhere. I just got a "so" from that comment.

 

[RoyalChick]

For Pony Sunday I'll also add these 2 pictures.
Taking pictures is hard. To get one without a flash I had to be on the opposite side of the room and zoom in. Getting a picture of the shrimp, ha, this one I was trying to do just that. Look down under the fish, best shrimp picture I got and that is one of my orange ones. It does show just how little those ember tetra's are though and they will not get bigger.
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And one of my 3 embers. I had never heard of these little guys before. I always tried neons, and failed every single time. Neons are beautiful, but so fragile. A month has been the longest I have ever managed to keep them alive. These embers, I'm loving them.
View attachment 4208699

I love my plant, but what I do not love is the algae. Sadly light requirements for the plant means I'm dealing with it. The snails are doing their best and do eat it, it is just too much for them. I also see the shrimp eating it at times as well. So, I scrub the front and one side every other day. I leave the back wall and the black wall alone for the shrimps and snails.

I have been stalking the tank right now. I read up on the breeding cycle of them when I noticed my ghostie was berried. I found out it takes 14 days for those eggs to hatch if they are fertilized. From what I could tell going by pictures her eggs were fertilized. I also found out that the female will molt about 2 days before laying her eggs. I do know one of the ghostie's had molted because Rosie spotted the exoskeleton and came to me crying one of her shrimp had died. I do not remember the exact day that happened. In the future if we find one I will mark it down to have a good idea when to start looking to see if any have became berried. We should be close though to hatching. Both of my berried girls have taken over that green plastic ball. They will probably release their shrimplets inside it. I hope so as that will give them the best chance at survival. The little ones will not be able to swim for a week and then only swim backwards. If any make it It will be about 2 weeks in before I will be able to look and see tiny replica's of their parents. Their food source will actually be the algae that grows on the plants leaves and elsewhere. That is another reason I am not scrubbing the entire tank to get rid of algae or the driftwood which is another favorite spot for the shrimp. The snails will not bother the baby shrimp. The tetra's might when they are super small and not able to swim properly. Best case scenario, 1 or 2 survive each breeding cycle which is about 45 to 50 days.

I do need more shrimp though. To have a healthy stable breeding colony I was told I need at least 10, but more was better. I'm sitting at 9. I want more, and can house more. I'd like to end up with a minimum of 15 adult shrimp.

Rosie is just wanting her snails to breed. I told her be careful what she wishes for because eventually when they start they will not stop and we will have snails everywhere. I just got a "so" from that comment.

So interesting - I know nothing about this little world at all!

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

So interesting - I know nothing about this little world at all!

I've always enjoyed fish tanks. I always specialized in the boring to some livebearer tanks. My favorite fish are swordtails, followed closely by black mollies. Give me a 30 gallon, and about 6 months and it will be stunning. I had ghost shrimp in the past and like them. I also had them breeding but it was by accident. This was about 20 years ago. Before Rosie and before having access to petco and only relying on wal-mart as my fish and fishkeeping source. This is my first attempt with plants and it is a experiment. Lighting is tricky with them and key. I went with a "easy" plant that is very beginner friendly. It has doubled in size. I really need to trim it up and replant it. It's rooted everywhere and I could easily turn that one plant into about 5 smaller ones. I think I will attempt that next month. I'm eyeing my future tank at petco. A 30 gallon cube. That and it's stand are pricey. One of the employee's told me that tanks go on sale in November as part of their Black Friday deals. I have it's home picked out as well. The key with aquariums is patience. You have to resist setting one up and then the next day or even week for that matter adding fish. The tank needs to cycle which can take about a month. Now, I can add filter media from Rosie's tank to kick start the process.

When I get my new tank, the first month it will remain empty. I will add cuttings off my current plant and get a couple more. 2 weeks in I could add a snail or two and maybe a few shrimp as they do not produce enough waste to crash it. After a month I can slowly add fish, just a few at a time. First round of fish would be either 3 swords or 3 mollies. 1 male and 2 females of each. I could get away with 3 females of each as any female livebearer you buy is pretty much a given to be pregnant. I will go 2 weeks in between groups of fish. Then I need to decide if I want to add cory cats again they would be next, followed by I think more Ember tetras. I love those little guys. After that stop and wait. The fish will breed and at 6 months be glorious.

 

[Sylvester017]

Like Alice. Thank you

Her spelling was unique so I kept calling her Uh-LEES in my mind (which I thought was a pretty pronunciation too). Sucks to lose a girl. I don't hurt so much if a hen has a long life but we lost too many that were under 3 yrs old ~ heatstroke, Mareks, illness, disabilities/handicaps, chick mortality. Every loss is a stab in the heart

 

[ChicoryBlue]

I’m having a really rough week. Spent several hours at the ER Tuesday night and then again on Wednesday. Thought I might have another DVT Tuesday but tests were negative. Wednesday had cardiac symptoms but all those tests were normal range. Still having numbness/tingling/burning pain in both hands and forearms, which has started shooting all the way up behind my shoulder blade on the right side. It was bad enough when I was at the hospital they gave me morphine and a muscle relaxer.

Seeing a cardiologist on Tuesday to make sure they can’t find anything wrong, and a neurosurgeon on Friday. Then my PCP the Tuesday after that.

Can barely sleep. Not even taking 10mg Hydrocodone. Really hope they figure something out soon.

Falling apart in my old age tax, including a fluffy butt.
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No fever then? Scans? Hope you get it figured out!

 

[TX Chick Noob]

Oy vey... Well... Let's see if I can hold myself together.

About an hour ago Aliss fell asleep. Within minutes she was gone. I don't know what happened. She was doing so well today. I was about to give her a piece of my dinner and she was just lying there, her comb was starting to turn pale, she was still warm. She must have just passed. I held her and rocked her and kissed her over and over and cried. I had to bury her by myself, my dad is sleeping. I'm just stunned, and my heart is broken. I don't know what happened. I'm just glad she went in her sleep. I hope she wasn't in pain. And I'm happy her last day was good. I'm just so... More than sad. I don't know how else to put it, just heartbroken. I didn't expect it. I didn't think it would hit me so hard.

I am so very egg sorry for your loss. She was a beautiful girl. You did your very best for her, and I honestly believe she was not in any pain when she passed thanks to you.
Let us know how it goes with the dog owner

Oh how cute.

First off, any intrusive thoughts you have saying they are all cockerels, get rid of them. Those are girls, and will remain girls until proven otherwise.

Now that that first bit is out of the way, congrats you have 2 buffs there. The paler one solid buff no questions. The darker of the two yellow chicks, maybe buff partridge. I can maybe make out stripes on it. If it is a buff partridge I want to steal it. You do realize you have a future stunning chicken. Chiquita was a buff partridge and here she is in all her glory.
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The final chick is clearly a partridge. I'm going to be honest I've never had any of mine hatch out that shade though. The next 2 months will be a guessing game on what type of partridge will it be. It looks chocolatey.

Congrats on the 3 lovely little Pullets. Congrats again on getting your wish for a buff silkie, you have 2. I am sorry that all the polish eggs did not make it, I wish you had gotten at least 1. You will have to keep those little girls, you know that right?

When I got my silkie chicks back in April, I was sooooo hopeful that at least one of them was a buff. Here is a pic of them then, and some just a few weeks later…

But they have all turned out to be white. Although at times I feel they are just a touch more ivory than white.

 

[TX Chick Noob]

No fever then? Scans? Hope you get it figured out!

Temperature was normal. I really wish I had pressed to Xray and MRI while I was at the ER. But it was late, and the ducks/chickens were still out for the second night in a row. There is a very slim chance of anything happening between the way we have things set up and the dog patrolling part of the way around. But still makes me nervous. Which means now I have to wait until my consult with the neurosurgeon’s assistant on Friday to get scans ordered. So wit will be at least a week or two after that before I have any results.

And I am supposed to fly to Pittsburgh for work in three weeks.