Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Sylvester017]

We have mice, but thankfully we've never had any rats.

Mice, rats, squirrels, rabbits, gophers, etc... all the same pest in my mind. My folks had gophers on the farm & they are just as annoying as any above-ground rodents. Lots of cats in our neighborhood & we don't mind

 

[Grandma The Chicken]

Mice, rats, squirrels, rabbits, gophers, etc... all the same pest in my mind. My folks had gophers on the farm & they are just as annoying as any above-ground rodents. Lots of cats in our neighborhood & we don't mind

This may seem off-topic, but in my neighborhood, there are skunks lurking around, especially at night. So we make sure the coop is secured so they don't slip in but regardless, they find a way in. Luckily, our chickens haven't been hurt. We also have stray cats in the neighborhood and they seem to go on neighbor's yards, especially ours.

 

[Ikslo]

Love that chocolate color. Marans?

Either my black Marans or one of the Barnevelders, maybe?

 

[Grandma The Chicken]

Twofer Tuesday
I don't know if I showed this yet. Yes? No? Well, I'm going to show it anyways.

 

[rural mouse]

So bantam explains that she is small?
The Meyers website says ‘medium sized chicken’ with hens weighing 3.5-5 lb. That isn’t bantam sized. My Legbar ladies are that sort of size.

I just looked up Mottled Houdan - she looks just like those - but with very feathered legs!

Size wise, houdans are 6.5-8 lbs (hen-roo). I think the bantam crossed with that would put the size about the same. The white skin fits with the houdan too. I don't know what the mottled cochin has (or egg color), but if I could set up another coop (with a run), I'd have to try the mottled cochin x houdan just to see if it comes out like the CNCs.

 

[Sylvester017]

Booties … and pantaloons! It is quite ridiculous - there is a leg in there somewhere.
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And here we have Bucky with her orange legs.
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Someone must've crossed Bucky's mom w/ a salmon-legged Mourning Dove ~ just kidding!! Our Mourning Doves are a very soft taupe color & then they have the brightest salmon legs!

 

[rural mouse]

I wonder what crossbreed was used to make a Noirans... especially since there doesn't seem to show any Copper hackles... a black Australorp maybe which would definitely increase egg production? I love the tints that glisten on black feathers

Not a bad thought.....maybe with a black cochin to keep the foot feathers crossed in too, but the australorp would push the black feathers and the egg production.

 

[rural mouse]

FIL came by tonight with his kennel. We decided next week on moving chicks due to hunting schedules. Kennel is staying here until then. While he was here watching chicks, this happened.

That is the pullet I've found running around the yard when I've gone to OPEN the coop the last 3 mornings.

Last night, Cheetah kept hanging out and twittering at me. I told him to show me where she was. He led me all over the yard. I kept shining a flashlight around, including up into trees.....no dice.

Watching her jump/fly neatly up into the tree was a thing of beauty....and then she vanished. Guess I'm going to be back out there tomorrow night trying to figure out where she's disappearing.

She's the dainty black in the middle, next to the "headless" blue.

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

I love the gentle nature of true bantams. There are some beauties in d'Uccles & Seramas! Wish we could've had a variety of them ... but Silkies won out here cuz they don't fly out of our yard, easy to pick up, & have the largest bantam egg size as a bonus. There are different shades of color too ~ these are Silkie eggs from all 5 of our Silkies. Our one old standard Dominique no longer lays.
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I've admired D'uccles for awhile now. Millie Fleur D'uccles have always been on my wish list. Serama's they are just too cute for their own good. Their squeaky little crows, yes I can imagine a coop full of serama roos.

That said, I LOVE my big girls. Marans, Orps, Barred Rocks, Sussex, Brahma and their mixes, I've loved each and every one of them. I even love the cochin ladies when they are not egg eating. They have behaved this summer, I have not had to threaten them once with being turned into chicken and dumplings and it's about time. As a whole though, they have not taken to confinement as well as the silkies. It has gotten better now that I am able to sit out with them for a hour to let them stretch their legs. I'm on guard though, constantly on edge and doing head counts. I cannot relax and enjoy watching them like I used to. 3 of my big girls are perfectly happy though no longer free ranging. Oddly enough it is the Cochins and Mrs. E the biggest of the ladies.

If I'm being brutally honest, right now I can only relax and breath and just enjoy being with the chickens when I'm in the silkie coop. Happy little chickens, making happy chicken noises and not trying to make a great escape and make me feel guilty for not letting them out.

 

[drstratton]

Either my black Marans or one of the Barnevelders, maybe?

It's lovely!