Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Ponypoor]

It finally happened!
Yup. Roosting.
Sylvie and Pooh retreated to another roost away from all the fuss.
Calypso stayed on the main roost but as far from Tassels and the Littles as possible.
Piglet stayed in her usual spot.

But not all the Littles roosted.
Who stayed in the box?
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Well it wasn’t Cookie - she seems very snug and happy next to her Mom.
To the right of Mom are Nutmeg and then Geronimo.
And all alone in the cardboard box is Mr. Chips. Poor little guy, all on his lonesome!
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Awwww! But less drama and fuss! I think that’s why Mr LC roosts on the door top, and Clyde hides in a corner roost (it’s a coveted spot but no one kicks him out!).

 

[Ponypoor]

I got a ladder and went up and retrieved it!
Here are Eli and Babs on their first day in quarantine after I brought them home. They were a very generous gift from @bgmathteach.
Eli is the black one at the back.
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And here are the two of them roosting high up in the run.
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And once moved into the coop.
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And here is the egg!
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I still get a kick out of that egg, good thing it didn’t drop all that height!

 

[RoyalChick]

They're getting it. There may be some interesting nights yet. Did Cookie make it in unaided?

Well she made it up the blue steps unaided (she is now a pro at that) but I am away for a few days so they didn’t get to go out of the Chicken Palace complex so her North-South navigation was untested.
When I am back she will get intensive training on that skill!

 

[Ponypoor]

I really, REALLY love apples. I used to do enough orchard work to keep up a supply of free apples for about half the year and now I live somewhere it's really difficult to grow them and only rubbish supermarket apples are available to buy. I'll be looking forward to this but might also hate you a tiny bit

Apples need a good freeze cycle, but there are varieties that do well with minimal or no freeze, I believe @GregnLety has an apple variety that grows in Texas where he resides. A variety like that may do fine where you are.

Which reminds me, I must get some apples for the chooks before they all fall and rot, apple trees grow wild here.

 

[rural mouse]

It never gets old. Thanks for sharing.

The neices are fascinated too. Considering they saw the littles as TINY little fluff balls ("I want to hold one." "Mamas are saying NO"), and are doing some traveling now, I'm really hoping to catch that snow halt reaction.

 

[Ponypoor]

I have glasses. I think @featherhead007 is correct. They go invisible.

Hahahaha - yep I agree with that statement!

 

[RoyalChick]

Apples need a good freeze cycle, but there are varieties that do well with minimal or no freeze, I believe @GregnLety has an apple variety that grows in Texas where he resides. A variety like that may do fine where you are.

Which reminds me, I must get some apples for the chooks before they all fall and rot, apple trees grow wild here.

And reminds me we haven’t seen @GregnLety in quite a while.
Hope they are doing OK.

 

[ChicoryBlue]

Advice on dividing the run and coop placement please? I was thinking of dividing the run fairly evenly in terms of square footage, including each coop's run since they're different.

Goal is to keep Hazel protected with visual blockers and with her BO buddies but inaccessible to Shehnai, but when I'm there I'll let the BO's mix with the Buckeyes if they want.

Made cutouts, note that right now there's no actual division between the main run and the (unfinished) extension run, it's just two cutouts' edges visible. I think I can make the divider from leftover wire mesh.

Also I can move the door to any three-foot section, am thinking of moving it 3' to the north (left).

#1 Original plan, excavated for this. Coops are on the leeward eastern side of the run because of the serious wind from the west, and they're toward the south end because of the low hill and the protection of the run from the winter northwest wind.

#2 Coops near each other. Either near or apart, have to excavate an additional amount.

#3 Coops apart

The gangs yesterday, they are hanging out more or less together (in the cutouts corners over the words "Main").

Shehnai is tall enough he can see over the top some. He knew Hazel was there. Interestingly this didn't bother Hazel much, the perches partially block his view and her view of him.
I hate how long the build is taking, I know the Buckeyes loved those upper perches in the run and they'd like to hang close together. I made improvised perches out there with the chair and a board and cinder blocks. Their food and water is at their feet.

 

[RoyalChick]

Advice on dividing the run and coop placement please? I was thinking of dividing the run fairly evenly in terms of square footage, including each coop's run since they're different.

Goal is to keep Hazel protected with visual blockers and with her BO buddies but inaccessible to Shehnai, but when I'm there I'll let the BO's mix with the Buckeyes if they want.

Made cutouts, note that right now there's no actual division between the main run and the (unfinished) extension run, it's just two cutouts' edges visible. I think I can make the divider from leftover wire mesh.

Also I can move the door to any three-foot section, am thinking of moving it 3' to the north (left).

#1 Original plan, excavated for this. Coops are on the leeward eastern side of the run because of the serious wind from the west, and they're toward the south end because of the low hill and the protection of the run from the winter northwest wind.
View attachment 4233910

#2 Coops near each other. Either near or apart, have to excavate an additional amount.
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#3 Coops apart
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The gangs yesterday, they are hanging out more or less together (in the cutouts corners over the words "Main").
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Shehnai is tall enough he can see over the top some. He knew Hazel was there. Interestingly this didn't bother Hazel much, the perches partially block his view and her view of him.
I hate how long the build is taking, I know the Buckeyes loved those upper perches in the run and they'd like to hang close together. I made improvised perches out there with the chair and a board and cinder blocks. Their food and water is at their feet.
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I am not sure I have internalized all the pros and cons, but my gut says go with the far apart option because you want to create as much separation as possible.
I am still optimistic that with time it will all settle down, but in the meantime giving Hazel as much distance as possible feels like the best thing to do.

 

[rural mouse]

If you went with #3, you would only be moving 1 coop/run, correct? Keep the divider between the main run and the extension and call it good.

Re: Shehnai seeing over the striped barrier....I've heard (but never tested) that deer won't jump over a fence if they can't see the landing. Shehnai may be tall enough to see over it, but it looks like he can't really look DOWN to see the ground right in front of it. If Hazel isn't concerned with him peeking over, I would speculate the stripes are high enough to be working.

I don't know that making the area equal sized is really all that important. You're still working on full integration, right? The extension is supposed to get finished no matter what you do? Move the 1 coop ro open into the main run, finish the extension and keep the door between.