Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[BY Bob]

Molters

I thought Sydney had started molting again. Aurora is definitely molting as well.

I fixed up the sides of the high roost for them today.

 

[Kris5902]

Not having a good day here.
Mel got attacked by a Goshawk. She was either lucky, smart of fast. She's been attacked before. She's Treacles mum and I've posted about her defending Treacle when he was a chick from the Goshawk before.
Difficult to get decent pictures one handed and close up.
She has one puncture and rip on her left side which is the worst of the injuries. The puncture is quite deep; the rip nothing major. On the other side she has a short rip but I can't see a puncture as such. A couple of bald patches under her right wing which while not pleasant aren't serious.
I've cleaned her with sterile water and sprayed Chlorhexedine into the wounds while holding them open. I've also given her a half dose of Metacam. Not much else one can do with these types of wounds. She looks particularly distressed because she's moulting. This hasn't helped reduce the damage, or her ability to escape so she's done well.
To add to it all, Hurry is limping. I assume she pulled something in the panic when the strike happened. I did get a brief look at her but she worked her way deep into the bamboo so I can't inspect her properly until she comes out.
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Poor baby! Too bad you can’t shoot the goshawks... she looks amazingly good considering. I am amazed at how well you and the flock handle that predator pressures.

 

[Ribh]

Not having a good day here.
Mel got attacked by a Goshawk. She was either lucky, smart of fast. She's been attacked before. She's Treacles mum and I've posted about her defending Treacle when he was a chick from the Goshawk before.
Difficult to get decent pictures one handed and close up.
She has one puncture and rip on her left side which is the worst of the injuries. The puncture is quite deep; the rip nothing major. On the other side she has a short rip but I can't see a puncture as such. A couple of bald patches under her right wing which while not pleasant aren't serious.
I've cleaned her with sterile water and sprayed Chlorhexedine into the wounds while holding them open. I've also given her a half dose of Metacam. Not much else one can do with these types of wounds. She looks particularly distressed because she's moulting. This hasn't helped reduce the damage, or her ability to escape so she's done well.
To add to it all, Hurry is limping. I assume she pulled something in the panic when the strike happened. I did get a brief look at her but she worked her way deep into the bamboo so I can't inspect her properly until she comes out.
View attachment 2418271View attachment 2418272View attachment 2418273

I'm so sorry, Shad. I know these things happen with your set up but It's still distressing. She's done well to get away. I've read backwards [sorry, Bob, I know that distresses you] so I'm relieved she's doing ok.

 

[Kris5902]

I didn't see the attack and I don't know how he broke his spur. The most likely explanation is he broke it getting into the bamboo.
I'm going to sound a bit silly now but I can sense when there is a problem. That doesn't mean I know what the problem is.
There are changes in the sounds here.
There is almost always some creature noise. It was dead quiet.
Islay, one of the dogs was outside. She tries despite the hinderences from the main house.
I couldn't see a single chicken.

I start hunting then and don't stop until I've found every chicken. All Tribe 1 were in the bamboo and I could see Mel and what caught my eye was her foot was covered in blood. I crawled into the bamboo and eased her out.

I don’t think anyone here finds that odd or strange in the slightest. You are constantly aware of your flocks and living in such close connection to your surroundings makes you hyper aware of the little changes. Being out in the countryside makes it that much more acute. My sense of smell and hearing have improved vastly since I moved out of the city.

 

[Ribh]

I didn't see the attack and I don't know how he broke his spur. The most likely explanation is he broke it getting into the bamboo.
I'm going to sound a bit silly now but I can sense when there is a problem. That doesn't mean I know what the problem is.
There are changes in the sounds here.
There is almost always some creature noise. It was dead quiet.
Islay, one of the dogs was outside. She tries despite the hinderences from the main house.
I couldn't see a single chicken.

I start hunting then and don't stop until I've found every chicken. All Tribe 1 were in the bamboo and I could see Mel and what caught my eye was her foot was covered in blood. I crawled into the bamboo and eased her out.

Not silly @ all. There are subtle changes when something is going down & I always head out to check too.

 

[Kris5902]

Chicken Tax catchup time... hopefully

 

[Ribh]

Two fluffy butts & a pissed off broodie for Fluffy Butt Friday.

 

[Kris5902]

Slow going....

and the picture quality sucks if I choose a smaller download size... I will try again when I find WiFi on our delivery route. Anyway enjoy these two Sapphire Marans ladies, Oddball (the grey) and one of the Gopala girls, also my attempted blurry contribution to Fluffy Butt Friday...

 

[Kris5902]

Yes, Oddball is molting! And her name comes from her eggs which are green and always an odd shape, with a weird fat band like they have been squashed at some point. They are 1/4 White Leghorn, 1/4 Crested cream Legbar, and 1/2 Black Copper Marans

 

[Kris5902]

Two fluffy butts & a pissed off broodie for Fluffy Butt Friday.
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I’m not sure what is more shocking... the size difference or the look on Lavender’s face! That is one grumpy chicken...