Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[BY Bob]

HEROES
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BlackJack, Screamer, Dotty, and Ghast were facing off with a hawk. As soon as I stepped onto the porch it took off.
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The other boys hid the rest of the birds in safety. Owl...tried. I will put a hawk shelter over there.

Nicely done lafies and gentlemen!

 

[BY Bob]

Hope she improves.
One handy tip for giving oil to help get a stuck crop unplugged is to use coconut oil. You can put tiny pieces in the freezer and it freezes solid so can be popped down the chicken’s gullet just like a pill. It melts back into oil with their body heat.

Coconut oil is perfect used like that. Great suggestion.

 

[rural mouse]

No Respect at All

So I moved the heater from in front of the roost to into the nest box so Niamh would have warmth tonight.

What does she do?
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I get less than Zero cooperation. I am the Rodney Dangerfield of chicken servants.

It's a sign she feels fine. I'd be more concerned if she stayed in front of it.

 

[Sylvester017]

My giant pet Cornish Cross named "Chunky" in her impact crate
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Last time I weighed her (which was probably a month ago) she weighed 16 pounds!!

Wow! that is one big pullet. How did you decide to get a C-Cross since they are known to have a lot of health issues? We lost a heavy Silkie last week ~ 5 yrs old.

Chunky is cute though. Does she walk ok?

 

[Sylvester017]

I found out why I haven’t found any eggs lately.
Elsa has been eating them. She eats her own, and any she can find. She’s a monster and she will not relent! I caught her trying to peck at a light bulb in my room just now.

So sad she's an egg eater! But on a brighter side that's less possible new chicks to deal with?

 

[Sylvester017]

I hope her advice works better than buying a roll out nesting box at $400 bucks

How many roll out boxes do you need? On Amazon they aren't that expensive... but then I have no idea what models you're looking at?

 

[Sylvester017]

No. But Josephine made me say that.

They've pooped on plenty of things. My keyboards (the worst so far), an iPad, my desk, dressers, my favorite pants, my laptop (thankfully just the palmrest), cardboard boxes, EVERYTHING.

My sister's pet doves are worse. They poop everywhere because they FLY.

I tried taping Saran Wrap over my laptop keyboard but it turned out too flimsy ripping. So I switched to the thicker clear plastic off an Amazon clothing order, cut it to size, & taped it over the laptop keyboard. I've been typing over the plastic covered keyboard several months & it holds up way better than Saran Wrap! Saves the keyboard from dirt, grime, spills, or poop!

An old pic 2017 ~ when I used plastic over my laptop. Chicks liked the warm keyboard.

 

[Sylvester017]

Hi Bob, yes that's what it is. Thank you. I also have Baytril. They are both about 4 years old, hopefully still good. I bought them for emergency use, but never had to use them. I also have Corid and Ivermectin.
I just lost one of my Welsummer girls, hopefully I can nurse this girl through whatever is ailing her.
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This was for our pigs. It has to be injected, I should probably just get rid of it. Don't think we'll raise more of them.
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And this was for my horse.
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Just wanted to show you what I have in my arsenal. I can buy other things, if there's something better to have on hand.
Thank you so much!

I looked up Fish Mox but apparently it's called Fix Mox now(250 or 500)?
https://hardypaw.com/products/fix-mox-amoxicillin-capsules-fish-antibiotics?variant=44787640008865

 

[Sylvester017]

Trying to post about the excavation & coop placement —

Before big coop attachment to run, big coop directly in view, little coop to the left, you can only see the run part.
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See the gravel "path" to the left of the striped cloth, that's the swale drain we put in to help divert the water coming off the hill and onto the barn, parking area & driveway. The big main run is between the drive and this and face west northwest. So this side here is very protected. Decided both coop runs are going to cross over it, I couldn't figure out any other way for now. The wind shelter that the main run offers is really good.

So I'm covering the gravel of the swale with pavers just where the coops cross it in an effort to help keep litter and run soil from getting in and clogging it.

Buckeyes’ end of the main run, pavers for coop partially done. This one is very wide to accommodate the predator skirt too, the coop run is up on the main run’s paver edge, and there’s a slope down to the swale. Complicated story but it helped with the main run leveling and base stability. So pavers are going under wherever the skirt isn’t flush to the ground.
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Big coop attached, & the closer area excavated for the little coop
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The opposite perspective, end of main run covered that day with what I had on hand because of the cold wind.
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Below, little coop attached, it's a good shot to see the whole arrangement. Five Buckeyes in the left big coop, four elders, Hazel & Orpingtons in the little coop on the right. The main run is divided in half with wire panels and a striped fabric piece for a visual block.
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I made a sort of dutch door arrangement with zip ties and coop run doors.

Below here’s another picture with Shehnai and Lizbel, shows the run divider reused coop doors (right) and the back external man door (bottom). This is before I put up the visual block on the divider, the fabric just hooks on and off for access. Without the visual block Hazel just goes and hides around their main run corner when she sees Shehnai, and he goes nuts to try to get to her.
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I figured out that with the long run divided here, including each coop's differently-sized runs, each group has the same square footage, 153 sq ft.

Yoga, Buckeye-style
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Preening fluff-outs
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Nice work! I hope the paver stones work out for you. We have half the back yard in pavers ~ even in rain, our hens prefer to walk on pavers rather than mud.

 

[Sylvester017]

What's the milligrams in your fish mox capsules (amoxicillin)?

This one comes in 250 & 500)
https://hardypaw.com/products/fix-mox-amoxicillin-capsules-fish-antibiotics?variant=44787640008865