Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[RoyalChick]

Peck injuries I think.

I think peck injury is probably better than fowl pox - they don't look too serious do they?
I think the culprit is either Maggie or the other twin as they are constantly chest bumping each other.
I hope either way it doesn't become too big an issue for them.

 

[Shadrach]

I think peck injury is probably better than fowl pox - they don't look too serious do they?
I think the culprit is either Maggie or the other twin as they are constantly chest bumping each other.
I hope either way it doesn't become too big an issue for them.

Get quite a lot of it here. Not quite sure when it happens but I think it's at roost time, or early in the morning.

 

[RoyalChick]

Get quite a lot of it here. Not quite sure when it happens but I think it's at roost time, or early in the morning.

Thanks. I am feeling less worried and will keep an eye out.

 

[Shadrach]

Thanks. I am feeling less worried and will keep an eye out.

If they are still a bit bloody, I dab a blob of betadine on them. Once they've scabbed over they should just heal and go.

 

[RoyalChick]

If they are still a bit bloody, I dab a blob of betadine on them. Once they've scabbed over they should just heal and go.

They are all dry and scabbed over so I think I will leave alone for now. Will look again in the morning. Thanks for the advice, I will surely be back for more!

 

[Ribh]

After BY Bob’s little driving tour of Hershey, I thought you might like to see a dam we visited today. It is my FIL’s birthday so we had a BBQ picnic, and then checked out the dam afterwards. It was built between 1918 and 1926 and cost £945,000 in old money.

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Can I ask which one? I think I recognise it but it's been a long time since I was in your neck of the woods.

 

[Ribh]

I have been worrying that I might not always be able to tell which is Minnie and which is Dotty. There are some subtle differences in appearance but as they grow they have become more alike in character - Dotty has become bolder and Minnie a tad more restrained so I can no longer tell them apart that way.
but I think the difference in their combs will be a reliable way to tell.
Minnie’s comb just flops forward over her beak, no part of it even pretends to stand upright. Dotty’s comb stands more upright and then flops over her left eye.
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While they were posing for me I noticed some little scabs on their combs.
I hope it isn’t fowl pox, but I think it might be. Or it could be rough-and-tumble pecking injuries.
Apparently fowl pox resolves in its own and neither ladies seem remotely off color (rather the opposite - they seem full of beans chasing each other around the place) but I will watch carefully.
Anyone got any experience of this?
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Mine do. It's from mozzies I think. It doesn't seem to bother them.

 

[MaryJanet]

I have been worrying that I might not always be able to tell which is Minnie and which is Dotty. There are some subtle differences in appearance but as they grow they have become more alike in character - Dotty has become bolder and Minnie a tad more restrained so I can no longer tell them apart that way.
but I think the difference in their combs will be a reliable way to tell.
Minnie’s comb just flops forward over her beak, no part of it even pretends to stand upright. Dotty’s comb stands more upright and then flops over her left eye.
View attachment 2438851
While they were posing for me I noticed some little scabs on their combs.
I hope it isn’t fowl pox, but I think it might be. Or it could be rough-and-tumble pecking injuries.
Apparently fowl pox resolves in its own and neither ladies seem remotely off color (rather the opposite - they seem full of beans chasing each other around the place) but I will watch carefully.
Anyone got any experience of this?
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Mary has just healed a peck on her comb and it looked just like this. It's like a tiny spot of dried blood.

 

[RoyalChick]

Mary has just healed a peck on her comb and it looked just like this. It's like a tiny spot of dried blood.

I am definitely hoping that is all it is. When I took the photo I looked at the back of my hands and they are way more banged up than Dotty's comb, so maybe I am being a worry-wort!

 

[ChicoryBlue]

I am definitely hoping that is all it is. When I took the photo I looked at the back of my hands and they are way more banged up than Dotty's comb, so maybe I am being a worry-wort!

When you first described the differences between their combs - great way to tell them apart! - I wondered, Well what do chickens do about the varying combs in their appearance, does it become a problem because they look so different from each other? My birds notice the tiniest things about appearance. Maybe BECAUSE they are all so alike? It's mostly little pecks, especially if some dander or something has landed on them, so it's like grooming pecks. Once I did see one go after something around the other's beak and eye. So much so that the peckee kept pulling her head away and then finally down, and got a peck on the back of her head for that last move so she walked away. First time seeing that. I think that was a dominance thing. Something different, or is it all tied together?