Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Shadrach]

This is a sample of what is leaking out of Cillins foot. As you can see in the second picture the bottom of the cup is closed so I'm pretty sure what is in the cup in the morning is from his foot. The sticky stuff isn't showing up in the picture very well.

I'm still not quite there with the pad securing. The shape of the pad when removed shows the amount of movement the pad undergoes during the day.
I can't blame Cillin because he lies quite still, slightly on his side when I clean and bandage his foot. If only the hens were so well behaved!
I'm going to stick with the circular pad for another couple of days then I may try out a full foot pad and see if that stays in place more readily. I still can't get a clear picture of the bottom of his foot. I'll try again in the morning.

 

[Ribh]

This is a sample of what is leaking out of Cillins foot. As you can see in the second picture the bottom of the cup is closed so I'm pretty sure what is in the cup in the morning is from his foot. The sticky stuff isn't showing up in the picture very well.
View attachment 2495740View attachment 2495741

I'm still not quite there with the pad securing. The shape of the pad when removed shows the amount of movement the pad undergoes during the day.
I can't blame Cillin because he lies quite still, slightly on his side when I clean and bandage his foot. If only the hens were so well behaved!
I'm going to stick with the circular pad for another couple of days then I may try out a full foot pad and see if that stays in place more readily. I still can't get a clear picture of the bottom of his foot. I'll try again in the morning.
View attachment 2495742View attachment 2495747

He is a Magnificent lad!

 

[Ribh]

The Ring

In general dry chicken feed comes in 2 varieties, crumbles and pellets. The school of thought describes the advantages of each as follows.

• Pellets: Less wasted feed. Chickens don't drop as much on the ground.
• Crumbles: It takes longer for the chickens to eat. It is closer to normal food intake and therefore provides a more satisfactory eating experience for the chickens.

The disadvantages of each are generally the opposite.

• Pellets: The chickens fill up quickly, the feeding experience is not satisfying and boredom can result. Boredom can lead to behavioral issues like feather pecking if there are not suitable enrichment opportunities for the chickens.
• Crumbles: Waste. Chickens will scoop feed onto the ground while looking for bigger crumbles or just fling feed onto the ground as they eat.

I started my ladies out on pellets. After taking my course on chicken behavior and learning of the potential for boredom and then evaluating my small coop and run in the winter when they were trapped inside, I made a decision to switch them to crumbles. I wanted to head off any potential boredom issues. Additionally I added some enrichment to the run for them.

With the rat infestation I started to wonder how much food they were actually spilling. So this past week I decided to try a little experiment. I placed a feeder up on the deck in the sun. After 5 days, this is the ring of spilled food they made. The feeder was full at the start of the 5 days so this is the waste from 1 feeder full of food. Chickens are for size purposes.
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Yep, that looks about right.

 

[RoyalChick]

Well, people also respond differently to the affects of anesthesia... or maybe they gave him the happy pain killers instead of the sleepy ones by mistake? Clearly the vet was underestimating the lure of buttercream icing, and was probably meaning he just shouldn’t eat hard kibbles for a while?

To be fair to the vet he did not specify buttercream icing one way or another, but he definitely gave me the impression that the cat was in a delicate dopey state and could barely move.
And yes, buttercream icing is clearly a strong lure!

 

[Shadrach]

Today Cillin had two visitors before he got treated and let out.

He's been a bit more confident today.
He's been calling the hens and they respond. Unfortunatley so does Treacle and Cillin gets chased away again. Cillin is behind the wood pile.

Moon did her I want you to myself stunt again this afternoon and she and Treacle arrived outside my house.

Cillin herded the hens under a bush and spent a decent amount of time with them before Treacle worked out what was going on and chased him away.

What I'm finding interesting is as an apprently male without hens, none of the other roosters will let him near theirs. That means as Cillin moves about trying to avoid Treacle and stay close to the hens in Tribe 1 he is constantly under pressure from the other roosters.
When he left the house with Mel this morning the two roosters he came into range of, Punch and Notch, didn't bother doing the defensive posturing and Cillin walked right past them without any problems.
Just having one hen is enough to reduce the threat level in the eyes of the other roosters it seems.

 

[RoyalChick]

This is one of the reasons I make a mash. It is also handy on cold days because you can use wram water. Making a mash wont stop some waste. Most keepers have on or two hens that will insists on scraping feed out with their feet. Fat bird does an interesting sideways sweep with her beak which showers feed everywhere.

Yes! Maggie is a side-swiper - but that seems to be because she likes to eat off the floor, so she does tend to eat most of it once she has spread it around.

 

[RoyalChick]

This is a sample of what is leaking out of Cillins foot. As you can see in the second picture the bottom of the cup is closed so I'm pretty sure what is in the cup in the morning is from his foot. The sticky stuff isn't showing up in the picture very well.
View attachment 2495740View attachment 2495741

I'm still not quite there with the pad securing. The shape of the pad when removed shows the amount of movement the pad undergoes during the day.
I can't blame Cillin because he lies quite still, slightly on his side when I clean and bandage his foot. If only the hens were so well behaved!
I'm going to stick with the circular pad for another couple of days then I may try out a full foot pad and see if that stays in place more readily. I still can't get a clear picture of the bottom of his foot. I'll try again in the morning.
View attachment 2495742View attachment 2495747

Hmmm - it looks like blood and fluid. I vaguely remember you have a microscope (did I get that right?). Is it full of cells or mainly fluid?

 

[Shadrach]

You must’ve been exhausted! I can get back to sleep through the crowing outside, but inside Crowing is DH’s line for “well enough to go back outside, now”

This is what's strange; I wasn't aware of being that tired and it was part lazyness and knowing, or beleiving that Cillin crowing wouldn't let me nap for long. Either he didn't crow again until I heard him or I'm so used to hearing roosters crowing in the house that it no longer triggers me awake. People do get used to an incredible amount of noise. I lived by a very busy A road for a while and after a few weeks you stop hearing the racket.

 

[CrazyChookChookLady]

Don't talk to me about 'finicky as cats'. One of mine is not in my good books.
He just got back from the vet having had two teeth removed. Poor baby!
My instructions were that he would not be that hungry and his tummy might be a bit delicate because of the anesthetic and I was not to feed him for at least an hour and be careful because he might be woozy and fall down the stairs so try not to let him near the stairs for a couple of hours.
Poor baby!
What happens? I open the carrier, he leaps out. He leaps on the kitchen counter (what was that about stairs?) and proceeds to lick all the butter cream frosting off a cake I was decorating for a virtual tea party with a friend (what was that about delicate tummy?).
WTH?

Your boy had the good stuff, he had the munchies!!!!

Last night I had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, normally not a big deal, but Josh is residing in my bedroom as well. I sneak out do my business and I head back. Just as I open my door this streak of white goes flying by me and takes off down the stairs. It's JOSH!! He just had both rear legs operated on and is supposed to be semi-sedated on his pain meds, but nooooo, he's running down my stairs!! Thankfully he's just fine...

 

[Scrambles83]

Don’t pay too much mind to this vid, just working out how to attach video for the future