Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[BY Bob]

Yep, that looks about right.

More affirmation

 

[ChicoryBlue]

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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It's interesting how in getting a beakfull they will swipe - maybe the motion helps to fill the beak? It is likely part of their natural motions of digging through stuff.

Mine like the mash I make from crumbles and warm water, they act like it's a treat, and they bite right into it. The side swiping doesn't cause much spill. A few smaller chunks fly out sometimes. Each bowl is at about breast height. Sometimes they grab a large chunk and purposefully bring it out and let it fall at their feet, then eat that in pieces. They are pretty good at getting the littlest bit. They seem to love the mash. They can eat a lot fast, but I haven't seen indications of boredom yet. When they've eaten enough of that they just start their normal day of foraging around in the run litter. They come back to the mash in a little while.

I have dry crumbles in two places - 1) a small hanging cage feeder cup. A lot gets swiped out of there, unless I don't fill it more than halfway. Even then it's not good. 2) the Omlet feeder, which is a cage hanging trough / bin with an overhanging top and curved-in edges. They have to get their head in there to eat. I can see they are swiping around and it is surprisingly good at containing the feed. Unless it is filled too high nothing comes out. I don't know that it would be great for a bird with a large comb but I haven't heard of complaints in that regard.

 

[RoyalChick]

My baby Belle being her curious self the other day
Sorry for my mug being in there but couldn’t record without being in it myself

Adorable!

 

[RoyalChick]

It's interesting how in getting a beakfull they will swipe - maybe the motion helps to fill the beak? It is likely part of their natural motions of digging through stuff.

Mine like the mash I make from crumbles and warm water, they act like it's a treat, and they bite right into it. The side swiping doesn't cause much spill. A few smaller chunks fly out sometimes. Each bowl is at about breast height. Sometimes they grab a large chunk and purposefully bring it out and let it fall at their feet, then eat that in pieces. They are pretty good at getting the littlest bit. They seem to love the mash. They can eat a lot fast, but I haven't seen indications of boredom yet. When they've eaten enough of that they just start their normal day of foraging around in the run litter. They come back to the mash in a little while.

I have dry crumbles in two places - 1) a small hanging cage feeder cup. A lot gets swiped out of there, unless I don't fill it more than halfway. Even then it's not good. 2) the Omlet feeder, which is a cage hanging trough / bin with an overhanging top and curved-in edges. They have to get their head in there to eat. I can see they are swiping around and it is surprisingly good at containing the feed. Unless it is filled too high nothing comes out. I don't know that it would be great for a bird with a large comb but I haven't heard of complaints in that regard.

I need to try this mash idea. I assume you just add warm water to crumbles?

 

[ChicoryBlue]

I need to try this mash idea. I assume you just add warm water to crumbles?

Yes, or after you get an idea of how much water to crumbles, put the water in first and then add the crumbles, it's easier with no mixing needed. With crumbles first, often the bottom crumbles stay dry. I think this is the beginning step of fermenting feed but I haven't really looked into how that is done.

 

[ChicoryBlue]

Yes, or after you get an idea of how much water to crumbles, put the water in first and then add the crumbles, it's easier with no mixing needed. With crumbles first, often the bottom crumbles stay dry. I think this is the beginning step of fermenting feed but I haven't really looked into how that is done.

I heard it characterized as a stiff batch of grits. Not goopy at all. I've varied the level of moisture, especially when it's colder I make them a bit drier. I don't want their beaks getting coated with anything, they need to be able to wipe it off easily.

 

[Kris5902]

House goat? I adore animal's but I don't think I could live with a goat. Just saying . Can she use a potty?

The vinegar smell evaporates after a while, and you can't smell salt. I use apple cider, you could use a little lavender to minimize any odour.

Hopefully, the “house” situation is very temporary!
Today she only had two accidents inside, she used her overnight litter box with rag lining once during the day, and actually peed in my cats litter box once! So potty training is honestly going really well. She hasn’t peed the bed in about a week now. She is absolutely great at holding it in the truck until we park, and she gets out in her harness and leash. I’m trying to train her more like a dog, and she might even become the mascot for our neighbors, the “Feral Goat Winery”. The vineyard used to belong to our farm but was sold after a family dispute between my husband’s Grandfather and his Brother-in-Law.

 

[Kris5902]

Chicken Tax
Dean and some ladies:

And Roostie and his Tribe, as you can see he’s starting to really get around better now, still hoping for the best!

 

[micstrachan]

As most of you know, I have Cillin as an overnight house guest currently. He sleeps in the pet carrier on top the the house nest box, about 8 metres from where my head is when I'm asleep on my bed.
Most will also have read people complaining about their rooster, or someone elses rooster crowing, mostly outside the house and in a coop I've gathered.
I'm not deaf I need to point out.
This morning Cillin started crowing at 0634. I'm auto awake by then and it just nudges me into full consciousness. This morning I was very tired. I had been up until 0200 the night before. I fell back to sleep and didn't wake up again until 0740.
There is no way I can beleive that Cillin didn't crow again untill I woke up the second time. I must have slept through him crowing. This is 8 metres away in a house!

WOW! You definitely needed sleep!

 

[micstrachan]

Today Cillin had two visitors before he got treated and let out.
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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.
View attachment 2495795
Moon did her I want you to myself stunt again this afternoon and she and Treacle arrived outside my house.
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Cillin herded the hens under a bush and spent a decent amount of time with them befor Treacle worked out what was going on and chased him away.
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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, Puch 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.

Very interesting observation!