Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[chickentrains]

fluffy butt friday????

 

[Cynthia12]

I found out my feed store had chicks. I had to go buy more chicken feed. I .. had..to...buy...some..chicks. Ok, so Bob is a huge enabler here. It's his fault that one of the chicks I got was a black polish! . Yep, all his fault. His girl is adorable. I haven't had one for years. I think I posted a photo a while back...a buff. Here's my baby. Man, pretty fiesty..a goer. Got my leghorn. A sexlink, and you could call the other a sexlink.. because it is..a Sapphire Gem. Blue. This baby is on a card table we set up for puzzles for my hubby. On a good day he can work on a 100 piece. Working on one today. Got a kick out of the baby chick up there.

 

[Cynthia12]

Something for Fun

I was googling around the internet and I happened across this website discussing Wyandottes. A quiz popped up to align me with my perfect chicken breed. So obviously I took the quiz. Here is the website in case you want to do so as well. The quiz pops up when you access the site.

https://www.thefeatherbrain.com/blog/wyandotte-chickens

Here is my "perfect" breed.
View attachment 2546062

Is that a Dominique?

 

[chickentrains]

Nel says yes, everybody needs a Dominique

 

[Cynthia12]

Nel says yes, everybody needs a Dominique

View attachment 2546220

Pretty!

 

[BY Bob]

Kindred Spirits

We have had serious melt the last two days and beautiful skies with lots of sunshine. This morning was so nice that I went out and had coffee this morning with the flock as I sat in my chair under the magnolia tree. Of course we had a corn feeding frenzy. Why not?! We are celebrating the arrival of Spring.

Sansa Update
As you can see, Sansa was eating from my hand. She seems to be back to her own self.

So this got me thinking that maybe the confinement itself was driving her behavior. I never really checked to see if Wyandottes bear confinement well. So I went out and started checking. Here is a quick summary of what I found.

Suitability to Backyard Life:​

Cold Hardiness: Hardy in winter
Heat Tolerance: Not especially heat hardy
Bears Confinement: Bears confinement well
Especially Docile: Yes
Setter/Broody: Yes
Personality: Generally easygoing with a tendency toward domination

Now I know these are general characteristics that I rail against because each chicken is an individual. I think that Sansa again proves these wrong.

So supposedly they bear confinement well. I do not believe that Sansa is normal in that way. I think her and I are kindred spirits in that we need to be "out". I really believe that she was upset by all of the time she was locked into the complex.

She is herself today. Even to the point of asking me for her secret walnuts. She certainly was not running from me but rather towards me. She even squatted for me. I really have not done that much to "win" back her affection. It has to be all the time that she was confined. I am wearing the same clothes as always, no lime green coat.

"Hey, where are my walnuts?"

 

[RoyalChick]

Kindred Spirits

We have had serious melt the last two days and beautiful skies with lots of sunshine. This morning was so nice that I went out and had coffee this morning with the flock as I sat in my chair under the magnolia tree. Of course we had a corn feeding frenzy. Why not?! We are celebrating the arrival of Spring.

Sansa Update
As you can see, Sansa was eating from my hand. She seems to be back to her own self.
View attachment 2546140

So this got me thinking that maybe the confinement itself was driving her behavior. I never really checked to see if Wyandottes bear confinement well. So I went out and started checking. Here is a quick summary of what I found.

Suitability to Backyard Life:​

Cold Hardiness: Hardy in winter
Heat Tolerance: Not especially heat hardy
Bears Confinement: Bears confinement well
Especially Docile: Yes
Setter/Broody: Yes
Personality: Generally easygoing with a tendency toward domination

Now I know these are general characteristics that I rail against because each chicken is an individual. I think that Sansa again proves these wrong.

So supposedly they bear confinement well. I do not believe that Sansa is normal in that way. I think her and I are kindred spirits in that we need to be "out". I really believe that she was upset by all of the time she was locked into the complex.

She is herself today. Even to the point of asking me for her secret walnuts. She certainly was not running from me but rather towards me. She even squatted for me. I really have not done that much to "win" back her affection. It has to be all the time that she was confined. I am wearing the same clothes as always, no lime green coat.

"Hey, where are my walnuts?"
View attachment 2546230

Such a happy video. All is good with the world of Fluffy Butt Acres.

 

[Shadrach]

Hi everyone. So I did end up coming home midday for a couple hours to be available to my daughter. The flock was still freaked out. Also, Ruby is very unwell. She is walking very slowly and gingerly, and spent some time in the box with a pumping tail. She has an emergency avian vet appointment Saturday. I hope she hangs in there tomorrow. That's a long time to wait. Today I administered a calcium (in case she needed help expelling something) and aspirin (for pain and inflammation). However, she seems sore after I do this. Poor thing. Saturday might result in another hormone implant or might result in euthanasia. We'll see. I love me some Ruby and hate to see her suffer.

So tonight after the board meeting, I was surprised to see ELEVEN chickens in the upper coop! However, I admit I did love seeing them all lined up like I see in other people's coop photos. Mine are usually all spread out, even in winter. (But it's California winter, so...)

Anyway, when I went around to make sure the remaining two were in the main/lower coop, I realized I had moved a roost when I was home earlier today to get to Ruby. I never put it back! Poor girls! So the moved roost was laying on top of the corner angled roosts, and without the moved roost, they couldn't reach the latest additional roost. Basically, they were mostly upstairs because that's where there was roosting space.

I hope Ruby isn't in too much pain and distress. Good luck at the vets.

 

[micstrachan]

I'm very sad about Ruby. Do you mind sharing how you dose aspirin? How old is Ruby now?

Hi Bob, I direct dose by putting a full or half low dose right into her beak and let her swallow it.

So Ruby had 100cc of clear fluid drained off her abdomen. Avian vet indicated it was not yolky, pussy or bloody... just looked like general inflammation. Vet left treatment up to me to decide. Ruby had another hormone implant and will go on ibuprofen for inflammation. Fingers crossed she responds as well as she has in the past. We could always add antibiotics later if needed, but avian vet was OK with wait and see first.

Edited to add: Ruby will be four at the end of March.

 

[micstrachan]

Also, I forgot to mention Ruby looks MUCH better today than yesterday. I think the predator scare affected her. Today the flock acted normal.