Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Shadrach]

How do you find this stuff so quickly!

I remembered who wrote it / Profile page / Articles.....

 

[Marie2020]

That was the rule and probably still is, back where I grew up. I know my Dad shot a couple on our land which were unsupervised. The wild rabbits and squirrels were precious to us, not just the livestock. Everyone who lived on the hill knew the rules and enforce them.

Chicken tax
View attachment 2564042

Look at that cheeky girl just about about to have a sneaky peck or ten

 

[Shadrach]

Who else but Fat Bird.

 

[Shadrach]

Brilliant that you found this, thanks so much

My pleasure. Please rate it if you like it. So many people don't bother but it makes a difference to how it's ranked and give the person who wrote it a bit of a lift which has to be a good thing.

 

[Marie2020]

Have no fear, If I find out he is actually raising fighting cocks, I will arrest him. I'm retired, but not "that retired"

Just let people know who love chickens. Stay safe from lunatics, if they enjoy the pain of innocents they will be capable of anything

 

[Marie2020]

My pleasure. Please rate it if you like it. So many people don't bother but it makes a difference to how it's ranked and give the person who wrote it a bit of a lift which has to be a good thing.

Done already and following

 

[BY Bob]

I just went out to the post office to check on the mail. Still raining, but I found this by my front gate. Speaking of stray dogs: never mind, I won’t show you the picture. But in explanation. Part of a truck undercarriage skirt, and a dead 40lb Labrador retriever. ( why can’t people just be responsible for their animals???)

That's so sad.

 

[Marie2020]

Have a good night lovely people. Thank you for allowing me into your world

 

[Ribh]

I used to rescue and foster dogs, so I've heard some horror stories. Being in this area now, folks are pretty good at keeping their dogs at bay. Even barking. I hear it in the day, but not at night, thank goodness..that's a pet peeve. Cats! People think it's fine to let the cats out. Had one kill, and eat one of my Heritage RIR's one year. Plus, I have a large front flower/garden bed out front. They come and pee and poo on my flowers and vegetables. One year it was so bad. Do you know how bad cat urine is on plants? I had no vegetables that year. Sorry to say, I had to start putting out a live trap. I work hard in that front bed. Vets will try and tell folks that it isn't a good idea to let cats roam. So many things can go bad for them. Fights that end up with sore infections. Hit by cars. Dog attacks. And yes, traps.

Yes, I'm a cat owner. My cats have always been contained @ night & are mostly in during the day now too simply because we now have neighbours. We didn't used to, so the boys were allowed out. No neighbours, no dogs, no cars ~ I'd prefer to do without all of them but I don't get to choose. Stray cats don't last long round here. The paralysis ticks get them. I've not had a neighbour complain about my cats & I'm the only one round here that keeps cats. Everyone else is a dog lover; everything from super well trained pooches to total nuisance value. But then they don't complain about the chooks either & some of my girls are LOUD & they start early.

 

[ChicoryBlue]

Thanks, Fran. I'm ok. I'd like to know what went wrong for future reference but these things happen.

I am sorry for your chick losses. And the Vorwerks! It's a lot to handle.
I should read ahead, and maybe I mentioned it, but the only things that came to my newbie mind were some crop or digestive problem if they didn't have access to chick-sized grit along with their chick starter (unless you're sure they are getting it outdoors), and possible heat/cold stresses, but that depends on your temperatures. 4-week-olds need access to warmth, they aren't fully feathered, so need somewhere they can go to get warmed up. Roughly a spot around 75-80F? Figuring 95F in Week One, minus 5F for each subsequent week is a common rule of thumb I've read. But how critical it is depends on the surrounding climate and their housing & run situation.

There is the catch-all "failure to thrive". So @Shadrach has a good point about the breeder - maybe this breeder has a lot of early losses (that you wouldn't know about) in the breeding line, or due to their chicken keeping. So the customers who usually buy POL - those are the survivors who've made it. In that scenario the higher price that POL commands covers those losses and there's no reason to change practices or improve the stock.