Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[featherhead007]

Finally, all the chickens are in and fed. Both coops, mine and the neighbors. RIP
I will be EATING dinner with Jaime tonight. Yay, I can eat and sleep again!
yes her other animals too, were fed.

 

[BY Bob]

Fat Bird and I have got her crop down to about half the size it was. She's a bit fed up with me massaging it.
Here she is with Cillin and Tackle. The Blackthorn is in bloom and back in favour as a sheltering spot.
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Getting lots of food into Fat Bird and trying to reduce her crop size means just water and massage isn't really an option, even though it may be the quickest route. To give her just water I would have to confine her to the house which I don't want to do. So, it's special food morning and night to try and discourage her a bit from eating too much grass. Fish and walnuts plus a bit of yogurt daily is what she'll eat readily.
Her balance still isn't good. But, she is getting around with the others and when she needs to rest she finds safe spots now.
She made straight for the nest box after an early supper. This is quite usual. Nobody except me bothers her in there.
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This however was a bit surprising. A few moments earlier she was pancake flat, full on broody posture but no other signs of broodiness and no fuss when I carried her to her coop and placed her on the high perch.
I looked in a while ago and she was still on the perch and looked comfortable with Mel on one side and Hurry on the other.
View attachment 2579296

Ive seen that with Hattie. She can look all broody when she is laying an egg. She has never been broody.

 

[BY Bob]

Yes, not bad for 2 older folks. We stacked and filled the bed with 12yd's of garden compost mix, one wheel barrow at a time. We started on Monday and was done on Thursday. View attachment 2579327

That is legit moving earth. Your pants should really appreciate that!

 

[BY Bob]

Treacle.
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I just love this photo. He is king of the world!

 

[BY Bob]

She had her reasons (I was too slow setting down the pot with blueberries in it). But I feel a bit of patience would have been nice. Diana is not a patient lady!

Did she still get some? I don't know if I would have let her have any.

 

[BY Bob]

She jumped up and grabbed my finger in her beak and didn’t let go. It hurt! She was after the blueberries I had in a pot in my hand. I wanted to sit and hand feed everyone. She felt that was way too slow.

Bad girl. Others would have gotten more than her. Nasty.

 

[featherhead007]

Well tonight is the night. If the temps stay where they should the boys are spending their first night outside. They are over 5 weeks old, been off the heat lamp for a week and a half and spending the majority of their days outside. The dog house is cozy, bedded with sawdust plus a "nest" of hay yet I feel guilty for kicking them out. It is time though, no matter how many times I clean their cage it is STINKY again within a hour. More importantly going to miss them. Will be the first time in 7 weeks that I will not hear the sound of chicks peeping in my room. I'm leaving the brooder set up just incase the temp does drop unexpectedly.

Please let me know how it goes with your littles. Temperature and wind conditions. Your experience will be vital to my decision about mine. Please and thank you.

 

[BY Bob]

Most chickens I've met are not overly keen on being touched, let alone picked up. Some here went through stages when they didn't object to being handled.
The hens seem to change once they start laying eggs. I think, like roosters, being picked up is seen as some kind of mating.
I don't force the issue. Most trust me enough to get close enough to pick up if I need to. There are a couple, Fat Bird, Bracket and Moon in particular who I can pick up easily; they may even like it.
Friendly is good, but in my circumstances I end up worrying about treading on them when they're in the house.
There's another thing. In my house/coop I'm allowed certain behaviours that are not permitted outside. There is a very noticable division.

That's interesting, the delineation between your house and outside.

I'm sure you know that I almost never pick them up. Only in emergent situations. Their body is theirs. But I need to be able to get close enough to touch them and pick them up if necessary.

There was an earlier hawk attack today. It got a song bird. I needed to get them all in back in the complex and locked up. Everyone but Sydney was easy. I had to dance with her. That's not safe.

I am not going to go around grabbing and touching her. I do want to have a relationship where she is not terrified of me doing so.

 

[BY Bob]

Went to scout out medication and hardware cloth at our TSC. My chick resist was strong.

Red links, california whites, production reds, and a ton of unlabeled.View attachment 2579538
No idea what this means.View attachment 2579539
Turkey poultsView attachment 2579545
EEs that were all feathering the same color?
View attachment 2579547
And a mysterious Silver laced wyandotte that got lumped in with the "Asians"

Stay strong! I know it's hard. You can do it!

 

[BY Bob]

I caved...

View attachment 2579568

Lavender dot is Coffee Bean
Teal dot is Mocha
Yellow dot is Cappuccino
Red dot is Latte
White dot is Shilo

My friend works at Tractor Supply and I got suckered by the fluffy cheeks!!

Mama wasn't even broody anymore and she took them right in.❤

Oooooo so much fun! Congrats! Lots of pictures will be needed now.