Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Shadrach]

Hi folks. Having trouble catching up. 50 pages to go and may have missed some stuff along the way. It was an unnerving morning, as TWO young birds (Flo, pullet and Minnie, less than 2-year-old) were clearly NOT feeling well. For some reason my neighbor had thrown brown rice all over his yard and they got into it the previous two late afternoons. I have worked way too hard to slim them down and keep them healthy for them to have unlimited access to uncooked rice, so today I kept them home (except Dorothy and Ester who are not contained by my rinky dink poultry fence.) I thought they might be backed up, so mixed baby bird formula with water and coconut oil into a paste thinking the coconut oil would lubricate the GI tract. Flo improved pretty early, but Minnie took all day. Here she is with her droopy wings and tail:
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And here she is at the end of the day.

I don’t know for sure that the rice was the issue, but it was the young birds hanging out in that area yesterday and two you gs ones were sick.

I think Minni is lovely.

 

[Shadrach]

Two rather odd shots of Hurry. When I looked at the pictures I was a bit concerend and went and gave her a check over. I've just caught odd postures thankfully because hse seems fine.

 

[micstrachan]

I did think this may be the reason. Does this mean I'm a hen, or something inbetween. Maybe they view me as they do Lock, not one, nor the other.

Probably this.

 

[micstrachan]

I think Minni is lovely.

Thank you; so do I. She is one of the more sleek and muscular girls, so I’m not surprised you like her.

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

Final count for momma hen is 3 chicks. 1 of them passed in the middle of the night. I think she may have stepped on it with her bad foot. I've always been afraid of that happening with her, but this is her 5th time hatching chicks and first time ever stepping on one. She is left with Pickles and 2 Marans chicks. She had them out of her brooder for the first time today and with the rain we've had they had a worm feast. Wing feathers are starting to develop and Pickles are coming in brown with maybe a partridge pattern to them. Drumstick is the only one she's allowing to even come close to her and the chicks, everyone else is ran off. Holly got within 4 feet of them and Momma attacked and wound up with a beak full of feathers before I was able to break it up. This time around she is not out to whip me as long as I do not try and touch anyone. She laid down beside me to sun herself earlier with the chicks around my feet. Pretended not to even notice them and she let me pet her for a good 5 minutes. If you know that hen, that is progress!! Now I say this and later on when I refill waterer and feeders she'll probably be out for blood.

 

[micstrachan]

This is Cillin thinking about risking going back to the tribes coop this evening.
All the rest of Tribe 1 have gone in. His coop, if he doesn't make it back to the tribes coop, will be placed behind the coop in the picture. My hope is Mel and maybe one other will move in with him. He has lived with me for long enough. He knows it and I know it. It may take a bit of time to get him used to roosting in his own coop.
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Awww... Cillin.

 

[micstrachan]

@Shadrach how bad does this foot look to you? I’ve been neglecting the scaly leg mite. Roxy has a torn off toenail (or toe tip?) and is favoring it. There’s a mix of bag balm and NuStock on her feet, and she’s been walking around (gingerly) so her feet are pretty dirty. Do you think the leg mites were a factor in the toe tip? I’m feeling pretty guilty.

 

[Shadrach]

@Shadrach how bad does this foot look to you? I’ve been neglecting the scaly leg mite. Roxy has a torn off toenail (or toe tip?) and is favoring it. There’s a mix of bag balm and NuStock on her feet, and she’s been walking around (gingerly) so her feet are pretty dirty. Do you think the leg mites were a factor in the toe tip? I’m feeling pretty guilty.
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No, I don't think SLM would cause that. I have chickens with much worse SLM and they walk fine. I think she's ripped off toenail. From what I can see, the toe is still all there.
To put your mind at rest, give her foot a good clean up and check the toe end carefully comparing it to another.

 

[BY Bob]

Two rather odd shots of Hurry. When I looked at the pictures I was a bit concerend and went and gave her a check over. I've just caught odd postures thankfully because hse seems fine.
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I am glad she is ok. I have also seen the occasional odd tail down posture that has caused me to investigate them further. I don't believe I have ever found anything but I check to be sure.

 

[BY Bob]

I've watched a few of those "this is what really goes on in hatcheries" films. To the best of my knowledge, most of the farm stores in the US get their chicks from these places.
I can't see any difference between hatcheries and battery egg production with regards to the horror of how the chicken is treated.
I find it strange that many will rant about the horrors of battery egg production units and then happily buy chicks out of buckets in farm stores.
There is the arguement that buying such chicks will give them a better life. The thing is, if people didn't buy them then demand would drop and the production of these poor creatures would drop as well.

I fear we will not meet on this one my friend. We can each work on our own side and try to improve their lives across the board.