Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Cynthia12]

Just a note: I am NOT advertising for Vittles Vaults. I am just saying that they have worked for me.

Those are awesome!

 

[Cynthia12]

More Flockservations

Hattie
First of all, whatever was bothering Hattie that morning is cleared up. I am going to assume it was egg related and she got the egg out. I have seen no weird eggs of any kind. She is definitely back to her old self. I personally just have this unease now and I am sure that I am staring at her when I'm outside.

My grand lady looking fit
View attachment 2617889

I have noticed two things about Hattie over the last few months.

First: She no longer joins the scrum
If I put out some leftovers or other snacks out for the girls, Hattie no longer joins in the piranha-like feeding frenzy that occurs, with exceptions. She stands back and waits until things calm down or everyone grabs a piece and runs away with it before she approaches the snack. Lilly has exhibited this behavior as well since taking over as Alpha hen. As I said there exceptions to this behavior for certain kinds of food, say pasta. I would say about 90% of the time, she hangs back.

Secondly: She is enforcing her position more vigorously
Hattie used to be very laid back when it came to her relationship with others in the flock. I almost never saw her peck at anyone else. It is not often but it is happening. Now I see her actually pecking at others and even going after others with what seems the sole purpose of reminding them of their position. I have even seen her make Aurora, of all hens, bow down in submission. I cannot recall this ever happening before in all the time Hattie has been with me. In fact only Maleficent had ever made Aurora bow down before. Even after the big fight when Lilly tried, Aurora did not submit to her.

An Odd Pairing
At first blush it makes no sense. They are truly odd when viewed together. I will explain more in a minute.

I have said many times that my tribe tends to pair off as they go about their ranging. This is one of the reason I am a huge proponent of even numbered "hen only" tribes. Roosters change the equation. I tend to watch with interest who is paired up with whom. It used to be that they pretty much matched up in pecking order. As I watch what is going now though I do believe that pairing up in such a fashion wasn't really pecking order but based upon "siblings". Maleficent and Aurora were not hanging out together because they were 3 & 4 in the pecking but rather because they grew up together and thus were friends.

So what is the current odd pairing?

Aurora and Phyllis

That's right. Let me break down why I think this happening.

1. Phyllis is no threat to Aurora's position. This is leading to Aurora really not pecking at her unless Phyllis actually steals something from Aurora. Which Phyllis will do from time to time. No dominance displays are required.
2. Once the newbies arrived and Lilly dumped Hattie for Sansa. Hattie and Aurora had been the frequent pairing. After the big fight, the pairing dissolved. There was a lot of flux for a quite a while. With Hattie enforcing her position more now to the point of making Aurora bow down and submit, I think Aurora decided to look elsewhere for companionship.
3. When looking elsewhere, with Lilly and Sansa paired up, that left Sydney and Phyllis for Aurora to pair with. Aurora and Sydney as a combination might make some sense. They are very similar in their quest for food. They will both steal food from anyone. However, Aurora feels the need to dominate Sydney. Now Sydney is a quick submitter but I am sure that is not a lot of fun for Sydney. Whereas Hattie is not as dominating a hen. I think Sydney may have chosen Hattie herself. This leads me back to point 1.
4. Aurora and Phyllis are the weird looking hens. The odd balls. Between Phyllis' head of feathers and Aurora's beard and muffs, they just don't look like the others. Perhaps this is also playing some role.

The Odd Couple together
View attachment 2617876

Hattie and her new partner just hanging out on the porch.
View attachment 2617881

I love love Hattie. I want a lavender. Not going to happen this year. I don't think. Unless the eggs this guy brought by from clear up North hatch. I want to be done hatching. I have my Australorp going into lockdown on Sat. Live those birds. Now, these supposedly NN's he brought by are going to be quite a bit later. Most will go to a friend. If I get one that looks like the photo he had, which resembles my Uggums big time..I'll keep.

 

[Cynthia12]

This baby comes up to me every time I peer over into the brooder. This time, she jumped up on the board I put on the side. A little ..mug.. shot.

Got some photos of the bigger littles. I see my legorn is showing off her future fluffy butt..and the Polish is getting friendlier! Her white is disappearing on her body. No long white feather on the side.

Ok..last photo. See the blur of the blue's head? See the grass poking out of the Polish's mouth. Blue got it.

 

[Cynthia12]

Trying to think if a name for my Polish. I keep calling the blue one ..Blue..Soo..real original there. . I call all if my leghorn Miss Piggy. Because they are piglets. She is already so friendly. Comes up to me. So, thinking on a name....

 

[Shadrach]

Thank you. I do very much value your review.

The microscope is almost exactly $200 right now. Isn't it amazing! I believe that home schooling has driven the prices down. There is demand outside of the scientific community for them now. This is a very solid scope. Not quite lab quality but I'm not running lab volumes through it either.

I thought a decent microscope would cost much more.
Have you thought about turning this into an article. There is already a very good one by Sue Gremilin but it's not as concise as yours.
SHRA Tax.

 

[LozzyR]

Here’s an interesting observation I wanted to share.
Penny and Bok used to almost sit on my hand weeding fork when I was gardening and would grab worms quicker than I could see them.
Snow and Belle have absolutely no interest in them. I threw a few their way today and they looked and walked off to do other things
Do they not realise they are food or do they maybe have enough protein so aren’t gagging for more do you think?
Or the conclusion I came to, they are just a bit strange

I’ve had my salmon Faverolles turn their beaks up at worms.

 

[Lady Red]

Here comes trouble! Don't they look like they are up to nefarious plans?
This shot was from yesterday. And Naughty Girl Allele (ISA Brown...I think??) in fact did get up to some antics...she was perching on the top brace of the hammock stand this morning. It is at least 6 feet off the ground!

I think she used the run to launch from.

Adventurous little girl

 

[Lady Red]

Trying to think if s by for my Polish. I keep calling the blue one ..Blue..Soo..real original there. . I call all if my leghorn Miss Piggy. Because they are piglets. She is already so friendly. Comes up to me. So, thinking on a name....

Cuddle Bunny

 

[LozzyR]

Ideas on how to integrate with Panda and Dandy? They have layer feed while these need starter grower.

Quarantine them first, complete separate from each other, for 2 - 4 weeks. Then let them start free-ranging together over another week or two. How long do they have to be on starter grower?

 

[ChicoryBlue]

This article is very well done Bob! You have a nice, very personable, very relatable, thoughtful and patient style. I think you've explained and laid this out really well!

I am seriously considering getting this stuff, I have no problem with poo inspection or blood and guts, as they say. Loved biological sciences and all labs in college. The nearest avian vet is over an hour away.

Here are the bits that threw me or caught my attention with questions.

The Float Test

Once you have your feces dissolved, fill up the test tube to the very top with float solution. You want the meniscus to be extending up slightly above the top of the test tube. This will enable your cover slip to have full contact with the liquid in the test tube.

#4 - I got everything up to this word "meniscus" which I don't recall encountering in the article prior to this and I don't know what it is except in relation to knee joints. Are you referring to how the top of water in a glass has a layer of surface tension you can see?

Place a microscope cover slip over the top. There should be no air between the coverslip and the liquid. (If you are going to us a McMaster’s chamber do not place a cover slip on top.)

#5 - So there is going to be spillage, definitely! + + 🖐 = At least if you're talking about pouring enough in there so that the only thing keeping it from spilling out is water tension, though thicker than usual, at the top of the test tube Not making fun of you here, it's me I see...Thus the mat accessory will be a must....

Not that I care personally due to ick, but do you recommend gloves for this? Are there things with chicken poo like some cat feces & pregnant women that shouldn't go together, that would be bad for a human to get into themselves? Get the hazmat suit!

OK so I'm picturing the cover slip being bigger than the top of the test tube or one could never take it off. Never did this method in my basic science labs, it was always putting a drop of whatever on the slide and then placing the cover on it as you describe.

Carefully remove the cover slip and place it on a microscope slide with the sample sandwiched between both pieces of glass. If you are doing a McMaster’s count, draw up the liquid on top of the test tube into a pipette. You will charge the McMaster’s chamber by using capillary action. Slowly dispense the fluid along the edge of the chamber. Capillary action will draw the liquid into the chamber. Once the chamber is full, stop dispensing liquid.

#7 McMaster's method, concept of capillary action - a pipette will draw fluid up by itself, correct? Like a tiny finger stick blood sample, some people have experienced that. Am getting at there's no need to siphon anything - no mouth on pipette please!

Also, how does one "dispense"? Just touch the tip of the pipette to the surface so that the fluid "sticks" and then moving it around as it is pulled out by capillary action? That's what I'm picturing. What do you mean by dispensing slowly, though, if you're relying on capillary action for it to come out? How do you slow it down? How is there control on it? I assume you stop by lifting the pipette up. Also, do you recommend a practice run of any sort?

What is not an Egg?

There can be a lot of debris present in a fecal float. The more time you wait, the more debris will sink away from you cover slip. Still, you do not want to confuse the following with eggs or oocysts.

How is it that the more time you wait, the more things I assume we want to be looking for will float up and "adhere" to the cover slip, and yet "debris" doesn't adhere, and sinks instead? The parasitic eggs are always lighter than the general poo contents in the float solution? But what makes them "adhere" exactly? I can't see them actually sticking to the cover slip. They just stay inside the layer of thick fluid near the top because they are light, and the cover slip pulls that layer away? I think I'm hung up on the word adhere. Your call, of course.
Small typo up there - "you" should be "your"

Fungal Cells

You can get fungal cells that look a lot like oocysts. They will usually only have one cap, not two. These are not eggs.

I am thinking by "cap" you mean the different colored / shaped bits, one on either side of some of the cysts (I can see them on the gapeworm and threadworm drawings and then on the photos). It might be helpful to point that out earlier, too, like in that b&w size difference chart above the colored pictures table.

I think this article is going to be very cool. I am going to look at the links when I can. You know what would be EXTRA cool? To be able to take & send each other - especially our far-away vets - pictures of what we see. In addition to "What breed is this?" posts on BYC we can ask "What cyst/egg is this?" !!!! You know how birders "digiscope" and take pictures through their binoculars or telescopes before they were built-in, sometimes by rigging up plastic jug ends to help attach a camera or phone? Can that be done on a microscope? I assume there are microscopes with digital cameras built-in, but they are probably big bucks.

Sorry for the long post, sometimes my feedback is too much. But this is a very good article and I am excited for you!