Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Shadrach]

Only 2 years! Poor girl.
Flash(light) is adorable! And now I have Parliament's song stuck in my head

Hey funk fan. If you're going to have a tune in your head that's better than most.

 

[BY Bob]

View attachment 2634170 Here's Mapleton Mountain. On my way home. .

Spectacular. I think I say that every time.

 

[BY Bob]

It's rained all day so no outside grass time. But today Butter has shown she still has a will to live. She's trying to stand on her own, but can't raise herself more then 2 inches off the ground. Every time she's tried to do this I've supported her in a standing position but let her keep the weight on her leg. The minute I feel her leg start to give out I let her sit back down. She's also back to drinking and eating. I've gotten a whole can of tuna down her today. It is supposed to be pretty and warm again tomorrow so I'll take her back outside for some grass time and company. The diarrhea is also gone. She's only pooped once, but it was huge like a broody and solid so I'll take that. Right now she's resting on her blanket in the living room floor supervising geometry lessons and looking quite content. She's always took every opportunity to come inside if a door is left open, I'm afraid when she's better and healed she is going to protest living back outside. I'm crossing everything possible that the worst is over and she's making a turn around. Mom has bargained and promised her if she gets better she never has to lay another egg, and can be a fat lazy free loader for the next 10 years with daily house privilege's.

Fabulous news!

 

[BY Bob]

Hubby’s on a roll with the chicken shirts!
View attachment 2634193

Outstanding! That is a great shirt. Love it!

 

[Shadrach]

No photos of chickens from me today. I have one broody chicken, and 2 very grumpy ones. One is extremely angry that it is raining for the first time in 2 weeks, and both are upset at Alinta for being broody. Anyone else's chickens pick on their broody companions? They go after her with a vengeance, chase her away from food and just generally run her off whenever she comes out. The did the same when Rosie was broody 2 years ago.

Yep, that's about normal here. I've never understood why it happens. The more senior hens get an easier time of it.

 

[BY Bob]

I reckon so

It seems not. I think she may have been too late to roost. Maybe it was too dark in the coop the see enough to get up, or she could have been tossed off the roost in a roosting tussle after it was too dark to see and get back up.

 

[BY Bob]

Wow! I'm gathering so much information from reading about everyone's chickens. I would have thought a broody hen would be left alone by the others.
Ladies, please! Be nice to Alinta!

If the hen is too far down the pecking order the others don't think she has the right to hatch and will tell her so. Doesn't mean she can't. Sydney did so successfully last year. I do think having a rooster would lessen this behavior significantly.

 

[BY Bob]

Yesterday's adventure was
We have a hammock in the chicken yard. They love sitting with us on it. Two evenings ago I was sitting in it and eldest son thought he would join me.
Normally this isn't a problem. The stand and sling are rated for like 1,000lbs. However, the material of the hammock itself has endured weathering.
So yeah...it broke with us in it.
We both landed on our bums, and thankfully none of the babies we under us nor in the hammock yet.

Hubby already replaced it with a new one.

I was enjoying the new, SAFE hammock yesterday when I see little Miss Meatbird making a beeline toward something.

It was a blue string from the old hammock.

I jumped from my recline to try to snatch it away, which only made her gobble it down faster.
It was stuck in her throat! She shook her head and stretched her beak open wide reapeatedly to try to swallow it down. Meanwhile I'm trying to catch her to attempt to help her.
FInally I catch her! She had a tail piece of it hanging out of her beak. If that tail end had been any shorter, there wouldn't be enough for me to pull on.
I pull and pull and pull.

There is about 18 inches of sting!

I set her down and she went about her normal chicken business.

These girls! *sigh*

Great catch! You saved her some trouble there. I just threw out some string I had in my shed because it was winding up on the ground and I just didn't need it that badly.

 

[Shadrach]

Lucy and Chickie both went for Charlie when she was first broody, but given that she is now Alpha hen, I doubt anyone will give her a hard time anymore!

I think this has something to do with it.
My belief is that the tribe know that the senior hens are the ones that should be passing their genes on. As I've mentioned before; one gets to be senior for a reason. It isn't just luck.
Integration of the offspring is a lot easier for senior hens.
In theory at least, the more senior, the more knowledge they will have to pass down to their young.
Here the senior hens and the experienced mums attack junior hens who try to mate with the senior rooster. This tends to make me think that they know who should be sitting and hatching and who shouldn't.

 

[Shadrach]

Fat Bird. Each day now she seems steadier on her feet. There are a few moments of wobbliness when she first leaves the coop in the morning. I give her back a quick massage as I carry her to the food point by the ducks, set her down in front of the food with the rest and after that she seems close enough to normal to not riase concern unless you knew her well.
This is quite a difficult scramble for hens and humans alike unless you walk on the wing wall. I've watched Fat Bird negotiate the trickiest sections without problems.

Here she is with Moon and Hurry having a dig about.