Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[RoyalChick]

I wonder why mine spread out? It's warm here, but Alex is in California, too. In fact, it's probably a few degrees warmer where he is. Though, Alex's weren't crammed tight like yours, RC!

I can’t fathom why they do that. It isn’t temperature related because they do it in the summer too.
Before the little roadrunners were allowed into the big roost they wanted to get as close as possible and flew up to the top of the open window. I really wasn’t expecting that and have roosts all over the Chicken Palace at the same height as the big roost and they could have chosen any one of those!
No explaining what is in their heads!

 

[featherhead007]

I can’t fathom why they do that. It isn’t temperature related because they do it in the summer too.
Before the little roadrunners were allowed into the big roost they wanted to get as close as possible and flew up to the top of the open window. I really wasn’t expecting that and have roosts all over the Chicken Palace at the same height as the big roost and they could have chosen any one of those!
No explaining what is in their heads!

Moreover, what's in the chicken feed?

 

[micstrachan]

The Egg Saga (part 2)

I had to break this into 2 parts because you cannot have more than 20 media links in one post. Who knew?

11:23 Sydney stops pacing and moves into box 2 while Hattie is in box 1.

11:25 Hattie vacates box 1. I do not know why.

11:26 Sydney looks over the divide to make certain that no one else is in box 1 and then moves over to box 1.

11:29 Hattie returns from wherever she went and Sydney leaves box 1 with no fuss.

11:36 Sydney is still waiting when Lilly shows up. Why does Lilly show up? To create more chaos or as she might say, because she can. Why else?

11:50 Dope that I am, instead of checking the running camera, I leave the house to go make certain that Phyllis' egg is not soft shelled. Lilly leaves to coop to greet me as i walk down the steps. Hattie was surprised when I opened the lid to the nest boxes.

11:51 Sansa Arrives to lay her egg.

11:53 Sydney informs Hattie that she can wait no more and she is "coming in"! She has been waiting 1 hour 10 minutes for "the" box.

11:56 Lilly arrives and enters box 2. Why? Because she can.

12:07 I cannot figure this move out. Sydney leaves box 1 and joins Lilly in box 2! WHY!

12:10 Lilly leaves box 2. Hattie is in box 1 and Sydney in box 2. Sansa is waiting.

12:29 Hattie has laid her egg. That is 1 hour and 24 min for Hattie to lay hers. Sydney is now in box 1 and Lilly has snuck into box 3. Sansa waits. EGG #3

There is a gap in the video record here. Somewhere between 12:30 and 1:50 Sydney lays her egg. that is a minimum of 1 hour 54 minutes for her. EGG #4

1:50 Sansa lays her egg and heads out. That is that is 1 hour 59 minutes for Sansa to lay her egg. EGG #5

2:34 Lilly leaves box 3. She has not laid an egg but she did spend 45 minutes alone in the coop on nest 3. I hope it was peaceful for her.

HOLY DRAMA! I got through all the videos in both threads.

• Yay for Phyllis laying a shelled egg. I felt bad for her pumping tail waiting and then getting her hair pulled while laying!
• Poor Sydney was so patient and really wanted box #1. I'm glad it worked out for her. Odd that she bunked with Lilly for a sec!
• Aurora, Hattie and Sansa seemed mostly uneventful, which is good! That Aurora is tough. LOL.
• I forget... does Lilly still lay?
• Congrats on a 5-egg day! That's about what I'm getting from my flock of 13!

 

[micstrachan]

I can’t fathom why they do that. It isn’t temperature related because they do it in the summer too.
Before the little roadrunners were allowed into the big roost they wanted to get as close as possible and flew up to the top of the open window. I really wasn’t expecting that and have roosts all over the Chicken Palace at the same height as the big roost and they could have chosen any one of those!
No explaining what is in their heads!

I remember the little road runners on the top of the window! LOL!

 

[featherhead007]

Emily (For the win, )

 

[micstrachan]

 

[RoyalChick]

I remember the little road runners on the top of the window! LOL!

Oh yes I was really stressing out about that at the time so I get a great kick out of seeing them together like that.

 

[featherhead007]

Of my existing three generations of the tribes, I am letting the littlest two explore the run, while all the rest are out free ranging today. (They are a little scared at the moment) I will give them time. It’s a beautiful day out. I will try to get a pic.

 

[featherhead007]

They are out, having a dust bath. (And loving it) say hi to these nice people on BYC, Arizona and Leann.

 

[Blazinga]

I kind of want to die. Queenie was killed today, we think by a hawk. Butters may have been the first target but she escaped with a couple of big tufts of hackle feathers out of her neck. A hawk, we think THE hawk, came back and flew down towards the body, while I was gone digging a grave for Queenie, DH saw it and chased it away.

Spoiler: What likely happened and why I can't deal

We were home, out and about, and they were out in their yard. There was no sound that we heard, and it happened around the corner of the house just out of sight while we were moving the big wire run over to their yard to set it up there. We suddenly noticed we didn't see any chickens around, I went looking, only finding Queenie's body and seeing no others. Whatever it was had eaten some of her. But she was warm still, and limp except for her legs. Eventually one Buckeye came out of the coop box. The four had run into the coop tractor and up into the roosting enclosure, Butters far into the nest box. I need to check her body again but I found no blood, and she let me handle all of her except her neck area was very tender.

I am so sorry. I feel I got Queenie killed. And she is particularly dear to me. I have tried to let them be chickeny and also have been putting into place safety measures to try to minimize risk, which I knew there was - I accept that to some degree but I feel particularly guilty about putting the electric fencing not up to the back house deck. Peanut had tried to run under there before and encountered the fence. I had thought about doing that, but it would be in the way of gas deliveries and DH didn't want them hanging out on the deck and pooping on it. I think Queenie, who had also run to the house when there was a previous attack in this same area - another reason to not have widened the fence area to include this spot! - and she had run that way when this hawk came I think, and of course couldn't get past the net. There were fluff feathers there. She fought back though and made it halfway back towards the coop where she either died because of her injuries sustained already, or was overtaken again. I think Butters was attacked first and then Queenie, which makes her inability to escape due to what I did with the fencing, denying her the house which she probably had time to run to, really hard.

There aren't enough emojiis in the world

I know exactly how you feel. I'm very sorry you had to lose your hen to a predator.