Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[ChicoryBlue]

That feels like a new requirement to me. Maybe that's why I have never won!

Here's what I found, maybe I'm not understanding it? You submit your My Chickens page that has your pictures on it? And they want info & stories with it.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-page-for-the-picture-of-the-week-pow.618538/

 

[BY Bob]

The Buckeye Peanut has been laying soft eggs I think. I couldn't see who it was until recently. I watched her two days ago late morning came from the coop when I visited, looking not right, with her tail down, and standing upright like the pictures of poor Daisy (TGHE). I watched her while I was opening the run, and she didn't want to come out in the mad rush with everybody else. She stood like that for several minutes, then staggered with a wing out briefly and started pulsating, and stood even taller, and finally laid a regular sized but soft egg. She perked up right after that.

Then yesterday for hours she seemed to be in a lot of discomfort, tail down, walking very slowly in a kind of waddle and mostly standing under the spreading rhododrendron shade. I hung with her for a long time and she was closing the eye I could see, like she was sometimes napping. I did some gardening in the patch next to their forage area chores and was trimming around their fence, keeping an eye on her. She tried to hang with everybody and forage a little bit. I hung next to her again while looking up egg-bound chickens and soft eggs on my phone. She didn't want to eat any treats, and I thought she was going through the motions when she foraged. I finally held her still on the ground and felt her belly and around her vent, it was all soft feeling. I gave her some yogurt with a little bit of molasses in it after I read the calcium might help with contractions. A touch of molasses because they haven't liked plain yogurt before. She sipped a bit of it and ate more than anyone else did, but not much.

As I did more things around the coop I kept an eye on her and who went in. I had checked the nest box area several times already. I didn't see her go in (though I saw her go back to the coop's run). When I saw her come out, still tail down, I check the nest box and there were TWO soft eggs in there, one smaller and rounder than the day before, very warm, and the other right next to it had broken so it's hard to tell, but I think it was bigger. I was concerned because she didn't look very relieved, but in about a half-hour to an hour her tail was up and she was acting perky again. She looked good this morning.

Is this a calcium problem? She is eleven months, almost a year old. Shall I try to give her some extra calcium? I have TUMS - one tablet crushed up in some mash just for her? They have calcium-free crumbles, mash, oyster shell free choice and crushed egg shells when I get enough to crush and put out.

I would get layer fed with the higher calcium for them. Why are you feeding calcium free feed? I can't reneged if we have discussed this before. I am almost certain this is a calcium problem.

 

[BY Bob]

Here's what I found, maybe I'm not understanding it? You submit your My Chickens page that has your pictures on it? And they want info & stories with it.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-page-for-the-picture-of-the-week-pow.618538/

That is the old link. Use the one I posted last time.

 

[BY Bob]

That is the old link. Use the one I posted last time.

This is the new link from 2020. Use this.

Thread 'Picture Of The Week (POW) Information & Submissions' https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/picture-of-the-week-pow-information-submissions.1345170/

 

[featherhead007]

My input on adding calcium: scramble eggs with the shells, chop them up fine let cool, they will eat!
Ps. It’s a lot cheaper than a lobster lunch! (I have done the lobster before too) sorry to butt in.

 

[Shadrach]

So here are the stats.....

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that each year in the U.S., there are about 1.35 million cases of salmonellosis, with 26,500 hospitalizations and 420 deaths. Contaminated food is the source for most of these cases. Salmonellosis is the second leading cause of foodborne illness in the U.S., after norovirus.

Latest news release from the CDC which started all of this.....
Health officials have traced a series of Salmonella outbreaks to backyard poultry. To date, the outbreaks include 163 cases of Salmonella in 43 states, 34 of which resulted in hospitalization, according to the CDC. No deaths have been reported, and no recalls on poultry are currently active.

163 out of 1,350,000. That is 0.012% of the Salmonella cases in the US in a given year. This microbiologist thinks the CDC would be better off focusing their efforts on Contaminated Food. Someone at the CDC has a problem with backyard poultry. This comes out almost every quarter.

And just so everyone knows, I actually had my tribe tested for Salmonella at one point and they were negative. Not all chickens carry Salmonella.

Now you have to assume that Salmonella is present in the raw chicken you purchase for eating because of the how they are raised and how they are "processed". You must treat any chicken you cook like it is present, cook it thoroughly and clean up carefully afterwards.

Chicken tax
View attachment 2689266

I had a feeling that the percentage due to kissing chickens would be vanishingly small.
Good job Bob. After all, it was Fox news....

 

[Shadrach]

Everyone sends me these when they come out and I get riled up again and say things like they should concentrate on real problems. You know, like COVID.

They should be addressing the meat industry, not backyard chickens. We are not the problem and people don't die from having chickens as pets.

Unless they are attacked by yet another vicious and savage rooster of course...

 

[Shadrach]

Example A:
View attachment 2689572
House Goat... her feral relatives are forced to roam the island “foraging” for feed. Not this little spoiled brat, she gets tasty oats, carrots, crackers, mixed nuts and potato chips (treats only!) and overpriced organic lettuce when that’s all the store has in! Worse yet, when it rains her poor cousins are forced to shelter in the trees, where they may still get a little wet. She has also been told that they don’t have their own pillows to lay on when the humans require the use of the chairs.

Hey Kris.

 

[featherhead007]

Great news!!! Jaffar crowed for me today, very weak crowing, but, this means that he is recovering from his respiratory illness (antibiotics and praying worked)!!!!!
!!

 

[featherhead007]

Look at him, up on the porch, attempting to crow, saying “ daddy don’t worry, I love you too, and I will never leave you!”
(It’s been a lot of long nights with this little guy)