Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Shadrach]

Welcome to Your New Home

?

I would guess from my own experiences and what little I know of you that this is one of the harder things in life you're had to do.
They're chickens Bob and much as you may love them they need to live with other chickens.
The next step I assume will be trying to introduce Phyllis. That will also be very stressful.

 

[Shadrach]

Right now they are confining their work to the end of the coop with the heater in place. So they must be a little chilly.

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Maybe but it could also be it is the only famlier comforting item in the coop.

 

[Shadrach]

Butters (left) and Peanut, under the lilac bush & tree saplings, favorite place to rest, preen, and bathe in the ground. Then they saw me coming with my phone out, they're not sure they want a picture taken I think. That's Popcorn's head peeking out behind Peanut's rump.
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Here's Popcorn resting in a dirt bowl, she did that while the other two preened. Hazel hung about but is foraging most of the time during this molt of hers.
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Hazel in front and Butters behind her. See how Hazel's feathers roughly lie. Fluff feathers are coming in under them. She's hung on to the one tail feather for awhile now. They have that forest edge behind to forage in, but they are actually going after worms in the open green areas now, the worms prefer the root systems in the greenery and the rain has brought them up. Hazel's getting a lot.
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Here Hazel (in front) is with Peanut. Peanut is usually the sleekest but the comparison is striking.
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Hazel's Roughy-Fluffy Butt.
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You get some really great pictures!

 

[ILoveDaffy]

No I think this is not right.
Euthenize when an animal is unable to live a good life. The cause doesn't matter. Chickens (and cats) are hard to judge because as prey animals they hide weakness, and that is why careful observation of your chickens is so important.
To me that is the lesson here.
@micstrachan watches her ladies very carefully and I have full confidence that she was able to tell when Ruby had good days and when she stopped having good days.
We should all aspire to knowing our friends that well so we can make those difficult judgements at the right time.

I lost my Clover earlier this year. She had a prolapsed vent, a really bad one. I just was torn in two because she was acting normal, but couldn't live the rest of her life in a box! Her sisters tried to peck at it, which would have made it much worse. I did end up putting her down but had to leave her. I just couldn't stand to see her in pain. I tried everything, and so did you @micstrachan .

 

[RoyalChick]

I lost my Clover earlier this year. She had a prolapsed vent, a really bad one. I just was torn in two because she was acting normal, but couldn't live the rest of her life in a box! Her sisters tried to peck at it, which would have made it much worse. I did end up putting her down but had to leave her. I just couldn't stand to see her in pain. I tried everything, and so did you @micstrachan .

 

[ILoveDaffy]

Thanks.

 

[Shadrach]

I'm sorry but this is not on you. How could your vet could not tell this was going on? How many times was she to the vet? Shameful on their part.

Please don't blame yourself for this. You used professionals for a reason.

There are a number of sicknesses that vets, even the good ones either cannot diagnose due to lack of knowledge, or due to lack of equipment and finances.
There are many case where further intervention are not in the best interests of the chicken
Briken limbs is one but I read of some truely barbaric lashups were people have made slings and put the poor chicken through maybe weeks of agony in an attempt to fix such things.
For a great many of the internal and reproductive problems in hens my view now is kep them as comfortable as one can, but either let them die or when it is apparent that they no longer have a reasonable quality of live, help them to die.
This belief we have that we can fix everything often causes more pain and distress than an assisted exit.

 

[RoyalChick]

There are a number of sicknesses that vets, even the good ones either cannot diagnose due to lack of knowledge, or due to lack of equipment and finances.
There are many case where further intervention are not in the best interests of the chicken
Briken limbs is one but I read of some truely barbaric lashups were people have made slings and put the poor chicken through maybe weeks of agony in an attempt to fix such things.
For a great many of the internal and reproductive problems in hens my view now is kep them as comfortable as one can, but either let them die or when it is apparent that they no longer have a reasonable quality of live, help them to die.
This belief we have that we can fix everything often causes more pain and distress than an assisted exit.

For sure. But the art is in judging quality of life. And to do that you need to be a close observer of behavior.

 

[featherhead007]

First Morning Together

Nothing bad happened. Phyllis got up and started pacing the coop wanting out with the other hens. She does not normally leave the roost until the automated door opens and today was no exception. She heard the automated door open and hoped down wanting out. So I let her out right away.

The littles did not leave the nest box until she had left. Here they are coming out.

Right away they decided to have breakfast.

It was actually a no drama morning.

Of interesting note. If you look hard at the video of Phyllis leaving the coop you will see a broken egg. It appears that poor Phyllis laid while on the roost last night.

Even though I descend from the tribe of David, I am quite concerned about the safety and security of those phyllistines

 

[featherhead007]

For sure. But the art is in judging quality of life. And to do that you need to be a close observer of behavior.

Or be a chicken yourself