Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[BY Bob]

Free Range Time

Part of my plan for the Phyllistines was to give them free range time outside the complex with everyone else. After their breakout on Tuesday i figured they would be out like a shot when i opened the door for them. I was wrong.

First the good news. They were in and out of The Hut all day yesterday. They know where home base is and can work their way in and out. Of course I have no video of how they do it. I need to get on that today. I am going to bet that somehow they are not using the ramp to get down but using it to get back in. We shall see.

Most importantly, they put themselves to bed yesterday. They did not go in with the heat block and I did not force the issue as they are fully feathered and the coop is heated. I do think that Legertha is already having to squeeze through the hole. I need to enlarge it today. However, I may be getting close to removing the heat block soon. They are fine today, running around and being chickeny.

So why didn't they come out into the yard yesterday when the opportunity was presented? Well this might have had something to do with it.

View attachment 2865537

As soon as I opened the door, Aunt Aurora went in and dustbathed right below their porch. They came out several times and looked down at her. Never did they come down.

I will be trying the same thing today. Hopefully Aunt Aurora has taken her bath before I open the doors.

I just caught Legertha walking up the ramp like it was nothing special. Question answered.

 

[Lexicon]

I can't believe there's an app for that. I must look into it.

The one I use is called "Flockstar" and was created by a fellow chickeneer for his own flock, but there are several to choose from, I believe.

 

[BY Bob]

First Ray's of Sun Hit the Ground

 

[featherhead007]

Som

Is it ok to bury some of the poop in during the winter? I heard it keeps them warm

Some, but I clean most of it up for the garden boxes

 

[Marie2020]

Som

Some, but I clean most of it up for the garden boxes

Thank you

 

[ChicoryBlue]

The 'breed descriptions' for Crested Cream Legbars say 150-200 eggs a year and my September count of 20 (which is 10 each) would say they were laying an egg every 3 days. They did more than that in that early summer rush.
I don't think I had started recording egg count last October - I started when Elizabeth started laying soft eggs which was definitely this year.
I don't know that there is anything I can do other than worry - they seem to be out enjoying themselves as normal. The only differences I can tell in them are:
- Feathers everywhere
- Minnie has diarrhea
- Minnie is roosting solo at night (right now she is hanging out with everyone else on the big roost - but I suspect at bedtime she will fly over to be on her own)
I could ask the vet if they can do a fecal float - although today's poos were so liquid it would be hard to get a sample.
Hmmm.

Well, I wouldn't worry too much yet, given what you are seeing. It is Fall, and there are also parallels to Hazel's molt. This assumes Hazel is okay, which is my operating mode right now.

1) The seasons daylength is for little to no eggs.

2) Molting supposedly slows down or stops egg production, and there seems to be a molt going on with your Roadrunners.

3) Hazel has had watery poo during her molt. Maybe this is normal for her. She was very thirsty for some reason, which seems to be declining now. At least, she wanted lots of water from my jug. I didn't see her drink a whole lot from the waterers but she did use them. It occurred to me that if she wanted to change up where and what she ate and drank, this would be part of it. Maybe loading up all at once gives chickens watery poo. In Summer, when they drink a lot for the heat, we expect watery poo, correct? I do still need to check the roost tray for what happened last night, and I didn't catch her doing it at all yesterday so I can't say what's going on right now. This concern is ongoing.

4) She was off by herself a lot, like Minnie, hanging with everyone more or less but more like "nearby" than "with". Like she rested and hung outside the dustbath pool when they were all going at it in there. She foraged by herself, in the vicinity of the others though.

5) I saw somebody roosting in the nestbox a couple of times, I suspect Hazel. They just don't want any bustling around them! No touching is the thing I think.

 

[featherhead007]

Not yet. Molting combined with shorter days is likely the reason. I only have one of eleven birds laying right now, ages 1-5 1/2 years old.

Only one?

 

[RoyalChick]

Free Range Time

Part of my plan for the Phyllistines was to give them free range time outside the complex with everyone else. After their breakout on Tuesday i figured they would be out like a shot when i opened the door for them. I was wrong.

First the good news. They were in and out of The Hut all day yesterday. They know where home base is and can work their way in and out. Of course I have no video of how they do it. I need to get on that today. I am going to bet that somehow they are not using the ramp to get down but using it to get back in. We shall see.

Most importantly, they put themselves to bed yesterday. They did not go in with the heat block and I did not force the issue as they are fully feathered and the coop is heated. I do think that Legertha is already having to squeeze through the hole. I need to enlarge it today. However, I may be getting close to removing the heat block soon. They are fine today, running around and being chickeny.

So why didn't they come out into the yard yesterday when the opportunity was presented? Well this might have had something to do with it.

View attachment 2865537

As soon as I opened the door, Aunt Aurora went in and dustbathed right below their porch. They came out several times and looked down at her. Never did they come down.

I will be trying the same thing today. Hopefully Aunt Aurora has taken her bath before I open the doors.

That is a great shot. And be honest, would you dare jump down into Aunt Aurora's bath? I wouldn't!
Maybe you could distract Aurora someplace else for a bit. Dig a hole, she will want to help!

 

[ChicoryBlue]

To me, the tubers looked a little like soursob bulbs (oxalis) which are considered an exquisite delicacy by the hens at my house.

https://www.globalnetacademy.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/oxalis.jpg

Yes they do! I don't recognize the leaves. I'll take another look.

 

[RoyalChick]

I just caught Legertha walking up the ramp like it was nothing special. Question answered.

That reminds me when I was really worried the little Roadrunners hadn't learned to use the nipple drinker. I had a camera on it to see and they never even investigated.
Then one day they just did, like it was how they had been drinking all along!
My guess is they just watched the older ones because no amount of me training them had any effect. My older ladies were fast to catch on - I just needed to tap on it and they all immediately got it.