Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[BY Bob]

Poor thing! The membrane around the egg isn't something I've seen before you shared the videos. Can the vet do a phone consult about it?

Naenae has slowed down considerably. She isn't even laying every day anymore. It has gotten colder and the days are shorter, so I think this is a big help.
Her hormone treatment is fully worn off (only lasts 1 month and we are well past), so this is all her little body slowing down.
She looks svelte now! View attachment 2876730

I so hope that the winter lay off well help her body to calm down and find the proper pacing.

 

[BY Bob]

These are brown Leghorns: for your pleasure. View attachment 2876766

Wonderful. Beautiful girls.

 

[PolishAllTheWay]

Sylvie and Legertha say jump on in.
View attachment 2877197

They are so cute

 

[BY Bob]

Drama, drama, drama

1. Kid comes to me: you might want to check on your birds. Coop is wide open and their squawking a bunch. .... I left the big door open for airing the coop. Head out there. Cheetah is squawk/honking from the olive trees. More noise in the coop. Inside are Pear and Twirp, both on wall of nest boxes. Pear is yelling, to which Cheetah is replying. Twirp (who hasn't laid an egg yet) is in the box most of the pullet eggs have been in (had one on floor yesterday: only one not in a box). back to this in a moment.
Twirp
View attachment 2876940

2. The last several days, have had Thing go missing, only to find her huddled face first into a bush. First time this happened I thought she was dead. Not so, just huddled in, protecting her face. Brought her back to the olive tree (favorite shelter spot for all, but getting BARE) and most of the tribe "attacked" her. She ran, found another spot, buried her face, hunkered down and stayed put. Most of the pecks were to her back, some standing on her, no blood. Then they'd all head back to the tree or whatever they had been doing. 3 times the 1st day, again the next. I brought her into the garage for a good meal as her crop wasn't stuffed like the others. got her eating (she wouldn't drink out of a bowl, likes the nipples), then trimmed her crest so she could see better. She eats after the rest have settled down to roost (so does Storm), but doesn't do much ranging outside the coop. Not sure what's going here yet. Still doing observation. She is wanting to eat more oft he scratch/meal worms than the pellets, so I'm making sure some is where she can find it (after the others are going for most of it) BTW, she doesn't cluck or bawl. She HONKS.
Thing
View attachment 2876941

3. Back to the rest of the story. Thing isn't in the coop while the nest yelling is happening. I start looking around for her. (Yelling still happening). Check everywhere she's been before. Check farther afield. Still no Thing, but yelling has mostly stopped. Notice waterers are low. Good way to look around: get jug, start filling, making a circuitous route and keeping eyes peeled. Back into coop to top up the nipple bucket. Pear, the largest bird, is in the tiniest nest box (where the pullet eggs have been) and is silent. Twirp is on top of the nest boxes. Ordinarily, Twirp is a quiet little thing. Not then. SHE was yelling and it was coming out a worse HONK than Thing's is. Finish circuit for water, back to the coop for the last little bit in the jug, and spot Thing sitting under a bush on the opposite side of the coop (west side). Set down the jug and go to get her. She's NOT face fit at in the bush, but facing out looking around. Then she runs ....much less shelter, ok time to return to coop, let her go from there. Put her just inside the open big door, let her figure out what she wants to do. Twirp is now in an upper, roomy nest box, tossing and turning. I'll be going back out to see about eggs later.
Pear
View attachment 2876942

4. Cheetah mated with Thing. That brings the list of those I've witnessed to Splash, Cuckoo, Silver, and Thing. He grabbed Nellie and she ran in circles until he let go.
Nellie
View attachment 2876944

edit: wind picking up, blew the door open (i had closed but not latched). Twirp is outside, no egg. Thing is inside, settled, not face buried. Pear is still in tiny nest box, grumpy expression. She was kinda on her feet when I came in, but promptly sat down. caught a glimpse of an egg: blue. she lays brown. i could swear the box was eggless at the beginning of the yelling fest, but Twirp was semi-in the box, and I have no idea what color she lays yet (still don't know what she is)

Is Thing your only mop top?

 

[bgmathteach]

Sylvie and Legertha say jump on in.
View attachment 2877197

I know I've said this before, but @BY Bob, they are just so darn adorable!!!

Who wouldn't love to jump in and hear their escapades?!?!

 

[featherhead007]

I know I've said this before, but @BY Bob, they are just so darn adorable!!!

Who wouldn't love to jump in and hear their escapades?!?!

Bob’s little ladies really are sooooo cute !

 

[rural mouse]

Is Thing your only mop top?

Technically she's Thing 2. Thing 1 was killed by the dog, so she isnt the only one the tribe has seen. She also has 5 toes as did T1 and Dora (Dorking, also killed). T 1 would join the rest of the tribe exploring some of the time and hang out with T2 the rest of the time. T2 has had me ponder if she's partially blind from time to time. Then there's the thought that light reflects/refracts/filters through white feathers differently from black, and that's affecting her vision. Since trimming her feathers again, the rest haven't been pummeling her. When I ordered the chicks, I requested no Polish or other crested breeds due to the vision interference. I had been working on plans to rehome the both of them with a flock of Polish, but rehoming 1 bird with the question of blindness on top of that isn't fair to her either. Since the new trim this week, she's seems to be more observational, less picked on, and her "blindness" appears to be more feather obstruction. I have to do more observing, possibly more trimming, and the rehome is still a possibility (they had some problems pop up too : working on splitting their flock into 2 areas). As no blood has been drawn, waiting and watching seems the best option at the moment.

Edit: as she is one that Cheetah has mated with, there's a possibility of some of her eggs going under a broody this spring. Winter is just starting and is long. Alot can change (look at this summer), but if someone goes broody, and if Cheetah is mating her, if she's laying, if I can tell her eggs from Nellie's, and if a rehome hasn't happened, then making sure some of her eggs are under the broody is 1 way of maybe changing this. Lotta ifs and time in that.

 

[featherhead007]

Technically she's Thing 2. Thing 1 was killed by the dog, so she isnt the only one the tribe has seen. She also has 5 toes as did T1 and Dora (Dorking, also killed). T 1 would join the rest of the tribe exploring some of the time and hang out with T2 the rest of the time. T2 has had me ponder if she's partially blind from time to time. Then there's the thought that light reflects/refracts/filters through white feathers differently from black, and that's affecting her vision. Since trimming her feathers again, the rest haven't been pummeling her. When I ordered the chicks, I requested no Polish or other crested breeds due to the vision interference. I had been working on plans to rehome the both of them with a flock of Polish, but rehoming 1 bird with the question of blindness on top of that isn't fair to her either. Since the new trim this week, she's seems to be more observational, less picked on, and her "blindness" appears to be more feather obstruction. I have to do more observing, possibly more trimming, and the rehome is still a possibility (they had some problems pop up too : working on splitting their flock into 2 areas). As no blood has been drawn, waiting and watching seems the best option at the moment.

A very good and caring person wrote this post!

 

[rural mouse]

A very good and caring person wrote this post!

Thank you, Alex

 

[featherhead007]

I can hear Arizona and Dakota purring and cooing in the next room. (Such a relaxing sound) makes me want to go to sleep. But I can’t just yet. (Paperwork to do)