Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[LozzyR]

A Day of Rememberance

November first is a tough day around Fluffy Butt Acres. It is the anniversary of perhaps the greatest failure of mine as a chicken guardian. It is the day that my chicken friend Elphie fell in the pool and passed from hypothermia while I ran inside to take a call for work.

I remember her every year on this day. She was the first of these chickens to take an interest in me. She was funny, smart, and beautiful. She taught Daisy, the greatest hen, ever the ropes.

For those who choose not to read the entire thread and don't know Elphie's story, here is a link to it.

Post in thread 'Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock' https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...es-stories-of-our-flock.1286630/post-22082853

Post in thread 'Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock' https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...es-stories-of-our-flock.1286630/post-22424389

And here is my friend who I tragically let down. I miss you all the time. I'm so sorry my friend. Please forgive me and rest in peace.

View attachment 2885151View attachment 2885152View attachment 2885153View attachment 2885154View attachment 2885155

Hugs Bob.

 

[rural mouse]

How do your soft boiled eggs turn out?

What are soft boiled eggs?

 

[micstrachan]

A Day of Rememberance

November first is a tough day around Fluffy Butt Acres. It is the anniversary of perhaps the greatest failure of mine as a chicken guardian. It is the day that my chicken friend Elphie fell in the pool and passed from hypothermia while I ran inside to take a call for work.

I remember her every year on this day. She was the first of these chickens to take an interest in me. She was funny, smart, and beautiful. She taught Daisy, the greatest hen, ever the ropes.

For those who choose not to read the entire thread and don't know Elphie's story, here is a link to it.

Post in thread 'Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock' https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...es-stories-of-our-flock.1286630/post-22082853

Post in thread 'Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock' https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...es-stories-of-our-flock.1286630/post-22424389

And here is my friend who I tragically let down. I miss you all the time. I'm so sorry my friend. Please forgive me and rest in peace.

View attachment 2885151View attachment 2885152View attachment 2885153View attachment 2885154View attachment 2885155

Awww, Bob. Hugs, my friend.

 

[featherhead007]

Okay, I won’t tell @BY Bob anything about it!

I didn’t say a word!

 

[rural mouse]

Sorry - I spelled it wrong! No deer getting killed here. A young one is eating apples 12 feet from our living room window right now.

Noisy little things aren't they!

 

[rural mouse]

Last guess. How about a juvenile peregrine falcon? The face marking that extends down from the eyes could from a side viewing look like a neck ring.View attachment 2885036.

Not a bad guess, but the tail shape and beak shape don't fit. Pretty bird. I've seen a few peregrines, but never a juvie. The tail had the swallow type split and it had a pointy -ish beak. Hmmmm. Nope, still stumped. If I ever figure it out, I'll share.

 

[Marie2020]

The Story of Elphie

Elphie’s time with us was not very long and her story is a tragic one. Her story is one that is integral to my deep affection for the amazing animals that chickens are. Elphie is the hen that reminded me of what wonderful companions they can be. The fact that her death was directly my responsibility is ironic and still haunts me to this day.

The initial flock that we had were primarily raised by my wife as we agreed. They were her companions in the backyard. When Dolly was attacked and killed by the hawk the innocent fun that they were for my wife went away. In fact her initial response was that she did not want to keep them anymore. After I reminder her that it would not be fair to Trisha, she agreed to let me look for another hen to keep Trisha company.

So I hit up craigslist and found someone selling full grown leghorn hens about 45 miles away. (Yes @Shadrach , I did purchase her for $10). We went that night to get her and placed her onto the roost with Trisha that very night. There was very little fuss as Trisha accepted her right away. I guess Trisha figured Elphie was better than living alone.

My wife having raised Trisha from a chick was her best friend. Trisha hung out with her when we would be sitting outside. However, Trisha was not what you would call a cuddly hen. She hung around but not like Daisy, the greatest hen ever, would do. Where Daisy was obsessed with humans and would jump in your lap, Trisha would come by, say hello, hang out for a minute and then move on. It turned out that Elphie determined I was a weak spot and could get me to feed her some of whatever I had. She loved people food, especially Cheese Itz, which she quickly figured out was my usual snack.

So Elphie focused her attention on me. Frankly I loved it. She had personality plus and we started hanging out together whether I was working in the backyard, reading in my chair, or relaxing in the pool.

When not interested in us, Elphie and Trisha were a good flock with little pecking and what seemed to be an easy companionship.

Then tragedy struck again.

I was outside with them one day and they were both in the coop. I figured they were laying their eggs for the day. Well Trisha was laying her egg and doing so unsuccessfully. Eventually she would come scrambling out of the coop with Elphie running right behind her. All kinds of squawking accompanying them.

Obviously I was drawn to them and rushed over to see what was occurring. Elphie was trying to peck at Trish’s butt. When I finally caught up with them I found an egg stuck in Trisha’s butt. Elphie was trying to peck it and break it.

Lord help me I did not know what to do. I had never seen anything like this before. I placed Trisha into a cardboard box and brought her inside. I the hit up the web to try and locate a veterinarian anywhere near us that would treat a chicken. I remember the phrase I used begging vets to help me, “She is a dear pet and I desperately need help to save her”. It was all to no avail; I could not find anyone willing to try and help me.

I was getting desperate. Running out of options, I found a vet online that would consult with me over the web for a fee. Not finding any other help, I signed up.

I can hear you all now. What about Backyard Chickens? I so wish I had known about this site at that time. Unfortunately I did not.

The online vet worked me through a couple of things but I simply could not get the egg loose. I eventually had to break it and then make certain I had gotten all of the shell out of her. He then advised that I shorten her daylight exposure to try and suppress Trisha’s laying instinct for a while. So every night for two weeks I would go and gather Trisha off of the roost and would place her in a cardboard box in a dark room and keep her there for more than 13 hours. I would then place her back out with Elphie.

Elphie never acted up and Trisha remained top hen. Trisha acted like a normal hen and everything seemed good. Trisha would never lay another egg but we did not care about that. Unfortunatley a month or so after we stopped the darkness treatment my wife would find her passed in the run one morning. We have always assumed it was a result of the egg binding. I did not feel the need to have her autopsied, at this point what difference did it make why she passed.

This hit my wife hard and she wanted to pack it in again. At this point I had gotten attached to Elphie and I simply waited until my wife was gone on a Saturday and I went and got Daisy. I was not done with chickens at all. Elphie was slowly worming her way into my heart and sucking me into the chicken lifestyle.

What Elphie would teach Daisy over the next few months and the way in which they were fascinated with us would make us chicken people forever.

Here are some photos of Elphie. I don’t have a lot as I was not quite into chicken photography yet.

Elphie with her birthday cupcake
View attachment 1996528


Enjoying Captain Crunch for breakfast
View attachment 1996529

After Falling in the Pool
View attachment 1996532 View attachment 1996533

Raiding the tomatoes out of the garden with Trisha
View attachment 1996534

Legally entering the garden after the growing season with Trisha (Elphie is on the left)
View attachment 1996537

Enjoying Thanksgiving stuffing with Trisha. (Elphie is on the right)
View attachment 1996538

Braving the snow to come see us at the backdoor
View attachment 1996542

Finally, enjoying a strawberry
View attachment 1996543

Daisy's Story
I have been telling Daisy's story here but it has taken several months. Here are links to the story. I am listing them in the chronology of Daisy's life, not the timeline in which I have written them.

Jan 7, 2020. The Story of Elphie. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/fluffy-butt-acres-stories-of-our-flock.1286630/page-365

Nov 3, 2019. The Story of Daisy, the greatest Hen Ever (Entry 1). https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/fluffy-butt-acres-stories-of-our-flock.1286630/page-210

Dec 14, 2019. Daisy meets Elphie. https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...s-of-our-flock.1286630/page-281#post-22020233

What beautiful girl and so lucky too have lived such a wonderful life. She even had a birthday cup cake what bliss.

 

[rural mouse]

that bird is cute

They are...they're also speedy little guys, run rather than fly and noisy.

 

[ChicoryBlue]

Not a bad guess, but the tail shape and beak shape don't fit. Pretty bird. I've seen a few peregrines, but never a juvie. The tail had the swallow type split and it had a pointy -ish beak. Hmmmm. Nope, still stumped. If I ever figure it out, I'll share.

Well the tail is s big clue! I didn't catch that before, thought it just flew like a swallow. I'm reserving another guess!

 

[Marie2020]

A Day of Rememberance

November first is a tough day around Fluffy Butt Acres. It is the anniversary of perhaps the greatest failure of mine as a chicken guardian. It is the day that my chicken friend Elphie fell in the pool and passed from hypothermia while I ran inside to take a call for work.

I remember her every year on this day. She was the first of these chickens to take an interest in me. She was funny, smart, and beautiful. She taught Daisy, the greatest hen, ever the ropes.

For those who choose not to read the entire thread and don't know Elphie's story, here is a link to it.

Post in thread 'Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock' https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...es-stories-of-our-flock.1286630/post-22082853

Post in thread 'Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock' https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...es-stories-of-our-flock.1286630/post-22424389

And here is my friend who I tragically let down. I miss you all the time. I'm so sorry my friend. Please forgive me and rest in peace.

View attachment 2885151View attachment 2885152View attachment 2885153View attachment 2885154View attachment 2885155