Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[BY Bob]

Thank you. Still going through some things, but getting through.

It is nice to hear from you again.

 

[BY Bob]

Hmm .. I wonder now how she would look with pearls on struttin her stuff. .

Like this

 

[BY Bob]

I have my own problems. Arizona fell asleep on my lap, and it’s time for bed

How lovely.

 

[BY Bob]

I'm waiting for @Kris5902 to pop in with a picture of a chicken on Arduinna's back!

That would be wonderful.

 

[BY Bob]

View attachment 2893663

CHICK BUTTS!!!!!!

 

[MaryJanet]

CHICK BUTTS!!!!!!

Yayyy!!!

 

[Lady Red]

A flyby hello! Hopefully more graceful of a flyby than a chicken rendition...
Anyway, the girls are doing well! We've busted out the heated water bowl and the other drop in heater for the larger nippled bucket.
Hubby put a bunch of leaves in Pecking Garden today. They loved scratching and exploring in them..
Sadly, no pics...I've been chained to my desk.

Wishing everyone well and I miss you all!

 

[ChicoryBlue]

Talking it Out

I am going to share an internal monolog which I have been having with myself. I am not sure that anyone can help me with this but this is what I was thinking as I sat in my chair under the Magnolia tree today with the big hens milling around my feet and the Phyllistines locked into the big run.

If we go back to why I added 2 more chickens to my tribe, requiring the construction of a new coop and a cross country run to meet a special lady in Allentown, PA, I wanted to achieve 2 main goals.

1. I wanted to provide Phyllis with a better roosting experience. The abuse she was taking on the roost simply offended my sensibilities and did not feel fair to me at all. No chicken should have to endure that just to sleep.
2. I wanted to try and create friends for Phyllis. Too many times I see Phyllis off on her own. The others tend to stay together and have the protection of their designated Sentinel. There is safety in numbers and ideally, Phyllis and the Phyllistines will wind up hanging out together. Birds of a feather and all.

#1 is achieved. Phyllis is roosting in the new coop. Frankly it went pretty smoothly as well.

So obviously I am kanoodling over point number 2.

I cannot force them to be friends. I would not if I could. So how can I create an environment where they might wish to start associating with each other?

I know some people may not be completely aware of how I manage my tribe. Let me describe how I try to let my ladies live their lives. The typical day at Fluffy Butt Acres starts with their release from the complex around 7 or 8 am. Weather permitting I will sit with them from the time I release them until 9:00 when I will start work. At that point they are responsible for themselves. There is one real predator here for which they must be alert and that is the red tailed hawk. From 9:00 am until 4/5:00 pm (post daylight savings change in the fall) they are on their own. I will come out about that time and share the remainder of the evening with them. Once they are back in the coop, I close up the complex and head back to work. In good weather I will also spend an hour or so with them at lunch time. I am very lucky that I work from home and can set my own hours.

This is a lot of time for them to be chickens. To enjoy the yard, the sun, eat what they want bathe and sleep and most of all, take care of themselves. I strive to let them run their lives. Of course it is within the confines of my fenced in yard. There are days when I will not be home and they need to stay within the complex. I try to leave things for enrichment on those days and they have plenty of room to avoid each other should they desire.

In general, this has worked well for them. I have lost one hen to a hawk and one to a weasel. The hawk was from before I understood there even were hawks and the weasel, well there was little I could do about that. So while there have been hawk attacks and sitings, in general they have been vigilant and survived them. This knowledge is shared with the newcomers over time. That is why there is so much less danger now than there was 7 years ago when none of the chickens knew there were killers in the sky.

So what is crazy old BY Bob actually kanoodling. Get to the point.

Normally at this point, any pullet I have would be out with the main tribe free ranging unsupervised. This enables them to integrate with everyone else with the whole yard as an available escape route. This time I am not doing that. I am keeping the littles separate to protect them from the hawks. They are locked in the big run all day until I let them out around 4 for 100% supervised free range time. At most they are getting 90 minutes outside of the complex with the bigs around. How is Phyllis supposed to form a bond with these newbies if she never sees them outside of a short period of time in the evening before bed?

As an example. By hanging around the tribe, new pullets usually know by now that there is good food up on the deck. The Phyllistines have never been to the deck without me carrying them. They have no idea.

As I watched them this morning I thought that I could lock Phyllis in with them. That would be so cruel to Phyllis to take the yard from her. Imagine her watching the others roam the yard while she was locked up with those little brats. Play with your younger sisters. You don't need to go to the dance with your clique.

I don't dare let the littles out. They have been actively hunted and simply are not aware enough to trust them alone.

It seems my only option is to wait until they are bigger and thus less of a hawk target. I'm not certain what else to do.

Following your thought process. If the "birds of a feather" theory is really true and gets a chance to play out, in my opinion that will happen sooner or later or not at all, regardless. Roosting with them is familiarizing Phyllis with them well enough, again in my opinion. She won't see them as strangers when they are older joining the group during the day. She has company at night now, a good thing.

For risk reduction I don't see much other solutions either until they are bigger, but they are still at a disadvantage then due to their ever-so-cute mop tops. They just cannot see above them and look out for themselves. Red-Tails, especially large females, will kill large birds if they can. You will be fighting this battle every year with every migration, 2x /year. Birds pass through and hang also as you have found out, so "teaching" one bird doesn't change your odds much, even during one season I'm afraid.

Even when older and bigger you'll want time for them to learn the practical ropes, probably close supervision by you during the height of migrations next year, spring and fall. But one cheery thought though - they are hearing what's going on in and around the yard now, so they could put together the lessons quickly.
Hugs for you!

PS Kanoodling /canoodling means "pondering", down there in PA?

 

[BY Bob]

A Video for MJ

The girls swing by for a quick visit with you @MaryJanet

 

[BY Bob]

Following your thought process. If the "birds of a feather" theory is really true and gets a chance to play out, in my opinion that will happen sooner or later or not at all, regardless. Roosting with them is familiarizing Phyllis with them well enough, again in my opinion. She won't see them as strangers when they are older joining the group during the day. She has company at night now, a good thing.

For risk reduction I don't see much other solutions either until they are bigger, but they are still at a disadvantage then due to their ever-so-cute mop tops. They just cannot see above them and look out for themselves. Red-Tails, especially large females, will kill large birds if they can. You will be fighting this battle every year with every migration, 2x /year. Birds pass through and hang also as you have found out, so "teaching" one bird doesn't change your odds much, even during one season I'm afraid.

Even when older and bigger you'll want time for them to learn the practical ropes, probably close supervision by you during the height of migrations next year, spring and fall. But one cheery thought though - they are hearing what's going on in and around the yard now, so they could put together the lessons quickly.
Hugs for you!

PS Kanoodling /canoodling means "pondering", down there in PA?

Yes kanoodling is pondering down these parts.