Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Grandmas Coop]

Minnie update
Sorry for long post - really just therapy for me.
Even though she is a damaged breed (no, @Shadrach I am not going to let that go any time soon ), I am not giving up on Minnie.
At @BY Bob's suggestion I am trying starter grower feed - she seemed only so-so interested but at least she ate some yesterday.
She is way more interested in finely diced cabbage. Everything smells of cabbage - her poo (now more-or-less reliably solid) smells of cabbage, the Chicken Palace smells of cabbage (do chickens fart at night? I think she is gassing up the place!), my kitchen smells of cabbage, I assume I smell of cabbage.
I rather like cabbage but I may not be able to face eating it myself for some time after this.
Anyway, this morning at 6am when I went in to take Minnie off the roost for her private breakfast of starter/grower food with cabbage and meal worms, she was already up and about in the dark. And, shockingly, was nibbling on regular commercial feed.
She was joined by the rest of the tribe and they do run her off the food a bit but she was getting in there. I have observed that they are communal eaters and prefer to eat together so I decided not to put her in the hospital ward but let them all chow down on her breakfast. She of course didn't get the lion share, but I can do another plate at lunch for them.
Minnie is still very keen on Gatorade which probably isn't healthy, but on the other hand provides fast calories (dextrose) so I think I will keep letting her have it until she puts on some weight.
Her comb is still pale and shriveled - seems to go up and down a bit during the day, but hasn't been wonderful since I first got worried about her.
Her behavior is normal and energetic.
And her feather growth is interesting - she is developing a grey striped patch in the middle of her red chest and a thick wad of black feathers at the base of her rump. I don't know if those are future tail feathers or something else.
You can see all of that in the pics and short video below.

View attachment 2893851View attachment 2893852View attachment 2893853View attachment 2893854

? molting? , it is so hard on their system, my 1 year olds and granny the 3 year old are just coming out of it. Granny had it the worst, lost even her tail feathers this year but they are growing in so very nice.

 

[BY Bob]

7 ladies playing in round 1 of leaf collection! They are having a great time, but get a little short with one another quicker than normal based on my morning observations today View attachment 2893850

Great photo! I think molting puts everyone on edge a little more.

 

[micstrachan]

Ok, I’ll stop on the hawk deterrents, but RC is onto something. It turns out programmable drones is definitely “a thing”. I just don’t know if there’s something with a strong enough battery it can run all day nor how tight one can make the flight pattern. I am really loving this idea. I do wonder if it would scare chickens or could they just get used to it? Also, this could get crazy expensive.

 

[BY Bob]

Minnie update
Sorry for long post - really just therapy for me.
Even though she is a damaged breed (no, @Shadrach I am not going to let that go any time soon ), I am not giving up on Minnie.
At @BY Bob's suggestion I am trying starter grower feed - she seemed only so-so interested but at least she ate some yesterday.
She is way more interested in finely diced cabbage. Everything smells of cabbage - her poo (now more-or-less reliably solid) smells of cabbage, the Chicken Palace smells of cabbage (do chickens fart at night? I think she is gassing up the place!), my kitchen smells of cabbage, I assume I smell of cabbage.
I rather like cabbage but I may not be able to face eating it myself for some time after this.
Anyway, this morning at 6am when I went in to take Minnie off the roost for her private breakfast of starter/grower food with cabbage and meal worms, she was already up and about in the dark. And, shockingly, was nibbling on regular commercial feed.
She was joined by the rest of the tribe and they do run her off the food a bit but she was getting in there. I have observed that they are communal eaters and prefer to eat together so I decided not to put her in the hospital ward but let them all chow down on her breakfast. She of course didn't get the lion share, but I can do another plate at lunch for them.
Minnie is still very keen on Gatorade which probably isn't healthy, but on the other hand provides fast calories (dextrose) so I think I will keep letting her have it until she puts on some weight.
Her comb is still pale and shriveled - seems to go up and down a bit during the day, but hasn't been wonderful since I first got worried about her.
Her behavior is normal and energetic.
And her feather growth is interesting - she is developing a grey striped patch in the middle of her red chest and a thick wad of black feathers at the base of her rump. I don't know if those are future tail feathers or something else.
You can see all of that in the pics and short video below.

View attachment 2893851View attachment 2893852View attachment 2893853View attachment 2893854

She is looking good. They really fly like a leghorn. You are doing a great job with her.

 

[Grandmas Coop]

@RoyalChick I looked for the original post but didn't find it,
I think I understand you have vertigo,
I am so sorry! I had a coworker that got it a lot. Her Doc. had her 3X's a day tip her head to one side and hit/thump/ whack the other side of her head to help realign the inner ear crystals???????????????????

Anyway,, I am sorry you are down and I am sure you are not all to happy about this either.

 

[RoyalChick]

@RoyalChick I looked for the original post but didn't find it,
I think I understand you have vertigo,
I am so sorry! I had a coworker that got it a lot. Her Doc. had her 3X's a day tip her head to one side and hit/thump/ whack the other side of her head to help realign the inner ear crystals???????????????????

Anyway,, I am sorry you are down and I am sure you are not all to happy about this either.

Yup - that's it! I have an appointment with an ENT but not until December and I am wondering what he will do differently, just hit me over the head with a bigger bat maybe?
Actually, I have made so much progress I am feeling optimistic. I don't love being wobbly but I don't usually wear socks anyway so no need to fret about the scariness of putting on socks.
Mind you, socks would provide good protection against Dotty's ankle pecks so maybe I should take them more seriously.

 

[BY Bob]

Lost 146 in dollars right now thanks too them . If I'm lucky I will get £48 99 back. They said it would be returned yesterday now it's seven days

That's terrible. It feels wrong that you should lose money when they did not deliver what you purchased. That's not right.

 

[BY Bob]

I was envisioning some sort of solar powered crow that could “fly” back and forth hanging from a wire with pully wheels ir something, but haven’t found it yet. Might be fun to try to make if that’s your cup of tea.

in the mean time, i found this.

I would need a LOT of these!

 

[BY Bob]

Awww - thanks for asking.
I did the dreaded maneuver again yesterday morning and I think it helped some more. I can get in and out of bed OK now and haven't yet dared tried putting a sock on my left foot!
I am immeasurably better than when it first started but still not 100% and it really knocks your confidence a bit - I keep worrying it will hit me and I will fall over.
Hey ho!
Here is chicken tax of Maggie’s muddy toenails after digging up the long grass. She hopped up on my table to show me. View attachment 2893863

I'm so glad you have improved, even if it is just a little. This seems like such a scary thing.

 

[BY Bob]

I was thinking of a drone like thing with a pre-programmed flight pattern!
Even better if it had hawk-recognition software on board.

Just an automated nerf system would work. You know like an anti aircraft gun on a ship.