Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[ChicoryBlue]

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.

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I'll defer to others but she seems to be hanging in pretty well, active and sociable, and doing alright overall, eating at least a little bit of everything available. She's coming along okay. For you!

 

[Shadrach]

This one isn't scared. There are now four that will jump on to my lap if I sit in the run chair. Much to my surprise Matilda who is probably top hen has stopped giving me the out of range distance treatment. I don't really want any of them on my lap, but I do want them not to scatter when I walk; that bit was pretty easy, I've been walking around chickens for a long time now. Not so easy is to get them used to being touched. I've mentioned before, I touch their beaks first. It's easy to start by hand feeding them. I need to be able to catch them if necessary with any drama.

 

[ChicoryBlue]

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

There are air guns used around vineyards. They fire at random and drive crows, whatnot, and especially swallows carrying coconuts, away from the grapes. I know this factoid because I had a wedding gig way out in wine country on one of the Finger Lakes. It was a late night and they put us up in a rental house right on the vineyard. Oh what a joy it was waking to the sounds of cannons at dawn zzzzzzzz

 

[featherhead007]

There are air guns used around vineyards. They fire at random and drive crows, whatnot, and especially swallows carrying coconuts, away from the grapes. I know this factoid because I had a wedding gig way out in wine country on one of the Finger Lakes. It was a late night and they put us up in a rental house right on the vineyard. Oh what a joy it was waking to the sounds of cannons at dawn zzzzzzzz

But…. What type of Swallows, African or European Swallows?

 

[featherhead007]

There are air guns used around vineyards. They fire at random and drive crows, whatnot, and especially swallows carrying coconuts, away from the grapes. I know this factoid because I had a wedding gig way out in wine country on one of the Finger Lakes. It was a late night and they put us up in a rental house right on the vineyard. Oh what a joy it was waking to the sounds of cannons at dawn zzzzzzzz

“Cannons to the left of me, cannons to the right “

 

[featherhead007]

And would someone please tell Arizona and Dakota that it’s time to come in. Everyone else is already tucked away for the night. But those two….

 

[RoyalChick]

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Hi there Wildfire.

 

[RoyalChick]

There are air guns used around vineyards. They fire at random and drive crows, whatnot, and especially swallows carrying coconuts, away from the grapes. I know this factoid because I had a wedding gig way out in wine country on one of the Finger Lakes. It was a late night and they put us up in a rental house right on the vineyard. Oh what a joy it was waking to the sounds of cannons at dawn zzzzzzzz

I think that would terrify the chickens!

 

[LozzyR]

Everybody STOP TALKING so I can catch up!

 

[bgmathteach]

How about noise - see #3 in the attached.
https://worldbirds.com/how-to-keep-hawks-away/
I am skeptical but who knows, maybe it works.

hmmm, if it is annoying to hawks, would it also be annoying to chickens?