Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[MaryJanet]

Nice!

Thank you! They're both extremely cute

 

[micstrachan]

Do you not think that would terrify the chickens?

Yes. Obviously it might. Do you really think I’m going out to buy a drone?

 

[micstrachan]

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

I like it!

 

[micstrachan]

ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, I cant sleep without them, year round. My blood circulation in my legs isn't good and my feet get cold, then they cramp up

Do you happen to have Raynaud’s? I’m pretty sure I do, but so far only in my hands.

Tax

 

[micstrachan]

Overdue SHRA & Chicken Tax:
New pics of Blondi and her friend...both nearly done moulting (they both had a very hard molt at 2.5 & 3.5 y.o respectively)

And who is that handsome rooster in the background?

 

[micstrachan]

I place Volt in the bag, hang the straps over my shoulder and walk to and from the allotment with her like this. I wouldn't say she is over impressed and she has stuck her head over the top a couple of times telling me to walk slower if I'm going to jiggle her about at the current speed.
I'm just waitng to get stopped by the police and asked what's in the bag.
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Shad, does her comb have a bit of a blue tinge or is that an illusion in the photo?

 

[micstrachan]

Interesting (and sad). I chose them precisely because they have not been bred to be egg or meat machines. They don’t lay very often - though in early spring they did go a bit nuts.
I wonder if it is just the breeder you got those from.
Anyway, fingers crossed for those of us who have them that they lead long and happy lives

Flash laid almost daily from the day she started until molt. I’m not thrilled about those genetics.

 

[micstrachan]

Tax...

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Holy fluff! What beauties!

 

[micstrachan]

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What is this beautiful creature?

 

[micstrachan]

I waited until I was at my computer to respond to this. Because of that I am now pages behind but what can you do. If you don't like rants please skip this post. I am very passionate on this.

Chickens are social creatures in many ways just like most humans. Most humans start to get upset when they are separated from other humans (I said MOST @Ribh , not ALL). This has become well document as people with the effects of isolation during the pandemic.

Spoiler: this is a non-chicken related rant but it does add to my point

At the height of the pandemic people with severe COVID cases were in the ICU for months. I said months! During that time, when struggling for every breath, frequently on a ventilator unable to speak, they were not allowed to have any family members visit. Many died in those beds all alone. It brings me to tears to think of the horror of dying slowly all alone like that. I always imagine how many might have found the will to fight on if a loved one had simply held their hand and spoken to them.

Around this time I was asked by one of my friends who worked in a healthcare system which was struggling to fight to keep up with COVID a fascinating question.

Would I rather die alone in an ICU bed struggling for breath or be eaten by an alligator?

I chose the alligator as there is no greater horror for me than to die slowly, all alone.

Now imagine you are a chicken. You don't feel well and are trying to hide it. Then your human removes you from your friends and puts you in a box alone in the house. There you will remain until you either get better or die. You have spent you whole life surrounded by your friends. Now they can't even come and touch your beak.

It is an awful thing to do to any social living creature. The people who direct you to do this have absolutely no understanding of what their society means to a chicken. They are only thinking of what is easier for the humans.

To backup @Shadrach point about chickens attaching sick members. I have had too many sick chickens pass away with their friends. I have never seen them attacked by the rest of the tribe. I have only seen the members of the tribe support the sick one until the bitter end. Sometimes like Patsy with Daisy, the greatest hen ever, they even sit with them peacefully as they pass.

I believe that this does occur in factory farms, just like cannibalism does. It is not a product of the chicken's society. Rather it is the product of their horrendous living conditions and lack of a normal chicken society. This incorrect knowledge based upon an abnormal living environment has been handed down and become "common knowledge" which is just plain wrong.

We will never know the depth of their connections. How could we? We are fools to ignore it and we are worse than fools if we don't try to support it and them through acknowledging its existence.

Rant complete. Thank you for reading.

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I, too, am in the keep them with their friends camp, unless it’s necessary to bring them indoors or if they are self-isolating. Minnie seems to quite like going into the (human) house around roosting time if I’ve left the door open.

Margo, who was alpha at the time, chose to sit touching shoulders with Rusty inside the run with the gate wide open during free range time. Yep, she chose comforting her friend over free ranging for herself. Rusty was too weak to get on the higher roost and Margo roosted down beside Rusty until her last day. The day Rusty died, Margo was back up on the top roost.

Bridge, however, who is my current alpha, attacked Ruby on one of Ruby’s sick days. Usually Bridge is a gentle leader, so this was quite surprising. It only happened one time.