Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[RoyalChick]

I'm not surprised, I know you still miss her...subconscious selection, I suspect. (My Rosie has been gone a year now,,,and I still get weepy at times!)
Was for the pic. These are for you.

 

[BY Bob]

Tax
The original four ladies off on an adventure. View attachment 2896057

That is truly a special photo.

Maybe cropped it would make a good picture of the week.

 

[RoyalChick]

Okay, it's a bit of a cheat shot for FBF.
Apart from my ineptitude with the camera the moment I get them in focus they suddenly decide there is somethinng that urgetly needs pecking at.
View attachment 2896040

What are those two poles with black stuff on the ends?

 

[featherhead007]

You two and all your car talk. I am NOT a vehicle person. Could not care less as long as it RELIABLY gets me where I need to go with a reasonable degree of comfort. My little brother, on the other hand, is totally into it. He even designs and builds custom high performance parts! His very first vehicle was a ‘76 (?) refurbished Buick Skylark that had been my uncles’s. He just loves building up and driving muscle cars.

I care about the Lexus, because it’s the car I give my chooks rides in. They love road trips, like some dogs do.

 

[BY Bob]

I'm not surprised, I know you still miss her...subconscious selection, I suspect. (My Rosie has been gone a year now,,,and I still get weepy at times!)
Was for the pic. These are for you.

Thanks. I think everyone understands. These are for you and your loss.

 

[BY Bob]

Thanks. How about the way they interact with different levels within the hierarchy? The part I find most interesting is thst they are more tough on thise directly benesth them than they are on those a few steps lower. Perhaps because those right under them could potentially dethrone them?

This has been my observation as well although I have two toughies in my group that just go after anyone at any time. In general, Aurora keeps track of Sansa and Sansa keeps track of Sydney. Sydney does not really trouble with Phyllis too much but she has shown interest in pecking the Phyllistines. Of course everyone below Aurora has shown interest in keeping them down, so to speak.

 

[BY Bob]

Well said. Thank you, @BY Bob, for hosting this thread. And thank you to everyone else for your varying participation/contributions. As I’ve said before, this is my home on BYC.

You have no idea how that makes me feel. I look forward to your posts and you would be sorely missed if you stopped coming by.

 

[featherhead007]

You have no idea how that makes me feel. I look forward to your posts and you would be sorely missed if you stopped coming by.

 

[BY Bob]

I am largely in agreement with you. I think we are fortunate (not lucky as I think a lot has to do with our host) to have folk on this thread willing to both write and read.
I am a massive fan of @micstrachan's lovely videos which enable me to learn not only from what she knows but also expand the number of chickens I get to observe closely. I have learned a lot about body language from those for example. Several others here also post long but lovely and information rich posts. And then of course there is you, and Bob and several others who have real experience and are generous in sharing it with us.
All that said, I think there is plenty of room for some light hearted chit chat that tends to be shorter.
It is the same as conversation in real life - sometimes you chit chat, sometimes you joke around and sometimes (maybe too rarely) you have serious conversation.
And just like in real life I often feel hesitant to post a long post (she says halfway through writing something to rival War and Peace!), because I feel like maybe I am imposing on the reader's time.
What I think we may under-estimate is @BY Bob's role in all this. He is very much our host and sets a tone that is important. I therefore do think it is great that he responds to almost every post even if it is just short - just like acknowledging a house guest and making them feel welcome. He also encourages us to stay mainly on chickens (tax, FBF, MSM etc.) and pushes us to observe and be fact based.
All in all I think Bob has created something special here and I am incredibly grateful for everyone in this thread.
And now I owe some serious chicken tax but it is bucketing down outside so I will go to the archive.

So I cracked out the computer, I needed it to respond Shad anyway , because I thought this post would require a lengthy response from me. @RoyalChick know that I am very grateful for your presence here (I look forward to every exchange we have whether is is about the frightful winters you have or some interesting behavior you have noted or captured on film). Not to mention the fact that I owe you a debt that I will never be able to repay.

What I am about to say applies to everyone, not just @RoyalChick . If you wish to post a post the size of War and Peace, go for it. I have been asked many times, is it OK if I do a memorial for so and so. No need to ask, put it right on up. We are all traveling this chicken journey together and we all feel your losses and revel in your successes.

To those who drop in looking for help. Patience is the word. While we are all scattered around the globe, many of us work and simply cannot respond at the drop of the hat. I have been meaning to do this for a while now. To everyone who participates in this thread, Please, if someone posts looking for help with a sick chicken, if you are on and see it, direct them immediately to the sick chicken forum. They may get faster help there. If that response waits for me it could be a half day until I get to see their post and critical time may be lost.

I enjoy light hearted chit chat as well as tough conversations regarding chicken keeping and behavior. I am pleased that we can have it all here. If that means I need to pull out the computer from time to time, this is just fine with me.

 

[BY Bob]

I'll try to explain then.
For some reason; we could examine the reasons at a later date, if one writes a post that contains much more than a sentence, let alone a few paragraphs, it has become the done thing it seems to apologise for writing something that may require more than half a seconds worth of concentration on the part of the reader.
Part of the problem, as you mention, is people are using mobile phones which are not suitable for writing more than a bit of predictive text style posts and responses. This imo greatly diminshes the power and joy of communictaion.
There are a number of posters who are notorious for this. What's more, these posters are in general on threads that have nothing to do with chickens; essentially their posts are just noise, but it's noise that gets clicked and liked.
I won't point you to the threads or posters.
I'm rather fond of language and I like to read posts with relevant and informmative content, especiially if it's a well reasoned response that contests a post I've made.
Some of this is due to people, as you point out, rushing about trying to do too many things in a limited time. I'm a bit old school with the view that if one is going to bother at all, concentrate on the task at hand and try to make a good job of it.
The answer for me is probably not to go and read these threads and put the worst offenders on ignore.
So, your posts for example with your lovely videos and your descriptions of what you observe in your flock I enjoy reading.
I would rather just click the like button than respond in print to every post.
For someone like By Bob, or any other thread host things are not that simple. To keep the thread alive thread hosts are more or less obliged to respond. It's part of whhat makes a thread popular and it's one of the reasons I don't host my own thread.
So, my original post to Bob was a bit of a dig at, a) modern technoology in particular the mobile phone which I detest, b) a bit of a dig at some of the "leading lights" on BYC who I doubt could write a full paragraph if their life depended on it, c) a further dig at the number of posters who arrive on BYC demanding instant attention and solution to their problems who don't seem to realise that those here with the knowledge and willingness to help are not called Siri or Google annd have other things to do in their lives other than answer their questions whch can usually be answered by using the search function on the site and reading (oh my how awful is this!) a few paragraphs.

First let me say I appreciate you taking the time to explain your post for everyone as while I understood well what you were saying there was a lot of confusion among others.

I have been a lover of long posts since I came here. Simply telling the story of my hens has required lengthy posts. I like hearing a longer story or having a discussion. I had a lot of fun last week just posting a 100 photos of Lilly and Patsy. (talk about your long posts).

I am glad that you have chosen my thread as one of your homes. I thoroughly enjoy engaging with you and having discussions around observed behaviors for one. I especially like that we do not always agree. That is good and keeps the conversation interesting.