Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[BY Bob]

I just love your photos! I love that our view is at eye level with the hens and you capture the details of their feathers so wonderfully.

@ChicoryBlue is a great photographer.

 

[RoyalChick]

I’m pretty sure there’s a version where there’s a chorus of Muppets shouting “LAAAAAAA LALALALAAAAAAA” but I can’t find it.

Ok, here’s my tax. My girls throughout the years.

The original duo, Lucy and Emily.
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Lucy, Henny Penny and Chickie (can’t tell who’s who from this shot).
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I think this is Chickie and Penny, according to the date of the photo.
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Baby Bessie and Charlie.
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The tribe keeping Bessie company when she was sick.
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Bessie taunting Jasper.
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“The service here is terrible! Wake me when breakfast is served”. Still one of my favourite photos of Chickie, even though she was unwell.
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Tegan, Nyssa and River arrive.
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As it’s Friday, here’s Nyssa’s fluffy butt.
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My only ever “roost-er”!
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Charlie doing her dinosaur impression.
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Charlie beakbooking Phyllis.
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Lucy, having got lighter in colour as she got older. (Bonus fluffy butt).
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Lap-chicken!

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That was a joy! And lap chicken was preceded by swamp chicken?!

 

[RoyalChick]

This is kinda good news! It is more 'normal' chicken stuff...not the severe aggression of the previous day!

Sorry about the shell-less Diana egg.

Yes I felt that too. I just got back from Thanksgiving and am about to look at the camera recordings around the nest box to see what happened today. They were enclosed all day but did have a fresh heap of leaves and fresh (frozen) corn cobs hanging up to entertain them.

 

[RoyalChick]

Shad himself would tell you it is possible to keep mixed breeds, but not optimal. We've had this discussion many times simply because I have one of the oddest, most mixed flocks going ~ without any of the issues Bob faces. However between Shad's advice & Bob's issues when I had the opportunity to add several beautiful Polish to my tribe I turned them down. I don't think Bob will take Shad's advice amiss. They too have had this discussion several times but ultimately the decision is Bob's. Like RC I think, with time, Bob will have a Polish sub~tribe without having to rehome completely. I certainly hope so as Bob has such a bond with Phyllis & Sylvie but what is to be admired in Shad's comment is that he has put the chickens' well being first. Most of us don't. We love & care about them but put our feelings above what might be better for the chickens.

Well said.

 

[Ponypoor]

It is a long journey to get here. I hope you enjoy the read. Please don't be a stranger here.

Yep I know it's long, I am on 'page' 35 hahaha

It's my night time reading material!

 

[RoyalChick]

Interesting. A jump but no foot paddle. If Maggie intended to do harm to Dotty she would have scraped her feet down Dotties back and pecked her head while she was on her back.
It's not a mating jump either from what I've obseved with roosters.

That is a helpful thing for me to watch out for. To me it looks like Maggie asserting her position relative to Dotty.
My hypothesis is that Dotty has been challenging Maggie - but I haven't seen that directly I am just extrapolating from how aggressive she can get with me - which we can laugh about but is a real thing.

 

[Ponypoor]

You need to train those birds better, lol. Those surprises they leave behind are dangerous.

Don't have to worry about poopy chairs here, instead poopy hay. Nothing like grabbing the strings on a square bale only to realize it's full of gooey cecal poop

 

[RoyalChick]

At the time of posting, Platina is scared of carrots.

Carrots can be scary - I don't blame her!

 

[rural mouse]

I've never put eggs from another hen under a broody. But, I have had quite a few broodies hatch eggs that were laid by another hen in their tribe.
I haven't had a broody hatch eggs from a hen in another tribe.
On the very few occasions a hen from another tribe has tried to lay eggs in another tribes nest the hens attack the intruder. Strangely, the roosters don't and often encourage it.
There is an example of this in this thread.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/cooperative-behavior.1288804/

I would be inclined to believe that any chicks hatched by an existing hen would have a much better chance of being accepted because the hen who hatches the eggs will/should protect the chicks until they are of an age that the broody hen thinks they can cope on their own. This gives the chicks an enormous advantage as one might expect.
If the chicks grow to look radically different from the broody and the others in the group it seems possible that while they may not be driven away they will not have the same status as chicks that look like the rest.

I put eggs under Mama when she was broody. I hadn't been leaving eggs under her and by the time I realized she was broody, there were none. Worked with someone with a tribe (broody had just hatched some) so got 6 eggs from him. 1 hatched: Storm. Only blue bird. Mama was very protective, Rusty was attentive, and a great sentinel. Both parents were killed when Storm was 3 weeks old. The rest of her raising has been done by the rest of the tribe with the only rooster, Cheetah, just 9 weeks older. She's stuck close to Silver and Pear (lead and 2nd). At 17 weeks, her face is pinking up like she's getting ready to lay. Wasn't a great situation, but pulling her from the tribe to be raised by me, then put back with them wouldn't have been good for her either. Future additions I would much prefer to be raised by the hens. If I have to (due to predator depredations) I'll raise chicks, but even there, I'll try to let the adults raise the children. Smarter, more savvy babies, easier for me, integration simpler when they're tiny.

 

[rural mouse]

I don’t have any peanuts

She'stselling you to add them to the list, along with sunflower seeds.