Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[BY Bob]

same here, I am keeping an eye on Sibbie, her comb has been pale for 3 weeks or so, she is eating and pooping, but a pale come is not a good thing, in this pic it is nice and red.
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Pale comb is not a good sign, especially in a leghorn. It certainly is a good idea to keep an eye on her for any other possible symptoms.

 

[The-White-Elephant]

@BY Bob so sorry for not posting pictures of my flock, I have been really busy lately. I will post them when I have a bit of free time

 

[BY Bob]

It may be a cultural issue too. It can be said that folks in the United States and Canada have had to figure out, more or less, how to live and care for animals in extreme weather conditions. We get everything, and it's in our history. Folks in Britain and Europe have not, at least until recently, had to regularly deal with the kinds of extreme weather events you list. I would add the predator situation is very different also. So we're coming from different traditions.

This is very true. Thanks for bringing it up. It is easy to forget the differences.

I have gone to great pains to ensure maximum comfort for them in my environment as I know you have as well.

 

[BY Bob]

@BY Bob so sorry for not posting pictures of my flock, I have been really busy lately. I will post them when I have a bit of free time

It may seem like there is pressure or some requirement to do so. There is not. When you have time, post away. Until then it is no big deal. We just all love chickens and want to hear about yours.

 

[The-White-Elephant]

I’ll post the whole flock later, but here is Checkers, our rooster: These 2 pics are one of the best that I have taken of him

 

[featherhead007]

For throwback Thursday: little Coco. The teenage months.

 

[rural mouse]

Stir fry? (I’m out)

The feral neighborhood cats are as spoiled as your tribe

 

[featherhead007]

The feral neighborhood cats are as spoiled as your tribe

Probably!

 

[micstrachan]

Peanut update - Naked But Not Afraid

She's doing okay I think. She is pretty naked on her legs, breast, belly, shoulders and wings, but things are growing too, and she's eating. That's the coop warmer in the first picture, she likes it and goes there periodically to warm up.

I've also put a heating pad set on low inside a plastic bag and covered with a big T-shirt and a bit of hemp on the roost bars along the back of the roosting area (the green roof seen here is the bottom of that part), it covers a little more than a third of the area, so they can get on it or not, it's available for Peanut, who I suspect though sleeps in the nestbox area which has chopped hemp she can snuggle into (that's the white area above her and the coop warmer here. It probably puts a bit of warmth up there). The evening I put the heating pad in they were afraid of it and two slept on the roost bars and somebody wedged in with Peanut like Yin and Yang into the nestbox, so that was even better.

Here you can also see a bit of the red bowl which I've been putting in Exact baby bird food pudding every morning, she eats a lot of that. She also chows on the Feather Fixer pellets and the last of the brussel sprout greens. It may help that she's Alpha, nobody pushes her around with the food. Hazel takes some liberties but mostly lets her do what she wants. Peanut takes herself away though when things get too close, she hates to be touched now. So when she warms up she stands here or pecks around near it. Sometimes I see them all grouped around it, even someone lying down next to it. They also go up into the coop for daytime rests. Those slots are not vents, just reinforcing curves in the plastic.
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Here below is Peanut taking some baby bird formula from my finger before I put the bowl in the back. This was after she saw the bowl in my hand this morning and just laid right into it right there, her beak smacking with the pudding. This was a second round. Warms my heart to see her eating! I have not tried to hold her or feel how skinny she is because of this. I think she is hanging in.

She often stands with one leg tucked up, I think it keeps her nakedness warm against her skin. Why waste the opportunity when you only need one leg at a time?
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Peanut seems to be taking that hard molt like a champ! I need to get one of those coop warmers next year.

 

[rural mouse]

I’ll post the whole flock later, but here is Checkers, our rooster: These 2 pics are one of the best that I have taken of him

Is he an appenspizen (or however that's spelled)? He's beautiful!