Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Ponypoor]

Well, a lot really!
I have been struck by how chickens were revered and worshipped and were the pets of royalty rather than food for the people. There is at least one theory that the shape of a crown (as worn by kings and queens) is modelled on a rooster's comb with the points etc.
It was also interesting to read the research efforts to find the DNA of the Red Jungle Fowl because they interbreed with domesticated chickens so only in very remote areas were they possibly 'pure'.
I had not really appreciated how far man's association with chicken went back. The attached is a sketch of a chicken from Egypt dated 1300-1100 BC. It is in the British Museum apparently.
Right now I am in the middle of the whole question of man's migration to the new world and the evidence of the Pacific vs the Atlantic route as with evidence from chicken bones.

Awesome!

 

[featherhead007]

Poor Jaffar might be unlucky.

Nice to see no snow, we r slated to get about 8" of it tonight and tomorrow.

My mountain property has so much snow, I can’t even get up to see it.
I go camping there in the summer, when it’s too hot down here.

 

[Ponypoor]

If you have a crockpot, fill it to the top, put it on the ground. Then set up stuff around it to raise the "floor" to it, like some blocks or bricks, so the chickens can easily reach the top.
Alternatively what I have right now is a heated dog water bowl, and I put that up on a block so stuff doesn't get kicked into it. I have a heated horizontal nipple waterer that I like and worked well last year, occasionally iced up on one of the nipples, and I just haven't gotten around to using it. I like watching how the hens drink from the surface of water these days. It evaporates quite quickly when it's really cold though.

Good to know! I was thinking heated dog bowl also.

 

[Ponypoor]

My mountain property has so much snow, I can’t even get up to see it.
I go camping there in the summer, when it’s too hot down here.

That's really handy!

I wish we had a warm area here that could get to In the WINTER! Alas Canada is a true northern winter country, 6 weeks of hot hazy and humid weather and 6 months of dreary misery.... Boohoo.

Tax for whining about winter:

 

[ChicoryBlue]

Well yesterday's video shows them alerted while inside the coop where they are perfectly safe. I never thought I would see that. So I would say no.

I have seen them alert in the fully protected run as well. They are surely wary. I don't expect I will see them without a worry and fully relaxed ever again.

I dunno - I wouldn't give up hope - mine alarm inside the Palace if they see something. I think ages ago I posted Diana alarming from the roost while staring out the window at something I certainly couldn't see.

Well, they were naive chickens, a certain innocence gone, you mean? Yes, sad. A preening party is a pretty relaxed time, but even then I think the reason it's a party, all close together, is so some can preen and others look out at times. That's being a chicken.

I think when chickens see danger, they are wired to think that if they can see it, then it can see them. Which is true. I don't think they consider the rest of the situation around them, like being in a secure structure. Glass means nothing in this sense (chicken to predator: "Ha ha, you'll never get me through this hard glass! - said no chicken ever). Makes sense why rehabbers will put a special hood over the eyes of a bird they are capturing to help, because it calms them down a lot. Maybe you could get some little sleep masks for everyone at FBA. Phyllis could have a nice fancy one with doily edges.

 

[BY Bob]

I will let everyone know how the waterer works. Now if I can find an overhead infrared heater

The cozy coop can be mounted above. It works in any position.

 

[BY Bob]

Well, they were naive chickens, a certain innocence gone, you mean? Yes, sad. A preening party is a pretty relaxed time, but even then I think the reason it's a party, all close together, is so some can preen and others look out at times. That's being a chicken.

I think when chickens see danger, they are wired to think that if they can see it, then it can see them. Which is true. I don't think they consider the rest of the situation around them, like being in a secure structure. Glass means nothing in this sense (chicken to predator: "Ha ha, you'll never get me through this hard glass! - said no chicken ever). Makes sense why rehabbers will put a special hood over the eyes of a bird they are capturing to help, because it calms them down a lot. Maybe you could get some little sleep masks for everyone at FBA. Phyllis could have a nice fancy one with doily edges.

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That would be hysterical. Little sleep masks.

Your are correct about the naivete of course. I know they are feeling anxious by their behavior. I am also reflecting my feelings into all of this and I'm sad that their lives won't be the same. That makes me sad.

It is likely very good that they are hypervigilant now. It will keep them alive longer.

 

[Lexicon]

It is a plugged in device. It has a temperature trigger inside. So when the water temp gets to 32°F, 0°C, it starts to warm. It is supposed to always create enough heat to keep the water from freezing. I assume it just pulls more current to create more heat as the temperature drops.

We've used one since the winter of 2014/2015 with the water only freezing once. Of course that was because the circuit breaker had tripped due to snow getting into an outlet elsewhere and shorting it out. We have had temperatures down to -10°F, -23°C.

My heated nipple waterer has never failed me, but it is something I feel concerned about, so if I don't see one of the hens drink from it when I bring them their breakfast, I test it out myself. I used my finger, not my "beak!"

 

[featherhead007]

Rocks-Anne, decided to come see me today. If She walks up to me, I reach out my arms, and if she scratches the ground in front of me, it’s the sign that she wants to be held. I pick her up and we cuddle together (lots of sweet talking and petting) she’s hanging out with Hen-Rietta now more than ever. A very big change in coop dynamics is occurring also. FYI

 

[BY Bob]

Rocks-Anne, decided to come see me today. If She walks up to me, I reach out my arms, and if she scratches the ground in front of me, it’s the sign that she wants to be held. I pick her up and we cuddle together (lots of sweet talking and petting) she’s hanging out with Hen-Rietta now more than ever. A very big change in coop dynamics is occurring also. FYI

New friends and alliances shaping up.