Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[bgmathteach]

You see a puncture wound into the right "cheek"? I can't see it. Is it possible the bleeding is from the nare damage, bleeding into her mouth, or possibly from a talon getting into her open mouth and cutting tissues there (or her tongue) from inside? I've never heard of anything that can be done for internal mouth injuries. I'm hoping she recovers well.

I could see the wound from inside her beak, and it was bleeding both into her mouth/beak AND outside through her muff. It is at the very back of her mouth, so the exterior part of the wound is through her muff, though hard to see the outside damage in person, it was clear it was a through & through since it was bleeding from both sides. With careful parting, I could see the exterior wound, but she was not at all cooperative. (interior wound site was obvious when I could get her to open the beak and hold still for a second!)

Yes, I think she will be fine as long as there is no infection.

 

[Ponypoor]

What do you guys think of this for my flock of ten? It’s expensive amd on the small size compared to what they are used to, but looks nicely made. The assembly video really shows the size. It would be quick smd easy, assuming we could get it shipped in time.
https://overezchickencoop.com/products/extra-large-chicken-coop

Hey, so I was wasting time online (rather than shovel snow ha) when I came across an article on Hoop Coops, I had looked at this style last year, but forgot about it. It might be an awesome option for you! Easy to build and convenient to move/remove. I bet you could do this yourself and have a great little coop section and run. Just a thought....

 

[BY Bob]

Just happy to not be froze! There is a palpable relief between the chickens and the horses. Extreme Cold stress is a huge problem, same as extreme heat... Why can't we just have a constant 26C ??

Why not indeed?

 

[BY Bob]

It’s Sunday here. Even my humor took a day off!

Just one day?

 

[BY Bob]

All building materials have their up and down side. My barn is cement block, darn chilly in the winter but heavenly cool on those steamy hot sultry summer days .

I fully insulated the Hen House room in the barn so the chilly cement wasn't an issue, only the floor which is paving bricks, isn't insulated, I keep that covered in several inches of shavings and straw.

I want to put a ceiling fan in there for the summer but not sure how or what to utilize for that, it's only a 4x10 room so I don't want to have a hurricane in there! Also don't want to have dust etc stirred up, I use box fans for the horses in their stalls but their stalls are rather larger . There are two windows in the hen house....

Any suggestions anyone ?

I use a dual fan window fan and a battery powered misting fan. Both work well.

 

[BY Bob]

So we have some new introductions… here is Chunk Roostie’s boy, he’s big like his father, and quite Tall. With a very good demeanour. Still has a bit of the cow hocks going on, but he’s a sweetie.View attachment 2985428

And Dean Crowing, you can see the still black tips of his comb from the frostbite…View attachment 2985432Tailless, Goldie (aka mean meat mama!) and the new favourite dust bath spotView attachment 2985441

And this nice little girl shows her grand-dad Chickie Hawk’s cheek puffs!View attachment 2985443

Marvelous chickies! I love the new roster. He's a looker!

 

[BY Bob]

View attachment 2985499

What a lovely lady.

 

[ChicoryBlue]

What do you guys think of this for my flock of ten? It’s expensive amd on the small size compared to what they are used to, but looks nicely made. The assembly video really shows the size. It would be quick smd easy, assuming we could get it shipped in time.
https://overezchickencoop.com/products/extra-large-chicken-coop

There is some discussion on BYC about these coops, general impression I got is people think they are of better quality than the general ready-made coops but definitely pretty pricey. The ventilation is too small (I think you want 1 square foot per chicken?), and the windows if it's screening will need hardware cloth put in instead. You'll want to provide a run of some kind. The dimensions include the nest boxes, so it's four feet wide maybe? I totally understand your need for speed in housing your tribe though.

I looked up a bit about them because DH was watching that venture capital show Shark Tank and told me about it, the owner was on, somehow had a deal offered, needed cash to make coops because they were selling like hotcakes and backordered at the time but was obstinate and/or greedy and ended up making all the sharks mad and didn't get anything.

 

[BY Bob]

More story time

Was on the deck watching flock interactions and lobbing snowballs at the doghouse every time Storm started in. (Decided to fence off the door for the time being: she's one unhappy bird at the moment, but stubborn, so may take a while). Back to the deck for more observations. Jessica got off the nest. I headed out to get an egg count. She was back inside the coop when I got inside.View attachment 2985507
The nest:View attachment 2985506
That's Splash.

Anyway, Jess had a drink, went outside, back inside, food, drink, up to perch...
View attachment 2985509
Did some grooming, hopped back to nest boxes, talked to Splash, who talked back, back down, back outside...repeat several times. While she was out, Splash moved some eggs (saw 4 white, didn't see the brown: 1 white looks like Thing's, and if we ever get a cockerel with Thing's crest and Cheetah's coloring, the name MUST be Lion). It looked like Jess was checking on nest/sitter and getting told "all fine, enjoy your break."

Eventually Jess decided she was done. This is what happened
View attachment 2985511
Eggs are under Splash, not Jess (who did some nest building). Not sure if Splash decided to add an egg and took the nest for that or just wasn't going to leave the nest while I was in the coop.

Battery for pics decided to desperately need charging (after waiting a bit), so leaving them to it.

I had been thinking the eggs would get too cold during breaks, delaying hatch, but if this technique works, viable chicks are a real possibility...and sooner than I had been thinking. Splash was in that box on the Wed I had been saying Jess wasn't broody. Splash hasn't had the turtle posture, but.....i may need to have food/water ready sooner than I thought.

Edit: wrote up and posted the above then went back out to add baby ramp/shelters to coop. Splash was outside and Jess back on the eggs. They REALLY do NOT want me to see how many eggs there are.

Lilly did that for Sydney one day during her hatch. Lilly did not lay an egg. I just think she wanted to try setting for a few hours. Sydney sat in the box next door and waited for Lilly to leave. Just like Jessica.

 

[BY Bob]

View attachment 2985672

She is very wise.