Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[BY Bob]

It cleared up and he was well on the mend, but the heatwave this summer, his Meat Bird Genetics, and a little additional stress from Sammy and their feud were too much for his heart. He put his girls to bed one night and then had a presumed heart attack (based on his comb).

I'm sorry to hear that. He was a pretty amazing guy.

 

[micstrachan]

Poppy is gone. I went out to let everyone loose this morning and while opening the door to the coop Poppy flew off the roost and crashed into the door. Thankfully it was quick and she was gone almost instantly although I'm shattered and been in tears all day.

Oh no, oh no! How heartbreaking!

 

[micstrachan]

Frostbite
Yup. I am afraid it really is frostbite and a tad worse than I first thought. Still not too bad. I don’t see much swelling and she is very active and eating so hopefully the worst that will happen is she loses those two tips.
I feel bad because it shouldn’t happen and I should have known better.
I looked at all my endless photos of her and I am pretty sure it happened the night after she ran around in the rain and got wet. Although it wasn’t massively cold that night I probably should have brought her into the garage.
Poor Dotty. It may be the end of her modelling career.
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Oh, who needs those little comb tips? She’ll be just as beautiful without them!

 

[micstrachan]

Thank you for your kind words. I've replayed this in my head all day. Why did she try to fly off when she did. I was not late letting them out. She always, always waited until everyone else was out of the coop before she came out. In fact most times I would pick her up and set her down outside. I do not think anything spooked her. I love these silkies so much, but they have also caused a lot of heartbreak. I'm just over a week out now for the Chiquita eggs to possibly hatch. Instead of excitement I'm now filled with dread imagining what is going to go wrong. Poor Branch is beside himself, I let him see her body after it happened but he searched and called for her all day. He did not want to roost tonight, I had to put him up 5 times. He kept flying down calling for her. I am not going to try and find another hen. I will just have to hope that if the eggs hatch that at least 1 is a pullet. If it is in the cards and Chiquita goes broody I will let her hatch out a few eggs. They will not be the Branch x Poppy chicks I was looking forward to this spring, but they will at least be Branch babies.

Awww… poor Branch.

 

[micstrachan]

I got the plates for Mrs BY Bob last year for Christmas. They were an incredible find on Wayfair. They are Orvieto Blue Rooster plates hand made and painted in Italy. Each of them is a little different. They are ridiculously expensive but for some reason Wayfair had them last year and I got them for 1/4 the normal cost. I bought every one they had as they put them up on the website and I would up with a service for 12. I could not believe my good fortune. They had none before Christmas this year. This is what they look like.

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What’s with the donuts (?) in the background?

 

[micstrachan]

@BY Bob, Lancaster Chicken Coops won’t answer me over email, phone or online form. Their customer service person is on maternity leave, so business comes to a halt, I guess?

 

[Ponypoor]

Ok. That's a bridge I have not crossed.

Me either! But gonna try with the chicken breast leftovers! That just remind me of the dead black squirrel I threw on the manure pile, the turkey vultures next door left me a tidy neat skeleton! Creepy

 

[Ponypoor]

I got the plates for Mrs BY Bob last year for Christmas. They were an incredible find on Wayfair. They are Orvieto Blue Rooster plates hand made and painted in Italy. Each of them is a little different. They are ridiculously expensive but for some reason Wayfair had them last year and I got them for 1/4 the normal cost. I bought every one they had as they put them up on the website and I would up with a service for 12. I could not believe my good fortune. They had none before Christmas this year. This is what they look like.

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Very fanciful and quite charming! I love them

 

[Ponypoor]

It cleared up and he was well on the mend, but the heatwave this summer, his Meat Bird Genetics, and a little additional stress from Sammy and their feud were too much for his heart. He put his girls to bed one night and then had a presumed heart attack (based on his comb).

So sorry to hear that

 

[MaryJanet]

I try not to do that too much, FB gets pretty darn toxic, opposed to most of the people here. I mean this thread and chicken friends are awesome, but I’ve seen some pretty nasty stuff here on BYC too (mostly the preadator and meat bird forums). So I don’t want to burden anyone, or seem overly negative, add in all of the overwhelm and… not good.

There’s also the fear of negative backlash from not portraying the expected positivity. Right before my big social media purge, we had some issues with flooding, and supply chain issues, which led to of course more panic buying and general nonsense here. So, being alone without transport, and off grid (yes, eventually even I run out of my carefully stockpiled fuel…) so they put a 30L (7 gallons) limit on gasoline. No biggie, if you can get to the gas station. Some of my FB “friends” were being obnoxious about people complaining about it. I (stupidly) thought elaborating on how it affected me might add some different perspective about things like accessibility and need. I got absolutely lambasted by this person, told I didn’t understand rationing, mocked, and called a stupid snowflake… all while dealing with DH in the hospital, being physically trapped by flooding, losing my pet, and a nasty little cold snap. Really kicked me when I was pretty down but still trying hard to stay upbeat, publicly at that, and then several of her friends (complete strangers to me, started in on me too). Just for trying to give a different perspective on the fuel rationing situation.

So, I did a massive FB purge, 300+ people unfriended, and most of them won’t even notice I am gone. Over 3/4 of my “friends” gone. I kept family, really close friends with shared interests, anyone who lives on the same (literal) island as me. The result? I’m not bombarded by a bunch of peoples opinions on everything, especially current “events”. I have more peace of mind, honest positivity, and feel better knowing if I make a post that isn’t all about fake positivity and “flexing” my lifestyle, the people who will see it are ones that matter to me.

Some Additional info about my living situation for any new friends here… I’m completely off grid, on an island with one, questionable at the best of times, road access to our side of the island. I run a Gas powered generator to charge my batteries for RV lights, the water pump, and electric heat when the generator is running. (RV is a mid 90’s model! So not a spring chicken or a three season either, because it’s “temporary” while we build our house). Being off grid, I stock up a little at every shop to keep a decent supply of basic stuff. So we don’t need to panic but when life sends us hiccups, not even TP! I usually have on hand about 120L (31 gallons) of gas, one (now two with my heater) jerry can of diesel, and we have 5 20lb BBQ, and 3 taller 30lb propane tanks (we also have a propane heater, fridge, stove/oven. When it became clear a resupply was going to be problematic, I immediately started rationing my supplies (we won’t even go into the chicken feed situation! I have a lot of chickens) and only treating myself to the bare minimum 1-2hrs of generator power to keep everything functioning. I went basically one month with no supplies or shopping, and oh boy, was it nice when DH finally got home with feed and gas!

Long story short FB is evil… BYC is way better.

Look, I know you don't really need hugs because you got this, but