Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[GregnLety]

Canadian hillbilly chickens

I myself am a hillbilly so when I call someone or something else a hillbilly it is intended as a compliment.

 

[rural mouse]

Fbf, rinse and repeat pics

Caught the littles all in a pile, sleeping....except my little "cockerel" (until we know for sure). "He" was in the middle, playing sentry. He's also the one the middle son likes best. Every batch of chicks he's picked out one as his favorite: always turns out to be a roo. He even named Cheetah.Youngest is just delighted with his featherfoots (despite middle's "they're ugly": he always has that too). Had a cockerel name idea. Depends on if he likes sentry from on a rock (as he's not a Plymouth rock): Gibraltar. Hyacinth is a possibility, but with 5, not 4, I'm not sold on that at the moment. Personalities take time. The darkest Brahma started the scratching first with the other 2 quickly following suit. The lighter of the 2 Sussex seems to be mostly glued to lil man's side...except last night when they slept in pairs: a DB in each pairing... coffee calling, then to check on the littles.

 

[BY Bob]

I wanted EE’s so bad, but I settled for my Rock garden. (No EE’s available at the time) FYI

I love EEs. The bitsa of the breeding world.

 

[Marie2020]

The video played up for me, but I thought that might have just been our connection. Viralhog is on YouTube but they have so many videos, I couldn’t find it. I might try on the computer.

Thank you

 

[Marie2020]

It's a lovely day

The girls have been helping to sort out my raised bed. Looking like the mice got in there it was tunnelled out

 

[rural mouse]

A couple of years ago, on the advice of an experienced chicken keeper locally, I brought home some decomposing granite (shovel and tub at the base of a cliff face) for the basis for a bird hospital. Sitting in the house for a couple of years, little did I know I'd wind up using it (in a bigger tub) for a brooder. Bringing him unexpected chicks meant I had to set up the brooder AFTER we got them home. Pulled into the garage, grabbed the broodert off from the last batch, the lamp (in pieces), the chick waterer, one of my nest box replacement straw bales (WAY more than needed, but in the garage), the chick feed, and the box of chicks (all piled into the tote) and head for the house. Inside, empty the tote, leaving the chicks boxed. Sent YS (the feather footed lover) down to get the tray feeder from the coop and some wire for the top when they're big enough to play Houdini. find the gravel and dump ALL of it into the tote. then open up the straw and 2 flakes pop off. rewire the rest, then grab a bag to hold the extra 1 and a half flakes. add a couple of garden retaining bricks to hold the waterer, fill the waterer, food in the tray and into the tote. Next dilema: the lamp (it's what I've got). usually clip the lamp to a shelf in the garage. this is in the house: nearest shelf is 5 feet up....hang a plant hanger off the hook on the shelf, clip lamp to it....still too high...where's the extender chain from the bird xylophone my sister gave the chooks for Christmas? That works, and allows for raising the lamp. Still need the tote lid to help hold the heat (crosswise). Chicks turned loose, everyone finds water, all good.

Fast forward to this morning:

Lots of "digging", compacting the straw (with the shavings included from the box they came home in). Duh! "Mama" digs out stuff for them to work on! Insert hand, dig down to gravel. I'm expecting some dust bathing. NO! Instead lots of picking and scratching: digestive grit.

They've already filled in most of the hole and found another. And the most enthusiastic? The DBs.

Edit: I'm more convinced the australorp is a roo. He's the snugglebug, come up to the hand and rubs against it. The ladies are much more skittish.

 

[RoyalChick]

A couple of years ago, on the advice of an experienced chicken keeper locally, I brought home some decomposing granite (shovel and tub at the base of a cliff face) for the basis for a bird hospital. Sitting in the house for a couple of years, little did I know I'd wind up using it (in a bigger tub) for a brooder. Bringing him unexpected chicks meant I had to set up the brooder AFTER we got them home. Pulled into the garage, grabbed the broodert off from the last batch, the lamp (in pieces), the chick waterer, one of my nest box replacement straw bales (WAY more than needed, but in the garage), the chick feed, and the box of chicks (all piled into the tote) and head for the house. Inside, empty the tote, leaving the chicks boxed. Sent YS (the feather footed lover) down to get the tray feeder from the coop and some wire for the top when they're big enough to play Houdini. find the gravel and dump ALL of it into the tote. then open up the straw and 2 flakes pop off. rewire the rest, then grab a bag to hold the extra 1 and a half flakes. add a couple of garden retaining bricks to hold the waterer, fill the waterer, food in the tray and into the tote. Next dilema: the lamp (it's what I've got). usually clip the lamp to a shelf in the garage. this is in the house: nearest shelf is 5 feet up....hang a plant hanger off the hook on the shelf, clip lamp to it....still too high...where's the extender chain from the bird xylophone my sister gave the chooks for Christmas? That works, and allows for raising the lamp. Still need the tote lid to help hold the heat (crosswise). Chicks turned loose, everyone finds water, all good.

Fast forward to this morning:

Lots of "digging", compacting the straw (with the shavings included from the box they came home in). Duh! "Mama" digs out stuff for them to work on! Insert hand, dig down to gravel. I'm expecting some dust bathing. NO! Instead lots of picking and scratching: digestive grit.
View attachment 3028674

They've already filled in most of the hole and found another. And the most enthusiastic? The DBs.

Edit: I'm more convinced the australorp is a roo. He's the snugglebug, come up to the hand and rubs against it. The ladies are much more skittish.

You've got a lot going on!
Do be careful with the heat lamp - those things terrify me.

 

[Marie2020]

I'm getting help today. After all this rain the coop run became saturated with water again, so got all the chips out and got a little dust bath at the corner of my small long part of the garden. The rest is going too have a pallet makeshift fence so I can attempt to grow vegetables.

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

I want to show you all what I deal with 6 days out of the week. When it comes to being loud Raven puts any rooster to shame. She starts this on her way around the house when she has to lay her egg. It can take sometimes 20 minutes for her to make her way to her nest box. After she lays her egg though she will leave quietly thankfully. This is only 2 minutes of her announcing to the world a egg is on its way. Blueberry, Creamy and Squirrel are the same way, but thankfully only start singing once they reach the bottom step. Warning, turn your volume down.

 

[RoyalChick]

I want to show you all what I deal with 6 days out of the week. When it comes to being loud Raven puts any rooster to shame. She starts this on her way around the house when she has to lay her egg. It can take sometimes 20 minutes for her to make her way to her nest box. After she lays her egg though she will leave quietly thankfully. This is only 2 minutes of her announcing to the world a egg is on its way. Blueberry, Creamy and Squirrel are the same way, but thankfully only start singing once they reach the bottom step. Warning, turn your volume down.

She is lovely and that is a great video of her. But I am sorry to say Maggie would put her to shame on the noise front. Similar volume I would say, but Maggie doesn't restrict herself to egg time. She will go on like that if she sees a squirrel, or if she hears me, or if a car comes in to the driveway, or sometimes, just 'because' and it goes on for forever!
Personally I have a soft spot for these vocal chickens.