Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[BY Bob]

3 eggs....all gone when I got home from work. I suspect the magpies. They replaced the 3 with 1 in the flower bed and 2 in the nest box next to Jess. She is broody again. I gave her the 2, to go with the fake she's on (not sure how many she's on as she's stronger broody this time). She gave me the screech with the curved out, fluffed up wings, then tucked them under herself. we'll see how it goes. Other fake egg still available.

She sure is a pretty lady. Does this mean you will let her hatch?

 

[BY Bob]

Momma hen has officially went broody. She thought she was completely hidden from me, but all I had to do was slide back a piece of plywood to uncover her. I swear I will take the blood curling shrieks my marans make to this deadly silent evil hen. As the video shows she does not waste her energy on shrieking, she just goes straight for blood. I did finally manage to move her over to get a egg count, she's sitting on 13. Not all the eggs are hers, Daisy decided it was a good spot as well to lay so there is 4 eggs of hers in there. It was actually thanks to Daisy leaving her nest that I was able to discover this was where Momma was hiding her eggs. Tomorrow morning I will go out with a pencil and mark the 4 Daisy eggs and remove the rest. I figure I will have to constantly keep a check on it now and remove any extra Daisy eggs if she tries to keep laying in that area.
Here is the evil old bat in action.

It seems a little harsh to call a hen evil for trying to protect her babies but I understand. That looks like it hurts for certain.

She seems very clever with her nest location selection. All of yours do.

 

[BY Bob]

That crossed my mind too - but she is the lowest ranked of my 4 Princesses so I doubt her view counts for much!
Diana and Maggie have shown absolutely no interest in the babies at all.
Dotty is a bit of a scary lady, so need to watch out for her.
Hopefully together we will navigate this OK.

If Minnie is the bottom hen then the likelihood that she will help them is minimal. She is there to make certain that she is not passed in the pecking order. Expect her to establish her dominance early.

 

[BY Bob]

I wonder if this is on purpose? The putting them between Russ and Louis… maybe the chickens are betting on who gets it? Wagering some scratch, or maybe it’s just for sheer entertainment? Like going to the race track and not betting… just to watch the horses run?

I never considered that but gambling on what horses will do is an age old form of entertainment!

Well played!

 

[BY Bob]

And leghorn crosses are also exceptional flyers… my sweet Sammy is only half leghorn, but he can still get lots of air (or he did when he was younger…)

It's one of the things I loved about my leghorns. How like very large song birds they were. They can really fly!

 

[rural mouse]

She sure is a pretty lady. Does this mean you will let her hatch?

I have to test all who go broody. She has at least 2 eggs (plus a fake) under her. She's more serious this time. Any who get near her get screamed, hissed, or otherwise told off. I'm aiming to take the fake, mark the real, count, etc this weekend, but...we'll see if she's successful this time. With the juniors already there, I'm not surprised someone went broody, just surprised Jessica went this quickly (a month off and back to broody). She's also got the broody wings this time. Last time, not so much. Looks like she's more serious about it which is good.

 

[BY Bob]

Russ will be your best friend if you come armed with crunchy cheeto's and Mt. Dew.
View attachment 3055636

So will I if you show up with crunchy cheetos!

 

[BY Bob]

Yep there’s only the one that REALLY is convinced I’m her rooster… she grudgingly let’s Sammy mate her now and then, but anyone else is getting pecked! She’s currently sitting on a nest right now, so I’m less harried by her! she’s my girl that attacked the hawk that dared
To swoop on her not so little babies too. My Bully Girl is just a little crazy

Sounds like a real keeper to me!

 

[BY Bob]

So I’m sorry I don’t have any new fluffy butt shots to share. It’s been been very busy with the death of a chicken, very busy at work, and living arrangements. Plus, because I need some sanity, I am working on that quilt.

OK, so I’ve had a couple glasses of wine… Just a disclaimer…. But I want you all to know that I love you, and coming back to this safe place is very peaceful for me. I’m sorry I’ve not been able to keep up.

You know there is no requirement to keep up. We just loving having you pop in when you can.

 

[BY Bob]

Chicken friends are the best friends… don’t worry about keeping up, it’s basically a full time job IMO just swing by when you can, and need to. Everyone forgave me for dropping off the face of the net for half a year or more, I do t think keeping fully up to date is a requirement. Life gets crazy… except for Bob, he’s not allowed days off as the official host! (Remembering when he took a Weekend to visit family without warning us, and we were all worried sick!)

Some foreshadowing........ you just never know. I may need to disappear again.