Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[RoyalChick]

Today we had the same weather as kris so no chicken photos.
This evening we had a heartbreak. Our beautiful girl Star past away. She was sweet, silly, exasperating, and extra cuddly always. We had her most of her 16.5 years. She hadn't been herself the last week, tonight she left us rather suddenly with both of us holding her.

Oh I am so sorry for your loss. She was a beautiful cat. I can see she had a lovely life with you. I am sure she will be missed.

 

[bgmathteach]

@ChicoryBlue do you think we could be looking at a Buckeye here?

I think it is too light for a Buckeye or a RIR. However, could be part Buckeye or RIR...i.e. hybrid...Cinnamon Queen, Golden Comet, etc. (All quite similar, but different, )

 

[bgmathteach]

Here are a few photo's of the 2 that keep me guessing on their gender.
View attachment 3060852View attachment 3060853View attachment 3060854View attachment 3060855View attachment 3060856

How is their behavior/stance? That is usually the best determining factor when you can't tell otherwise. Also, compare leg size with the other NON-orpington chicks. The boys definitely have heavier legs. (I say 'non-orpington' because the orps are a heavier breed)

 

[bgmathteach]

Today we had the same weather as kris so no chicken photos.
This evening we had a heartbreak. Our beautiful girl Star past away. She was sweet, silly, exasperating, and extra cuddly always. We had her most of her 16.5 years. She hadn't been herself the last week, tonight she left us rather suddenly with both of us holding her.

I'm sorry to hear this. So hard to lose a beloved animal/pet.
Sounds like she was very happy/content with you guys! You gave her a great long life. As sad as it is to lose her, it is good that it wasn't a long, drawn out illness. She was a beautiful girl!

 

[BY Bob]

Here are a few photo's of the 2 that keep me guessing on their gender.
View attachment 3060852View attachment 3060853View attachment 3060854View attachment 3060855View attachment 3060856

I'm not really seeing the roster posture in these pictures. I can see why you are guessing.

 

[BY Bob]

Today we had the same weather as kris so no chicken photos.
This evening we had a heartbreak. Our beautiful girl Star past away. She was sweet, silly, exasperating, and extra cuddly always. We had her most of her 16.5 years. She hadn't been herself the last week, tonight she left us rather suddenly with both of us holding her.

I am so very sorry for you loss. It's never easy to lose them and unexpected like that is the worst. She was a beautiful lady and had a long life with you.

 

[LozzyR]

This is the perfect way to view this. Try to remember this as well. I endeavor to live by this code.

A life full of stories to tell is a life well lived.

We should all strive to acquire stories through which we can fascinate others and entertain our loved ones. Who doesn't want to be around people with great stories to tell.

To that end let me tell one from our trip to Italy in 2019 to scout locations for my daughter's wedding.

It was a whirlwind trip. We went from the very north of Italy to south of Naples and saw 13 venues in 5 days. We flew in, landed in Milan got in our rental car and immediately set off for Lake Como to meet a wedding planner and see 3 venues. So we were hustling.

Only my daughter had ever been to Italy before and she had moved about by train and plane. No one had ever driven in Italy before. My future son-in-law (SIL) agreed that he would do all the driving since I was footing the bill. He is sweet character and he would wind up taking some abuse from all his passengers frequently during the next few days.

Despite our overall unhelpfulness he manages to get us up onto the highway towards Lake Como successfully and we blissfully buzzed towards our destination.

Little did we know, we were on a toll road.

None of us have Euros.

And none of us read or speak Italian.

Typical Americans.

All of a sudden the highway comes to an end and toll booths appear.

Panic ensues.

"Who's got euros?"

"What do you mean you don't have any?!" "You were supposed to get them."

"Don't blame me." "You organized this." "How come you didn't get euros?"

"What are we going to do?"

"Everyone calm down." "Look there is a credit card slot!"

"Thank the lord." "Here's my Amex."

"See no reason to panic."

I pass my Anex up to SIL and he slides it into and back out of the slot.

Easy Peasy.

Some words appear on the screen that none of us understand and the gate does not raise.

My daughter starts up. "It didn't work. "Try again." " How can you not know how to use a credit card?"

SIL slides the card in and out again.

More strange words, no raising gate.

Thankfully we are in a rural area at the end of the highway and there are no cars piled up behind us. SIL was under enough pressure.

There is no denying the Italians must be clever people and planned ahead for tourists because there is a speaker system at the toll booth and it includes buttons for different languages. Imagine that. Each language is represented by a flag of that country next to the button. French, German, Spanish, Italian, and thankfully English as represented by the British flag.

My daughter is going now. "What is wrong with you? " "Why can't you slide a credit card correctly?" "You need help, hit the speaker button." "Push the one with the British flag."

At this point SIL is flustered. He is clearly not thinking straight as he pushes the speaker button with the Italian flag.

The speaker turns on and gibberish comes out.

SIL is game though. "Credit Card" he says.

Gibberish says the speaker.

"Credit Card" he says again, thinking somehow he will get a different answer.

The speaker spews forth gibberish again.

So like every american SIL decides to make the words credit card Italian by adding a vowel at the end.

"Credit Carda"

More gibberish in response but now the gibberish is starting to sound irritated.

SIL is not easily dissuaded and something in his head said try naming the credit card.

"American Express" issues forth from his mouth.

The speaker understands that, "Oh, no American Express, Visa"

I hand SIL my Visa........he swipes it........... like magic the gate opens.

We head on our way.

To this day when he makes a bone headed mistake I say, "Credit Carda"

It always gets a laugh, including from him.

If you’d been in Germany you would have been fine! Kreditkarte is pronounced ‘credit carta’.

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

How is their behavior/stance? That is usually the best determining factor when you can't tell otherwise. Also, compare leg size with the other NON-orpington chicks. The boys definitely have heavier legs. (I say 'non-orpington' because the orps are a heavier breed)

If we are going on behaviors for this group I would call them all females. Due to the current situation I have not been able to spend as much time daily with them as I had planned when I got them, especially after they moved outside. I have not witnessed any chest bumping or fighting between any of them. I will not go on behavior alone though. If I had went purely by behavior I would have sworn Corona was a boy as a chick. The little spitfire had 6 brothers and from about a week on let the rest know she was the dominate chick and I just kept waiting for her to turn into a late blooming cockerel until she hit about 3 months. They can keep me guessing for a while longer, I am in no hurry to rehome any of them. In fact, I won't be letting any of them go unless they turn out to be boys. I shall now also jokingly refer to the chipmunks as the "Rural King Mix Ups".

 

[Marie2020]

Today we had the same weather as kris so no chicken photos.
This evening we had a heartbreak. Our beautiful girl Star past away. She was sweet, silly, exasperating, and extra cuddly always. We had her most of her 16.5 years. She hadn't been herself the last week, tonight she left us rather suddenly with both of us holding her.

What a beautiful little cat. She certainly lived a good and very long life. She was so lucky too have been loved so much.

 

[Marie2020]

This is the perfect way to view this. Try to remember this as well. I endeavor to live by this code.

A life full of stories to tell is a life well lived.

We should all strive to acquire stories through which we can fascinate others and entertain our loved ones. Who doesn't want to be around people with great stories to tell.

To that end let me tell one from our trip to Italy in 2019 to scout locations for my daughter's wedding.

It was a whirlwind trip. We went from the very north of Italy to south of Naples and saw 13 venues in 5 days. We flew in, landed in Milan got in our rental car and immediately set off for Lake Como to meet a wedding planner and see 3 venues. So we were hustling.

Only my daughter had ever been to Italy before and she had moved about by train and plane. No one had ever driven in Italy before. My future son-in-law (SIL) agreed that he would do all the driving since I was footing the bill. He is sweet character and he would wind up taking some abuse from all his passengers frequently during the next few days.

Despite our overall unhelpfulness he manages to get us up onto the highway towards Lake Como successfully and we blissfully buzzed towards our destination.

Little did we know, we were on a toll road.

None of us have Euros.

And none of us read or speak Italian.

Typical Americans.

All of a sudden the highway comes to an end and toll booths appear.

Panic ensues.

"Who's got euros?"

"What do you mean you don't have any?!" "You were supposed to get them."

"Don't blame me." "You organized this." "How come you didn't get euros?"

"What are we going to do?"

"Everyone calm down." "Look there is a credit card slot!"

"Thank the lord." "Here's my Amex."

"See no reason to panic."

I pass my Anex up to SIL and he slides it into and back out of the slot.

Easy Peasy.

Some words appear on the screen that none of us understand and the gate does not raise.

My daughter starts up. "It didn't work. "Try again." " How can you not know how to use a credit card?"

SIL slides the card in and out again.

More strange words, no raising gate.

Thankfully we are in a rural area at the end of the highway and there are no cars piled up behind us. SIL was under enough pressure.

There is no denying the Italians must be clever people and planned ahead for tourists because there is a speaker system at the toll booth and it includes buttons for different languages. Imagine that. Each language is represented by a flag of that country next to the button. French, German, Spanish, Italian, and thankfully English as represented by the British flag.

My daughter is going now. "What is wrong with you? " "Why can't you slide a credit card correctly?" "You need help, hit the speaker button." "Push the one with the British flag."

At this point SIL is flustered. He is clearly not thinking straight as he pushes the speaker button with the Italian flag.

The speaker turns on and gibberish comes out.

SIL is game though. "Credit Card" he says.

Gibberish says the speaker.

"Credit Card" he says again, thinking somehow he will get a different answer.

The speaker spews forth gibberish again.

So like every american SIL decides to make the words credit card Italian by adding a vowel at the end.

"Credit Carda"

More gibberish in response but now the gibberish is starting to sound irritated.

SIL is not easily dissuaded and something in his head said try naming the credit card.

"American Express" issues forth from his mouth.

The speaker understands that, "Oh, no American Express, Visa"

I hand SIL my Visa........he swipes it........... like magic the gate opens.

We head on our way.

To this day when he makes a bone headed mistake I say, "Credit Carda"

It always gets a laugh, including from him.

That story should have been filmed and at the very least been televised.