Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Marie2020]

As you can see these two are not particularly fond of each other

 

[Marie2020]

Tax

 

[ManueB]

Wonder why we hear of so many chickens having cancer ? An edifying read regarding ovarian cancer in high production hens.
https://doi.org/10.3382/ps/peu083

The spontaneous occurrence of ovarian cancer in hens is high; up to 30 to 35% of hens develop adenocarcinoma after about 2.5 y of age (Fredrickson,1987). The cancer is rarely observed in commercial laying flocks because most chickens are not maintained past 2 production cycles.

 

[bgmathteach]

Our lone survivor cinnamon queen had to be put to sleep. She had a large tumor. She'll be missed. She kept the dogs in line and would terrorize the smaller more hyper dogs who annoyed the other chickens.

I am sorry to hear of your loss. It is so hard when they go, especially so young. They just grab hold of your heart - like them plucking a worm from the ground - and don't let go!!!

Wonder why we hear of so many chickens having cancer ? An edifying read regarding ovarian cancer in high production hens.
https://doi.org/10.3382/ps/peu083

That is so HORRIBLE!!! That they have known that fully 1/3 of hens age 2.5+ will die of that...and they have known since '87!!!! And, yet, still they/we (humans) continue on! Makes me cry - from both hurt and anger.

That is one reason I never add light to my coops - because I think they deserve a break from laying - and it is a natural/needed break. I'm even more adamant about my decision now, knowing this!

 

[LozzyR]

Are you sure they are magnetic? That kind of fence is iften made of aluminum.

No they’re not, it is aluminium.

 

[LozzyR]

That was truly inconsiderate. They need to pick up their mess not move it somewhere else. Yikes!

I think they picked up most of the big bits then hosed off the rest. They’re probably not used to taking animals into account.

 

[Kris5902]

Hmmm. I don’t think that is right. The phenomenon you describe is about non-allelic genes - meaning genes at different places (aka different alleles) which influence each other. Basically a gene for let’s say pink stripes can only express itself if a gene at a different allele says ‘allow pink striped gene to express itself’.
There is a fancy term for it but I have forgotten it.
It is a big field of study in human medicine related to genes switching on or off and causing disease.
Now I am bowing out of this as I am over the tips of my skis (and I don’t even ski any more!).



And here is a tax payment I was saving for later.
View attachment 3120542

That sounds more accurate! you know more about it than I do, for sure… like I said a very rough understanding of it, and that some of those traits are also related to certain medical conditions. The spider gene in ball pythons is also associated with a neurological problem that causes a head wobble. It wasn’t horribly prominent at first and doesn’t always occur, but as more and more people started breeding for it (because it’s a very pretty pattern) it started to become a problem with some animals unable to feed or have normal lives. It’s now become a bit of a hot topic in reptile keeping. Sometimes I do think we (humans) get way in over our actual understanding in selective breeding for things, often to the detriment of the creatures involved.

 

[RoyalChick]

Minnie having a good long drink of wild water. This makes me very happy as I haven’t seen her drink anything all day.

 

[Kris5902]

I am sorry to hear of your loss. It is so hard when they go, especially so young. They just grab hold of your heart - like them plucking a worm from the ground - and don't let go!!!

That is so HORRIBLE!!! That they have known that fully 1/3 of hens age 2.5+ will die of that...and they have known since '87!!!! And, yet, still they/we (humans) continue on! Makes me cry - from both hurt and anger.

That is one reason I never add light to my coops - because I think they deserve a break from laying - and it is a natural/needed break. I'm even more adamant about my decision now, knowing this!

You can borrow my soapbox for ranting anytime you need it. 100% agree, this is why I am trying to avoid high production breeds, which makes no sense from a farming/business standpoint, other than basic ethics and morals.

 

[Kris5902]

No they’re not, it is aluminium.

Best suggestion I can think of is try not to disturb the area too much, then check it carefully with a flashlight after dark hopefully the cut areas of the shavings will be more easily visible then?