Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[bgmathteach]

Some of you may remember the trouble I had when the Roadrunners were small and insisted on roosting on the top of the open window.
This time around I kept the tops of the windows closed, but Lulu being true to her Roadrunner heritage gave it a go anyway.

I love how the others are just watching her!
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Would you look at that, she's crazy, there's nothing to land on!

Yeah, but she almost made it. Cool!

Graceful landing on the ground, give her an 8 (crash into window - 2 pts.)

You guys are nuts, too. You're just encouraging her!

 

[bgmathteach]

Some lessons are learned the hard way. I still think it is not as bad as Betty's face plant on the Cluckle Hut door.

I shouldn't laugh...but I am anyways. I hope no chickens were hurt in the making of these 'face-plant' videos

 

[fuentemoon]

I haven't taken any chicken pictures yet today, but i have some for tomorrow. Spent the last two days working on this and other yard work. Shocked that we have no chicken prints! Both kitties are buried under this area.

 

[featherhead007]

I heard a noise on the porch, and all the other birds were there waiting at the door. They must have wanted their rooster. So I took Jaffar out to them. He perked up a bit, and then they all headed home to the coop. Jaffar drank some water, and had a bite to eat. Then he mounted his perch. I will be checking on him every 30 minutes to confirm that he’s doing okay.

 

[bgmathteach]

I haven't taken any chicken pictures yet today, but i have some for tomorrow. Spent the last two days working on this and other yard work. Shocked that we have no chicken prints! Both kitties are buried under this area.
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Wow, what a wonderful job, that is looking great! You are so creative, what a wonderful way to honor your lost ones. I bet it is both heart-breakiing, and also strangely calming doing this to honor them.

 

[lightm]

I waited until I was at my computer to respond to this. Because of that I am now pages behind but what can you do. If you don't like rants please skip this post. I am very passionate on this.

Chickens are social creatures in many ways just like most humans. Most humans start to get upset when they are separated from other humans (I said MOST @Ribh , not ALL). This has become well document as people with the effects of isolation during the pandemic.

Spoiler: this is a non-chicken related rant but it does add to my point

At the height of the pandemic people with severe COVID cases were in the ICU for months. I said months! During that time, when struggling for every breath, frequently on a ventilator unable to speak, they were not allowed to have any family members visit. Many died in those beds all alone. It brings me to tears to think of the horror of dying slowly all alone like that. I always imagine how many might have found the will to fight on if a loved one had simply held their hand and spoken to them.

Around this time I was asked by one of my friends who worked in a healthcare system which was struggling to fight to keep up with COVID a fascinating question.

Would I rather die alone in an ICU bed struggling for breath or be eaten by an alligator?

I chose the alligator as there is no greater horror for me than to die slowly, all alone.

Now imagine you are a chicken. You don't feel well and are trying to hide it. Then your human removes you from your friends and puts you in a box alone in the house. There you will remain until you either get better or die. You have spent you whole life surrounded by your friends. Now they can't even come and touch your beak.

It is an awful thing to do to any social living creature. The people who direct you to do this have absolutely no understanding of what their society means to a chicken. They are only thinking of what is easier for the humans.

To backup @Shadrach point about chickens attaching sick members. I have had too many sick chickens pass away with their friends. I have never seen them attacked by the rest of the tribe. I have only seen the members of the tribe support the sick one until the bitter end. Sometimes like Patsy with Daisy, the greatest hen ever, they even sit with them peacefully as they pass.

I believe that this does occur in factory farms, just like cannibalism does. It is not a product of the chicken's society. Rather it is the product of their horrendous living conditions and lack of a normal chicken society. This incorrect knowledge based upon an abnormal living environment has been handed down and become "common knowledge" which is just plain wrong.

We will never know the depth of their connections. How could we? We are fools to ignore it and we are worse than fools if we don't try to support it and them through acknowledging its existence.

Rant complete. Thank you for reading.

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I appreciate your rant. To put it mildly, I have reevaluated the healthcare system since Covid.

 

[LozzyR]

I really like this plan because she can't pick up coccidia inside. So all she has to do is eat, sleep and poop. That's a very healing routine.

I really hope so but how long it it going to take? You wouldn’t think one tiny little chicken could take up an entire bathroom!

Pop quiz: how many chickens are in this picture?

 

[bgmathteach]

I really hope so but how long it it going to take? You wouldn’t think one tiny little chicken could take up an entire bathroom!

Pop quiz: how many chickens are in this picture?
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? 5?

 

[BY Bob]

I shouldn't laugh...but I am anyways. I hope no chickens were hurt in the making of these 'face-plant' videos

I laughed when it happened. It's funny. Whatever was she thinking?

 

[micstrachan]

Is it a light/soft moult? Some chickens have a soft moult in the spring.

I see lots of dropped feathers and they look disheveled, but no bald spots. Yeah, I guess you could call it that. Buttercup tends to keep molting and molting for months, (like losing the same feathers at least twice) and last year Lucky molted super early, so it’s not a surprise. Some of mine do tend to have a bit of a light pre-molt prior to the big molt.