Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Marie2020]

Getting feed to replace that damaged bag . This jubilee has caused havoc in my world. Our roof hasn't been completed since being removed for five days 4 with rain and this feed situation is still not being dealt with

 

[LozzyR]

Wonderful artwork

Did you make the music too Loz?

Sure did! I even remembered to credit myself this time for it!

 

[LozzyR]

That's a really lovely clip . Thanks for sharing

Thanks Marie!

 

[rural mouse]

Belladonna and Mera

Do 2 sizes count?

PITA beak bombing, Nellie strutting her fluff, next to Primula (note the size similarity), Mera upper left, Asphodel upper middle and Belladonna at the top. (Mera looks tiny compared to the 3 hobbit ladies)

 

[RoyalChick]

Head fake!
Bernadette continues to improve her walking and jumping. Here was a total head fake on Bella.

I am not letting up on her supplements yet as she still walks a little stiff legged - probably hard to tell in this video but her stance is more on her tippy-toes than is normal - and when she gets tired she still has trouble placing her right foot to take a step.
But overall compared to where we have been she is doing amazingly well!

 

[RoyalChick]

Here is a 2fer Tuesday.
Diana and Minnie out and about.

 

[bgmathteach]

Thanks for all your advice and opinions, obviously there are different ways of coping!
Chipie, the mother hen, is a bantam rejected by all the other hens, so there's no way the flock will protect the chicks. I will try to show the chicks to the cats while they are in the dog crate where we've set them and explain that they are not food, in a week or so.
I'm not too worried about the female Hibou as she has always tried to become friend with the hens. Grochatila, the male, is terrified of the standards, but I've seen him a few times look at Chipie wondering if she was food or not.
We call him "tiger of the Sauches" (our place's name).
View attachment 3139337

Does Grochatila 'listen' at all to commands? Not that many cats can be 'commanded', but my cat knows a few words. She certainly knows the word 'NO', as she is like a toddler when she wants out at night (too many things that go 'bump in the night' for her to be out...things that are much bigger than her & would win) She will either hiss at me or take a swat at my leg, then turn around and saunter away. Basically like a toddler having a tantrum! But, she clearly knows the word 'NO and, while she may not always be happy with it, she generally respects it. My point being that a clear 'NO' to her around the baby chicks and she gets the message. Someone once dropped off some baby chicks they couldn't care for a few years back and one hopped out of her arms (about 2 weeks old, so half flew half hopped); completely new to me,/us, Cleo saw it fall/half fly to the ground and ran up to it...smelled it, looked at me, and turned and walked away! I think chickens have a distinct smell, and she new it was off limits. Her turn of the head away from it, as she walked away I think, was a stress response (like a dog can't look at something it wants but knows is off limits). Could I be 100% certain that she wouldn't have pounced if I hadn't been there? No, in all honesty, I couldn't. However, given the huge amount of other prey for her....and if she had been properly introduced prior, I don't think if would have been an issue. That said, I do NOT intentionally tempt her with 'free ranging chicks' with no adult hens to act as 'guard'. I don't have any bantams, though. Also, she has been 'duly chastized' by the adults. Something like that may have to happen to him for him to 'truly 'earn their respect.


How is Grochatila around your small Rooster? I'm assuming, since your hen hatched eggs, that your Rooster has accepted her? Maybe introduce your hen and chicks to the rooster in a safe-ish (read, enclosed space with you present to observe). Most Roos will accept their offspring, imprint on them, and protect them. If he seems to accept the chicks, and your cat is afraid of him, it might work to place mom, chicks, and Roo for a few hours a day in small pen (safe one) with Grochatila able to see them (after a formal introduction with a severe 'NO' if he seems 'too interested'. That said, I still would be very careful until they are fully grown, or until the Roo takes offense at him being too close and gives him a bit of a flogging. Again, it REALLY depends on your cat!

Tax in next post..this one is too long already.

(P.S. I love Grochatila's name!!!)

 

[bgmathteach]

I wasn't getting anywhere with Nevada's bumble foot last week, so I bailed and called the vet. Turns out I wasn't doing so badly, she has what the vet called a grade one bumble. She doesn't think it's major infection. She wants me to keep soaking it but otherwise leave it alone.But she's fat and the vet wants her food restricted. Yeah, that's going to go over well. She also has a heart murmur and arthritis, for which she gave us carprofen. I hate when they get old! Not the greatest pics but tax for whineing.

Wonderful news on the bumblefoot. I do think it is hard for us to keep our 'domestic chickens AKA pets 'lean and mean' so to speak. Unlike wild birds, they have constant access to food, plus treats (even when healthy and in moderation). They don't have to work anywhere near as hard for their food, and even if 'full' when treats are introduced (even if it is healthy veggie bits and fruit), they will grab as much as they can 'before the others get it'. And it is even worse if they can't free range most of the day (mine can only do so on weekends, or for a few hours each evening (now that it is light later) after I get home from work) I have started to limit their feed some by only putting pout enough feed to last them through 2pm. Then no more until evening....after they have free ranged but before bedtime (i.e. about the time they are thinking of going to bed and come back to the run...but not yet into the coop.)

Exception: my broodies have access to food constantly, so anytime they feel like getting up to poop, eat, drink. bathe, they have it!)

I'm not sure how I am going to handle it once winter hits, as I feel it is too cold for them to be without food, and it is dark by the time I get home, so they only free range weekends. (And then, only in a limited area that I shovel out for them...so while decent size, still limiting and no real 'food' to be had.)

 

[bgmathteach]

I wasn't getting anywhere with Nevada's bumble foot last week, so I bailed and called the vet. Turns out I wasn't doing so badly, she has what the vet called a grade one bumble. She doesn't think it's major infection. She wants me to keep soaking it but otherwise leave it alone.But she's fat and the vet wants her food restricted. Yeah, that's going to go over well. She also has a heart murmur and arthritis, for which she gave us carprofen. I hate when they get old! Not the greatest pics but tax for whineing.

Wonderful news on the bumblefoot. I do think it is hard for us to keep our 'domestic chickens AKA pets 'lean and mean' so to speak. Unlike wild birds, they have constant access to food, plus treats (even when healthy and in moderation). They don't have to work anywhere near as hard for their food, and even if 'full' when treats are introduced (even if it is healthy veggie bits and fruit), they will grab as much as they can 'before the others get it'. And it is even worse if they can't free range most of the day (mine can only do so on weekends, or for a few hours each evening (now that it is light later) after I get home from work) I have started to limit their feed some by only putting pout enough feed to last them through 2pm. Then no more until evening....after they have free ranged but before bedtime (i.e. about the time they are thinking of going to bed and come back to the run...but not yet into the coop.)

Exception: my broodies have access to food constantly, so anytime they feel like getting up to poop, eat, drink. bathe, they have it!)

I'm not sure how I am going to handle it once winter hits, as I feel it is too cold for them to be without food, and it is dark by the time I get home, so they only free range weekends. (And then, only in a limited area that I shovel out for them...so while decent size, still limiting and no real 'food' to be had.)

 

[bgmathteach]

Okay, in true 2fer Tuesday style, tax payments:

I present: Sampson & Delilah: (My two 4 week old geese)

My 2 broodies: Miss, 'I'm a pancake' & Miss 'Puffy up as much as possible'

@ Khaki Campell Ducks:

And, last but not least, my co-broody duckies: