Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[CrazyChookChookLady]

She has narrowed to 3 venues. Each had their own pluses and minuses.

A villa on Lake Como. A former monastery in Amalfi. A villa in Rivello.

None of them will be bad. They have to decide which is this best match for them.

One of my best friends just spent a year in the Rivello area for the Navy.

 

[CrazyChookChookLady]

Purple Corn Please

She isn't spoiled at all!!! LOL

 

[Ribh]

*sigh* It is nice to have you back, Bob.

 

[mrskenmore]

She isn't spoiled at all!!! LOL

could she be any cuter?!? those CHEEKS!!

 

[drumstick diva]

good to have you back

 

[BY Bob]

I have been accumalting a bunch of stuff since I got back. So i am going to put up a series of posts today. This should be fun.

Welcome Back Treat

Anyone who knows my flock knows that pasta and orange cheese are their favorite snacks (although peanut butter is clearly high as well). Well there is one food that combines both of these things.....Kraft Macaroni & Chesse.

I decided that Thursday night they deserved a speacial treat for all the time we were gone and I gave them some. Here is the video. Lots of chasing. I put 2 plates down so everyone could get some but they were more interested in what someone else had. I think that Aurora (bottom of the pecking order) wound up getting the most as she seemed to chase less and just eat more.

 

[Ali James]

Thats lovely Bob. I can't believe how big and grown up Mellie and Aurora have got! They have really filled out.
Are Lily and Hattie moulting?

 

[BY Bob]

I am pretty certain that Lilly is. I have seen quite a lot of black feathers around. I'm not sure about Hattie. She had a lot of feather damage from Jabber's affections. But looking at her closely this morning it looks like she has lost more, especially in the butt area. I'm going to switch the flock to high protein feather fixer this weekend. But you may be right. Hattie may be starting her molt as well.

 

[BY Bob]

Let’s Talk Egg Song

I was catching up on @Ali James thread when the topic of the Egg Song and its purpose came up. Like many I thought that it was the dumbest thing ever. Making a lot of noise when you lay an egg would just seem to let predators know that there was a handy snack ready to go. Why would you do that?

Once I really started getting “involved” with the chickens, I decided that I should try and learn more about them. Therefore I took an Animal Behavioral Sciences course related to poultry from a reputable university that offered the course online. I am too old to go back to a classroom setting and needed to it while I was traveling for work, hence, online.


At the time I had no rooster but of course they were covered in the material as well. @Shadrach is right. The egg song is to let the rooster know the hen is done. In natural flocks of chickens (unrestricted in any way) the flock will roam a territory that belongs to them. They typically do not stand still for long as the rooster keeps them moving looking for food. Because of this, when a hen goes to lay an egg the flock will likely have moved on from where she laid it. After all we have all seen hens take upwards of an hour sometimes to lay an egg. Therefore when she is finished she will call out to the rooster to come get her and bring her to the rest of the flock. This call out is the egg song.

Just as interesting as the egg song is how a “natural” hen will decide where to lay her eggs. If there is not an established nesting area, the hen will inform the rooster that it is time. The rooster will then go with her helping her to find a safe spot in which to lay the egg. Once they are agreed, the hen will set down, build the nest, and the rooster will return to the flock to keep them safe. This is how the rooster knows where she is when she signs the song for pickup and escort back. If this nest is near to the flock when another hen tells him she needs to lay, he will lead her to that same “safe” location to lay hers.

At the time I took the course my flock consisted of 3 hens.
1. Daisy: White Leghorn, Alfa
2. Patsy: Maran, Beta
3. Lilly: Black Sex Link (I think), Omega

Daisy was my only hen when I added Patsy & Lilly who had been living under a porch in town. Patsy and Lilly seemed to have a very tight bond.

Daisy never in her life sang the egg song. She would lay her egg and off she would go. No big deal. In fact the backyard was pretty quiet the whole time we only had leghorns. Not a lot of signing or yelling. The first time we ever heard egg song was when either Patsy or Lilly, I cannot remember which one laid their first egg. What a shock! My wife thought someone was in trouble or dying. They were so loud. One would sing and the other would answer and they would join back up. Patsy and Lilly would actually do a version of the egg song anytime they ever got separated. With Patsy passing earlier this year the saddest thing was the final time Lilly called out to her and she did not answer. I had to go and pick her up and take her to the rest of the flock, tears running down my face. She has not called out since then.

When Jabber joined the flock, egg song was the rule of the day. Everyone sang it and he would go and get them. One interesting thing that I did note was that when they were confined to the coop and run, Jabber would just hang out in the coop while they were laying. I always pictured him as a worried husband as the wife gave birth. Pacing in the waiting room, smoking cigarette after cigarette until she was finished. Here he is hanging out in the coop while Hattie lays.

Since Jabber left there has been little egg song. We did have crisis a while back when someone, I can’t remember who, was in Hattie’s nesting box and she threw a complete fit on the porch but nothing really related to having laid an egg. Sometimes I miss it but mostly I think the neighbors are glad that the flock is quieter.

 

[Shadrach]

Let’s Talk Egg Song

I was catching up on @Ali James thread when the topic of the Egg Song and its purpose came up. Like many I thought that it was the dumbest thing ever. Making a lot of noise when you lay an egg would just seem to let predators know that there was a handy snack ready to go. Why would you do that?

Once I really started getting “involved” with the chickens, I decided that I should try and learn more about them. Therefore I took an Animal Behavioral Sciences course related to poultry from a reputable university that offered the course online. I am too old to go back to a classroom setting and needed to it while I was traveling for work, hence, online.


At the time I had no rooster but of course they were covered in the material as well. @Shadrach is right. The egg song is to let the rooster know the hen is done. In natural flocks of chickens (unrestricted in any way) the flock will roam a territory that belongs to them. They typically do not stand still for long as the rooster keeps them moving looking for food. Because of this, when a hen goes to lay an egg the flock will likely have moved on from where she laid it. After all we have all seen hens take upwards of an hour sometimes to lay an egg. Therefore when she is finished she will call out to the rooster to come get her and bring her to the rest of the flock. This call out is the egg song.

Just as interesting as the egg song is how a “natural” hen will decide where to lay her eggs. If there is not an established nesting area, the hen will inform the rooster that it is time. The rooster will then go with her helping her to find a safe spot in which to lay the egg. Once they are agreed, the hen will set down, build the nest, and the rooster will return to the flock to keep them safe. This is how the rooster knows where she is when she signs the song for pickup and escort back. If this nest is near to the flock when another hen tells him she needs to lay, he will lead her to that same “safe” location to lay hers.

At the time I took the course my flock consisted of 3 hens.
1. Daisy: White Leghorn, Alfa
2. Patsy: Maran, Beta
3. Lilly: Black Sex Link (I think), Omega

Daisy was my only hen when I added Patsy & Lilly who had been living under a porch in town. Patsy and Lilly seemed to have a very tight bond.

Daisy never in her life sang the egg song. She would lay her egg and off she would go. No big deal. In fact the backyard was pretty quiet the whole time we only had leghorns. Not a lot of signing or yelling. The first time we ever heard egg song was when either Patsy or Lilly, I cannot remember which one laid their first egg. What a shock! My wife thought someone was in trouble or dying. They were so loud. One would sing and the other would answer and they would join back up. Patsy and Lilly would actually do a version of the egg song anytime they ever got separated. With Patsy passing earlier this year the saddest thing was the final time Lilly called out to her and she did not answer. I had to go and pick her up and take her to the rest of the flock, tears running down my face. She has not called out since then.

When Jabber joined the flock, egg song was the rule of the day. Everyone sang it and he would go and get them. One interesting thing that I did note was that when they were confined to the coop and run, Jabber would just hang out in the coop while they were laying. I always pictured him as a worried husband as the wife gave birth. Pacing in the waiting room, smoking cigarette after cigarette until she was finished. Here he is hanging out in the coop while Hattie lays.
View attachment 1901423
Since Jabber left there has been little egg song. We did have crisis a while back when someone, I can’t remember who, was in Hattie’s nesting box and she threw a complete fit on the porch but nothing really related to having laid an egg. Sometimes I miss it but mostly I think the neighbors are glad that the flock is quieter.

Hello @BY Bob
May I suggest you turn this into an article.