Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Aussie-Chookmum]

lol The chat sorta goes from one thread to another.
And that is one cool hat! Someone is very clever.

Thanks Ribh .

I'm all fired up to make another now I have some idea of how it all works but I'll have to order coarser wool first. I hate having to wait!

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

Lucky for me, they all love lettuce

Mine love lettuce too. It was very hot today and I put some nice cold watermelon in the run. Well, the way they behaved you'd have thought I put a snake in there!

But when I hung up the lettuce it was lettuce tether ball for all! It was gone in less than 30 minutes!

They figured out the watermelon eventually. It had been eaten down to the rind come roosting time.

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

I think a lot of people here must think I'm very anti contained chickens. I'm not and in other circumstances I might well have chickens in a run. Not all coops and particularly runs are equal.
Free ranging here has been a pretty horrific experience. It's a lot better now than it was when I got here, but I/we still lose chickens, at least two a year to predation. It was one a month when I got here.

Wow! That's an amazing difference Shadrach. What changes did you make to have such an improvement? Apart from letting them in the house I mean...

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

That hen, Dink was her name, used to roost in a magnolia tree at night. For a couple of reasons I let her do this every night and when everyone else was shut in I would get my T pole and gently lift her out of the tree. She never fussed, I would take her off the pole and she would sit on my palm until I placed her on the roost in the coop. I did this almost every night for over 5 years.
The leaf is a magnolia leaf.
Walnuts are a favorite treat here.

Ok, now I'm tearing up . That's poetic and thoughtful. I was wondering about the leaf and walnut though. Thanks for sharing Shad

 

[LozzyR]

Mine love lettuce too. It was very hot today and I put some nice cold watermelon in the run. Well, the way they behaved you'd have thought I put a snake in there!

But when I hung up the lettuce it was lettuce tether ball for all! It was gone in less than 30 minutes!

They figured out the watermelon eventually. It had been eaten down to the rind come roosting time.

My girls are turning into particular little madams. If I try to give them some nice English spinach or cos lettuce from the scraps bin, they look at me as if to say “What’s with the leafy green s***?” However, hang an iceberg lettuce in the run and it’s on for a game of chicken totem-tennis! Even my Isas with their trimmed beaks will shred a lettuce if it’s hanging up!

 

[LozzyR]

Hey Brains Trust, especially those with regular broodys. Do you find that just before your girl goes broody she submits a lot? Charlie has submitted to me twice in the last two days, for the first time ever! She also laid her first egg in two weeks today and went to bed whilst the other two were still out. Is she about to go broody again?!

 

[LozzyR]

That hen, Dink was her name, used to roost in a magnolia tree at night. For a couple of reasons I let her do this every night and when everyone else was shut in I would get my T pole and gently lift her out of the tree. She never fussed, I would take her off the pole and she would sit on my palm until I placed her on the roost in the coop. I did this almost every night for over 5 years.
The leaf is a magnolia leaf.
Walnuts are a favorite treat here.

That’s just beautiful.

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

My girls are turning into particular little madams. If I try to give them some nice English spinach or cos lettuce from the scraps bin, they look at me as if to say “What’s with the leafy green s***?” However, hang an iceberg lettuce in the run and it’s on for a game of chicken totem-tennis! Even my Isas with their trimmed beaks will shred a lettuce if it’s hanging up!

Yes! Mine are the same. A lettuce leaf on the ground is hardly pecked at, but hang loose leaves up with a bulldog clip and, hey presto!, it's the best thing since sliced bread!

 

[Ribh]

Hey Brains Trust, especially those with regular broodys. Do you find that just before your girl goes broody she submits a lot? Charlie has submitted to me twice in the last two days, for the first time ever! She also laid her first egg in two weeks today and went to bed whilst the other two were still out. Is she about to go broody again?!

Nope. Not round here. My girls squat 'cause I'm boss cocky, supply all the goodies & give good cuddles. All my broodies get quite aggressive on the nest when laying, fluffing up, being chicken hissy, pecking @ me ~ though never enough to really hurt or draw blood. Most of mine started squatting just before they came on the lay so if she's just started that is probably why.

 

[LozzyR]

Nope. Not round here. My girls squat 'cause I'm boss cocky, supply all the goodies & give good cuddles. All my broodies get quite aggressive on the nest when laying, fluffing up, being chicken hissy, pecking @ me ~ though never enough to really hurt or draw blood. Most of mine started squatting just before they came on the lay so if she's just started that is probably why.

Ok, good to know! I’m pretty chuffed that Charlie has started squatting for me!