Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[BlueBaby]

Popping in to say hello! I've been busy outside hoeing down the weed's that have sprung up after that batch of rain that we got. I don't want the weed's to get high enough where thing's can hide in them near the coop. All of my flock is doing well, including the 4 chick's that I moved out to the grow-out pen on Dec. 1st.

 

[LozzyR]

How is Chickie today Lozzy? I hope she recovers, you are obviously very attached to each other.

What is her story since her rescue?

Hi Chookmum, Chickie seems her normal happy self, although we were out for most of today so I wasn’t able to observe her behaviour. She’s not loving the pill-popping but she’s not making too much of a fuss. I’m not sure what to do after her course of antibiotics is over; do I just watch her? Do I take her to the vet regularly for a check-up?

I got her and Penny together to keep Lucy company after Emily died, all from the same battery place. There was no pecking order, they just mucked around together. When Penny died and I got Bessie and Charlie, then there was a definite pecking order, with Lucy as alpha hen and Chickie as 2IC.

I have some questions to put to the brains trust. Firstly broodies; when your broody stops being broody, do they stay off the lay for a while? I’m pretty sure the last time Charlie was broody, she stopped laying for a while but I don’t remember for how long. This time, she laid an egg on Monday but then nothing since then. I’ve had no eggs from anyone since then! I’m hoping Lucy has stopped laying altogether so I don’t have to go through egg peritonitis with her too.

Secondly, thoughts on vaccination. My Isa girls are vaccinated, as is Charlie and so was Bessie. I’m making some tentative enquiries into Faverolles, but the two breeders I’ve spoken to don’t vaccinate. My best chook friend (who is a
Frizzle breeder) and has about 50 birds (chooks, ducks and geese) doesn’t vaccinate and says sometimes vaccinated birds can spread a disease and as they’re not vaccinated for everything, can still get sick. I asked if I should be only looking for vaccinated birds and she said not necessarily, quarantine and good hygiene practices should see me through for the most part. Thoughts?

I also just wanted to say to my new(ish) chook friends; thank you for being here. I’m feeling quite sad at the thought of losing yet another of my lovely girls, not to mention all the climate and bushfire stuff we are going through at the moment. It’s good to know I’ve got a little community I can talk to when I need help and if I’m feeling sad/low. This is for everyone who regularly (and intermittently) posts to this thread.

 

[BY Bob]

Popping in to say hello! I've been busy outside hoeing down the weed's that have sprung up after that batch of rain that we got. I don't want the weed's to get high enough where thing's can hide in them near the coop. All of my flock is doing well, including the 4 chick's that I moved out to the grow-out pen on Dec. 1st.

We are glad to hear they are doing well. I still feel like I haven't seen photos of the new ones. Did I miss them?

 

[BY Bob]

My thoughts on your questions:

I’m not sure what to do after her course of antibiotics is over; do I just watch her? Do I take her to the vet regularly for a check-up?

Since I do not have a chicken vet nearby, I watch them. If I could, I think I would take her for a checkup to be certain that we cured it. I am actually quite jealous of those of you who can take your chickens to ther vet. Here it is up to me. It feels like a huge responsibility to always be right.

Firstly broodies; when your broody stops being broody, do they stay off the lay for a while? I’m pretty sure the last time Charlie was broody, she stopped laying for a while but I don’t remember for how long

Maleficent laid one egg after becoming broody. No more. I understand that being broody does pause their egg laying after a certain point. Mal is molting and there it's no daylight right now so my experience is unlikely to be helpful to you.

Secondly, thoughts on vaccination

As I noted on @MaryJanet thread, I am a microbiologist. That puts me firmly in the vaccinate camp (for chickens AND humans). Vaccinations are the absolute best way to prevent diseases. All the other things noted help and quarantine is essential but I always vaccinate when getting new birds.

I also just wanted to say to my new(ish) chook friends; thank you for being here. I’m feeling quite sad at the thought of losing yet another of my lovely girls, not to mention all the climate and bushfire stuff we are going through at the moment. It’s good to know I’ve got a little community I can talk to when I need help and if I’m feeling sad/low

When my dear Daisy, the greatest hen ever, passed, I withdrew from BYC. Frankly I almost gave up the flock altogether I was so devastated. If I had not just built that amazing coop, well who knows.... At the time I had no anchor to the community here. When I returned to BYC I found @Dona Worry thread on Nardole and then The Chickens of the Sunshine Motel. She inspired me to start my own thread.

Doing so brought me this amazing community of chicken friends. When Patsy passed this year I was broken hearted again but this time I had a support group to hold me up. And then Maleficent got sick shortly thereafter. I would not have gotten through all of that without everyone here. I am so blessed with all of you.

@LozzyR please let me pay it back to you. I am so happy that you have joined our little group. Whatever you need, just ask. I feel very safe in saying we are all here for you.

 

[BY Bob]

She Found the Webcam

 

[MaryJanet]

Thanks Bob. I didn’t have a choice with the choosing; the guy whose business it was just picked out girls who were ready for the chop, so I guess they were incredibly lucky. It took me a little while to bond with her; she’s got a dodgy eye as well where her pupil doesn’t dilate, but then she showed her friendly nature. I could pick her up and she stayed relaxed; Penny I could hardly pick up at all.

It's so much easier to look after chickens properly if they allow handling. I recently had a hen called Dora (named after Nana) who sat next to me companionably for weeks before one day exhaling deeply and leaning in to me for warmth, which I chose to interpret as a cuddle. She was a very dear little hen. Her friends (Nigella and Alice) were not as trusting.

 

[MaryJanet]

She Found the Webcam

View attachment 1976758

I love these photos! One eye, the other eye, the furst eye again... What is this thing? Food? No. Strange thing.

 

[BlueBaby]

We are glad to hear they are doing well. I still feel like I haven't seen photos of the new ones. Did I miss them?

No, you haven't missed them. I haven't taken any new pictures yet. I've been busy with trying to keep the weed's down on these 3 1/2 acre's. Some of the weed's that I am taking down I feed to the chicken's. They don't free range here, so I bring the weed's to them. I'm almost done with that now so that hubby can finish dragging the whole yard with his lawn tractor until it's just brown dirt again. We don't grow any grass here.

The flock seem's to be getting over the new pecking order with the new one's, because thing's are settling down. So, now I just need a sunny day to take the picture's, so that all of the different colors can show up better.

That picture of Aurora look's like she's being a camera hog.

 

[Shadrach]

I have some questions to put to the brains trust. Firstly broodies; when your broody stops being broody, do they stay off the lay for a while? I’m pretty sure the last time Charlie was broody, she stopped laying for a while but I don’t remember for how long. This time, she laid an egg on Monday but then nothing since then. I’ve had no eggs from anyone since then! I’m hoping Lucy has stopped laying altogether so I don’t have to go through egg peritonitis with her too.

Yes but. You need to be sure the hen has been broody long enough for the egg laying cycle to switch off. You can have a broody sitting on a clutch and still be laying eggs for another two or three days. I think three days has been the maximum I've seen here.
I hope the above is clear.
When the hens here go broody I let them sit for up to four days before I confiscate any eggs. This means their egg laying cycle switches off. For some this can be a week or so, for others considerably longer.
I do this mainly to give the hen the maximum possible rest from laying eggs throughout the year.
There is an interesting view here with the local chicken enthusiasts. There are only so many eggs in a hen. You can have them all quickly and a hen with a short life, or you can spread them out and have the hen live longer.
Given I'm not trying to make money out of the hens and don't need anything like the amount of eggs they will all lay in a year, I'm trying to aim for hens laying around one humdred eggs a year at two years old and decreasing naturally with age from there.

 

[Shadrach]

Secondly, thoughts on vaccination. My Isa girls are vaccinated, as is Charlie and so was Bessie. I’m making some tentative enquiries into Faverolles, but the two breeders I’ve spoken to don’t vaccinate. My best chook friend (who is a
Frizzle breeder) and has about 50 birds (chooks, ducks and geese) doesn’t vaccinate and says sometimes vaccinated birds can spread a disease and as they’re not vaccinated for everything, can still get sick. I asked if I should be only looking for vaccinated birds and she said not necessarily, quarantine and good hygiene practices should see me through for the most part. Thoughts?

If these were hatchery chickens I would go fro vaccination, particularly for Mareks.
It seems possible from what you've written that you are thinking of adult birds (?).
Here if I was to get adult birds, which would be my preferred way of increasing flock size, then quarantine is very important and vaccinations, not really.
Your breeder has given you correct information imo.