Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[BY Bob]

My girls follow me around like I am the pipe piper every time I go into the backyard I don't know if they think I have something for them or what but it is so funny. Yesterday I gave them some more mealworms and and crack corn and they go crazy. I have one hen that goes outside the yard and I think she is laying out in woods behind the fence. How would I find her eggs.

The best way to find her nest would be to follow her when she leaves the flock to lay or watch for when she comes back. That would give you the relative direction in which to look.

 

[BY Bob]

No Snacking last Night

Hattie did not get down and snack last night. It's been a long time since she has not. I wonder if it was too cold for her to do that. 18°F (-7.7 °C) this morning in Hershey.

 

[micstrachan]

Hello @micstrachan How's chicken life with you these days?

Hi, Shadrach! Chicken life is pretty good! A couple are STILL finishing up molt, but it barely ever dips below freezing here. Two of the three pullets are laying and the third seems like she’ll start any day now. She follows me around talking at me loudly until I pet her. None of the hens are laying, but a couple are getting closer. I’ve enriched the run and have been fermenting feed... focusing on flock wellness. Last year I learned my flock carries too much fat. I think it’s probably from all the pasture seed I threw last year and I’m trying to slim them down. I continue to enjoy watching them and their social interactions, and am thrilled the days are getting longer. In a couple weeks, I should be able to get home from work in time for some quick free range time before roost. Currently they only get out of the run on weekends, and this coming weekend I’ll be out of town.

 

[Shadrach]

Hi, Shadrach! Chicken life is pretty good! A couple are STILL finishing up molt, but it barely ever dips below freezing here. Two of the three pullets are laying and the third seems like she’ll start any day now. She follows me around talking at me loudly until I pet her. None of the hens are laying, but a couple are getting closer. I’ve enriched the run and have been fermenting feed... focusing on flock wellness. Last year I learned my flock carries too much fat. I think it’s probably from all the pasture seed I threw last year and I’m trying to slim them down. I continue to enjoy watching them and their social interactions, and am thrilled the days are getting longer. In a couple weeks, I should be able to get home from work in time for some quick free range time before roost. Currently they only get out of the run on weekends, and this coming weekend I’ll be out of town.

Have you been reading Bob's chicken stories?

 

[micstrachan]

Not regularly, but I will try to catch up.

 

[RoyalChick]

I’m also not familiar with that turn of phrase... I read it to say she is a stunner, as a compliment, let’s hope she takes it take way as well. Chickens are obviously multi lingual and fluent in all the different human languages we use to praise their magnificence Just like cats!

Oh my goodness I missed a lot of posts this morning. My mother used to call one of her cats 'the dirty little stop out' because she was out on the town enjoying company of the local Tom cat and would come in for breakfast looking a bit worse for wear. Took me back seeing these posts!

 

[RoyalChick]

Okay, okay, I'll try and stick to that dull mid Atlantic soulless stuff that gets called English these days.

Ha ha. Just don't!

 

[RoyalChick]

That’s adorable. My flock likes protection when crossing open ground, too. It’s so stinkin’ cute, I can hardly stand it. If I go stand out on the road (really just an easement to a single property beyond ours,) they’ll all run across in single file right beside me. Some will jut their necks and flap, too, while one or two will fly!

Mine too. In the Fall they come help me dig up the vegetable garden. That means crossing a big open field. So I play rooster and lead the way across the field, and they walk very close to me until they get in sight of the garden. At that point they go 'whoooop - worms!' and rush ahead of me and dive into the garden to start digging.

 

[ValerieJ]

Mine too. In the Fall they come help me dig up the vegetable garden. That means crossing a big open field. So I play rooster and lead the way across the field, and they walk very close to me until they get in sight of the garden. At that point they go 'whoooop - worms!' and rush ahead of me and dive into the garden to start digging.

I need to put some hens in my garden!

 

[BY Bob]

I need to put some hens in my garden!

Mine do all of my tilling for me, spring and fall.