Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Shadrach]

Today Lucky was having a bit of a tantrum waiting for the nest box Minnie was in. Does that count? Minnie was taking so long, I started to worry she might be in trouble in there. When she screeched at me, I understood what was going on and reached in and took the egg. Then I carried her clear across the yard and she shook it off. Sorry, sweetie. I don’t think we’re doing chicks this year.

Most of the tantrums I see here are about eggs and nests. The males whine and sulk while the females are rather, erm, loud.

 

[BY Bob]

Bob, I'm wondering whether the prefab can be removed on the day you decide close it off. What do you think?

I'm suggesting this because I observed Peggy and Ivy taking to the henhouse roosts of their own accord on the same day we relocated the little coop. This was after three nights of me relocating them into the henhouse to establish a roosting habit.

With the little coop "gone" Peggy and Ivy assumed the right place to be was in the henhouse.

I could, If I had the time to take it down. It is kind of like flying without a parachute at that point. No going back so to say. I did that with Jabberwocky and Hattie and they refused to roost in the Big Coop so catching them was required for 2 nights until they did. Maybe I will try it again. This is where the observation and art of the integration comes in.

 

[CrazyChookChookLady]

Our friends daughter is dealing with a surprise nasty divorce. It is awful to watch what people will do to each other.

Especially when they once loved that person. I'm thankful that my divorce was very simple and straightforward. Even the lawyers and child custody conciliator commented on how civil we were to each other.

Now Rich and his ex are a totally different story. She was the one who broke up the marriage (he caught her in the act of sleeping with the neighbor). Sadly she is bi-polar and a narcissists, but she refuses to take medication and any responsibility for her actions.

We are about to file paperwork for 50/50 custody of his children. They both are failing subjects in school and are behind others for their age. Christa doesn't know how to be a parent, her parents were dysfunctional at best, and now she is doing the same things to her children as were done to her. Morgan (Rich's 12 year old daughter) is really struggling. She has terrible outburst and gets physical with anyone that doesn't give her her way. It's really becoming a major problem and Rich wants to do some counseling or something so Morgan doesn't go down the same path as Christa, but Christa refuses. She says Morgan is just a brat in a pre-teen tantrum. We obviously know better, but trying to talk to her is impossible.

We'd ultimately like to have full custody of all of our children, and I feel it will happen one day, but until then it's a struggle. I wish we could afford a lawyer to help with all of this, but we can't so we just do the best we can.

 

[CrazyChookChookLady]

OMG YALL I ALSO HAVE TO SAY I TALKED TO MY UNCLE!!! HE TALKED WITH ME! boy did i cry and his prognosis is still 'ticking time bomb' But hes Fighting! Hes actually out of ICU!

What wonderful news!! I've been prayer for you and your family.

 

[CrazyChookChookLady]

Have a Cup of Coffee and Stay a While

This happened at 6:30 am today. I dont think it is after chickens.

Awe what a pretty kitty! I bet he's looking for a few mice to chase. If I ever see any of my kitties on your camera, we'll have problems!

 

[CrazyChookChookLady]

My grandfather’s cat used to try and take on German Shepard’s, pit bulls, and raccoons. He was incredibly territorial, and one tough little guy. The dog owners usually managed to get their dogs clear of the crazy hissing fluffball charging them without incident. He “won” against the raccoons twice though, and got off with very little damage (he tore an ear pretty decently once). And not those skinny country raccoons, big trash fed city coons! It still amazes me how tiny the ones here are.

I had a big white cat as a child that was a master killer. He didn't mess with dogs so much, but squirrels, groundhogs, raccoons, snakes, and all kinds of little mice and birds. I was a pro by age 10 of removing dead or half dead animals from my front porch.

 

[CrazyChookChookLady]

Ask and you shall receive!
View attachment 2028328View attachment 2028329View attachment 2028330

OH what a lovey kitty!!! She is stunning!!

When I hit the lotto (or a rich relative dies LOL) I'm taking a month long tour of Oz and I'm going to visit all my wonderful friends from this site and their kitties and chickens!!!

 

[WhoDatChick]

Only shame is it is a poor catch of my black laced red hen, here is a shot of her feather pattern

These BLRW are not any work of my own i am just as awestruck by their beauty as any of youView attachment 2029164

Wow ..... love!

 

[BY Bob]

Awe what a pretty kitty! I bet he's looking for a few mice to chase. If I ever see any of my kitties on your camera, we'll have problems!

That would be a hike!

 

[mixedUPturk]

Integration Strategy

As @Ribh prepares to integrate her flock, I have started laying out my strategy as well. I thought I would share my "plan" as its stands right now. I am a pretty conservative integrator preferring to use space to my advantage as much as I can.

Considerations Before I Start

• Reliable Roosting: I need to know that the littles are going to roost in their house at night to start with. I need a good 7 days of the same thing happens every night.
• Limited Wife Involvement: I need to know that I am not counting on her for more than closing the door at night and feeding/watering. Anything more can and has gone horribly wrong.
• Big Coop is Ready: Before I close off the old prefab all adjustments in the Big Coop have to be done and the originals given a week to adjust to them.
• The Weather: This must always be a consideration. Any blizzards or bitter cold on the way?

So for now we have gotten 2 nights of good roosting. Assuming they complete the week, I can look to start everything this weekend. That is also when my personal mark of the 2 week partial Quarantine comes to an end. So what will I do starting this weekend?

Phase 1
In this phase I allow the flocks to free range together. I will let the big girls out as usual and then with about 2 hours of daylight left, I will let the newbies out with them. I will open the big run up fully so there are no dead ends. The big benefit of this is all the space it gives them to get away. The first thing that happens is the big ones go into the big run because it is theirs and they want it back. They will eat the littles food, explore their house, etc. The good news is that the littles will be busily exploring the yard at the same time.

I will place a lantern in the prefab coop so that the littles can find it at dusk as they can get lost out in the yard sometimes. I do not want any roosting elsewhere.

While this is going on I plan to make changes to the roost situation in the big coop. This will allow burn in time with the older hens on any changes I make in the big coop.

Phase 2
Phase 1 will continue at least a week with me letting the littles out earlier and earlier each day so that more yard time is shared. Based upon how they flocks interact, I will look to time out phase 2 which is placement into the Big Coop.

I will stress test the free ranging with treats to see how they interact when brought together.

There is no definitive time frame to move to this next step. Their behavior will tell me when they are ready.

Once they are combining without a lot of pecking while free ranging, I will start to move the littles at night from roosts in the prefab to roosts in the Big Coop. I will do this for a few nights and then I will close off the prefab. I must be home at this point. This becomes the hardest and saddest part of the integration.

The littles will stand at the door to the prefab at night the first few nights and cry to be let in. I will place a lantern in the Big Coop to draw them to where they are supposed to be roosting. Sometimes hearding is required. What is definately required is that I be a flock defender during this time period and be absolutely certain that they get safely roosted within the coop each night. This can take several days.

Phrase 3
Here I remove the prefab from the Big Run and lock them into the complex together with no free ranging. Now I can see if I need to make any adjustments inside the runs or coop beyond what I have already done. Most of this is done by camera so I get true observations of their behavior. It also really brings the flock together and enforces one place to sleep together.

This could all take as long as a month. Fortunately I have no need to rush the process and of course I am praying that the weather holds the whole time. There are no guarantees of that this time of year. All I need is one snow storm to take my free range away from me and this gets a lot more complicated.

Thank You Ms Mary Janet for reminding me, i wanted to ask Mr Bob is it also part of your plan to let the little girls have some alone time prior to the first stage getting to know the layout of the big girls' coop/run before theyre 'thrown to the wolves?' I understand phase 1 is opening the whole thing up i just worry about them panicing in a new environment and running smack into a wall or the like.

Bob, I'm wondering whether the prefab can be removed on the day you decide close it off. What do you think?

I'm suggesting this because I observed Peggy and Ivy taking to the henhouse roosts of their own accord on the same day we relocated the little coop. This was after three nights of me relocating them into the henhouse to establish a roosting habit.

With the little coop "gone" Peggy and Ivy assumed the right place to be was in the henhouse.

Especially when they once loved that person. I'm thankful that my divorce was very simple and straightforward. Even the lawyers and child custody conciliator commented on how civil we were to each other.

Now Rich and his ex are a totally different story. She was the one who broke up the marriage (he caught her in the act of sleeping with the neighbor). Sadly she is bi-polar and a narcissists, but she refuses to take medication and any responsibility for her actions.

We are about to file paperwork for 50/50 custody of his children. They both are failing subjects in school and are behind others for their age. Christa doesn't know how to be a parent, her parents were dysfunctional at best, and now she is doing the same things to her children as were done to her. Morgan (Rich's 12 year old daughter) is really struggling. She has terrible outburst and gets physical with anyone that doesn't give her her way. It's really becoming a major problem and Rich wants to do some counseling or something so Morgan doesn't go down the same path as Christa, but Christa refuses. She says Morgan is just a brat in a pre-teen tantrum. We obviously know better, but trying to talk to her is impossible.

We'd ultimately like to have full custody of all of our children, and I feel it will happen one day, but until then it's a struggle. I wish we could afford a lawyer to help with all of this, but we can't so we just do the best we can.

now i will be praying for yours!