Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[BY Bob]

Morning Snack

 

[biophiliac]

Does Hatti get a pecking order advancement if she becomes top hen of the newcomers?

Maybe a Friend Badge?

Morning Snack
View attachment 2047737

Nice! All 6 together in one frame with no squabbling, haha.
I see our weather from yesterday arrived at FBA(Fluffy butt acres).

 

[BY Bob]

Maybe a Friend Badge?

Nice! All 6 together in one frame with no squabbling, haha.
I see our weather from yesterday arrived at FBA(Fluffy butt acres).

The rain started just as I let them out. Thanks for sending it our way. It is nice to see all 6 together with no chasing.

I made the mistake yesterday of trying to hand feed them elbow pasta. The older ones lined up like they were taught but chaos soon ensued. Sydney has no concept of waiting your turn and was stealing from everyone. That made Sansa think it was ok. Hattie did not like that. A few pecks came down, then Aurora felt she was being cheated and decided the rules no longer applied and she started stealing as well. Hattie was livid and started pecking her as well.

In the end I had to give up and scatter them for everyone to get as they could. I'm going to have to work on this. I had them so calm and patient with hand feeding. More training is required. I should have known.

I love the idea if a "friend badge" that's awesome! Well played.

 

[biophiliac]

The rain started just as I let them out. Thanks for sending it our way. It is nice to see all 6 together with no chasing.

I made the mistake yesterday of trying to hand feed them elbow pasta. The older ones lined up like they were taught but chaos soon ensued. Sydney has no concept of waiting your turn and was stealing from everyone. That made Sansa think it was ok. Hattie did not like that. A few pecks came down, then Aurora felt she was being cheated and decided the rules no longer applied and she started stealing as well. Hattie was livid and started pecking her as well.

In the end I had to give up and scatter them for everyone to get as they could. I'm going to have to work on this. I had them so calm and patient with hand feeding. More training is required. I should have known.

I love the idea if a "friend badge" that's awesome! Well played.

I must have missed the one when you described the orderly lineup for pasta treats. Is it one behind the other or side by side? I need to know or I won't be able to stop thinking of it!

 

[Shadrach]

Edwina originally laid quite dark brown eggs. They got lighter before she started moulting.

Weirdly enough the colour can be scratched off. I've no idea if that's normal or not.

It is normal. That's why I refer to the egg coloring stage as a spray booth.
All shells are whitish until they get sprayed. It's the last operation in the process.

 

[BY Bob]

I must have missed the one when you described the orderly lineup for pasta treats. Is it one behind the other or side by side? I need to know or I won't be able to stop thinking of it!

So I worked with the 4 hens I had to teach them their names and to stop feeding frenzies. If I sit down on the ground the 4 of them would arrange themselves into a semi circle in front of me. As I said their name I would hand each of them say a piece of pasta and each would patiently wait their turn. The only exception was sometimes Aurora would get antsy and take hers, leave, and come back. It would go very smoothly as everyone knew they were getting their share.

Unfortunately I never got my wife to film it.

I decided to do this based upon a conversation I had with @Shadrach on this thread.

I do believe that Hattie especially liked that way of distribution. She would look me in the eyes and never took anyone elses. That's why I think she got very frustrated with everyone else yesterday

 

[Kris5902]

So I worked with the 4 hens I had to teach them their names and to stop feeding frenzies. If I sit down on the ground the 4 of them would arrange themselves into a semi circle in front of me. As I said their name I would hand each of them say a piece of pasta and each would patiently wait their turn. The only exception was sometimes Aurora would get antsy and take hers, leave, and come back. It would go very smoothly as everyone knew they were getting their share.

Unfortunately I never got my wife to film it.

I decided to do this based upon a conversation I had with @Shadrach on this thread.

I do believe that Hattie especially liked that way of distribution. She would look me in the eyes and never took anyone elses. That's why I think she got very frustrated with everyone else yesterday

This is exactly how I would give my three cats treats! And how I taught them to sit, and Whisper to shake a paw. It made breakfast go so much easier when we were in the city and I had to go to work. Charlie was never quite as good at the sitting, and sometimes after a few repetitions Whisper would get frustrated and go over and “enforce” the sit: Paw swat* “Look little bro, put your butt on the ground so she will feed us, or I Smack you upside the head again!”

 

[BY Bob]

This is exactly how I would give my three cats treats! And how I taught them to sit, and Whisper to shake a paw. It made breakfast go so much easier when we were in the city and I had to go to work. Charlie was never quite as good at the sitting, and sometimes after a few repetitions Whisper would get frustrated and go over and “enforce” the sit: Paw swat* “Look little bro, put your butt on the ground so she will feed us, or I Smack you upside the head again!”

I did the same thing with my cats for treats. I never thought ro apply it to chickens until that conversation with Shad. Shame on me.

 

[RoyalChick]

I did the same thing with my cats for treats. I never thought ro apply it to chickens until that conversation with Shad. Shame on me.

Hmmm - I may need you all to teach me how to do that. I would say my Princesses are completely untrained and don't have good manners. If I have sunflower seeds in my pocket and I am tinkering in the coop, all of a sudden I find there is a beak inside my pocket and then sometimes 3 beaks in my pocket!

 

[BY Bob]

Hmmm - I may need you all to teach me how to do that. I would say my Princesses are completely untrained and don't have good manners. If I have sunflower seeds in my pocket and I am tinkering in the coop, all of a sudden I find there is a beak inside my pocket and then sometimes 3 beaks in my pocket!

It's very hard with small things like mealworms, corn, or seeds. But things like fish, pasta, etc. The Bigs are very good at waiting for theirs.