Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[LozzyR]

I think I’m experiencing encroachment creep too!

 

[LozzyR]

... aaaaaaand we’re up!

 

[LozzyR]

Comfiest. Concrete. Ever!

 

[LozzyR]

River disappeared at bedtime tonight. They all went to bed in the tractor so I transported them to the henhouse. Tegan went first, then Nyssa. I left the nesting box lid open, as I usually do and I came back... no River. I panicked and grabbed hubby to help me look. By this time we needed a torch and I asked my son to grab a second one. They were both up by the house and my husband called out “Found her!” She was roosting on the bricks behind the tiger grass. She made an awful fuss coming out and again when I put her on the ground in front of the door. So much so that Nyssa came out. I had to pick her up again and put her through the door and Nyssa put herself back in. I won’t be leaving that door open again!

 

[BY Bob]

... aaaaaaand we’re up!

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Oh what darlings they are. They know where you come from now.

 

[BY Bob]

River disappeared at bedtime tonight. They all went to bed in the tractor so I transported them to the henhouse. Tegan went first, then Nyssa. I left the nesting box lid open, as I usually do and I came back... no River. I panicked and grabbed hubby to help me look. By this time we needed a torch and I asked my son to grab a second one. They were both up by the house and my husband called out “Found her!” She was roosting on the bricks behind the tiger grass. She made an awful fuss coming out and again when I put her on the ground in front of the door. So much so that Nyssa came out. I had to pick her up again and put her through the door and Nyssa put herself back in. I won’t be leaving that door open again!

Those are scary moments. I'm glad that you found her safe. My heart stopped after reading that she had disappeared.

 

[LozzyR]

Those are scary moments. I'm glad that you found her safe. My heart stopped after reading that she had disappeared.

So did mine when I couldn’t see her in the tractor! I was going to say I had lost her at bedtime, but as it’s common to use the word ‘lost’ to refer to a death, I decided not to say that.

 

[BY Bob]

Photos from Sunday

My little bowling ball

I love the photo bomber in this photo

Aurora was enjoying a nice sun bath here. The thing that shocked me was a little while later Sansa went to lay down next to her. I know, not shocking. Sun and all. What she did was shocking.

Sansa slid up to Aurora and pecked her in the butt!

The reaction was like poking Godzilla in the eye while a really big stick.

Aurora let her know that was unacceptable in a forceful way.

Why would you do that?

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

I can't say one gets used to it because I certainly haven't.
I have come to accept that this is going to happen. This year has been good for the chicks so far. Normally about 50% get predated.
It's very difficult to explain to many people. It doesn't matter what one does within reason, chickens like all other creatures die. Here on BYC there is a tendency to believe that the lives of all chickens can be saved by enclosed runs, secure coops, medical intervention etc.
Just reading a few of the ER threads show this just doesn't reflect reality.
The problem is what we have done to the chicken through breeding and management. The popular high production and dual purpose breeds are no longer able to survive without our intervention. Slowly here, the chickens are getting more and more able to fend for themselves. Before I came here the loss rate was over one a month with chicks dying in handfuls.

I think of it slightly differently. Chickens 'in the wild' live and die and get injured and get eaten. And that is what it is. However, once any one of us takes on responsibility for an animal we have some level of duty of care. Yours are semi-wild so you duty of care is very different from mine because I introduced chickens into my yard knowing that with all the foxes and raccoons they wouldn't last a minute on their own. So I build a coop and a run (aka Chicken Palace) so I can protect them. Does that make sense to anyone?

Yes, I agree.
Shadrach's chickens have a degree of freedom that I am unable to replicate in my little backyard and as a result the flock will evolve physically and in temperament to suit those conditions. Like laying eggs in the "big coop" to keep Shadrach company

My girls will never breed so, they will never evolve as a flock, only perhaps change their behaviour to suit the way they are managed. Maybe into lap chickens if I do it right!

As I have taken away their ability to look after themselves by confining them, it is my moral responsibility to give them the best protection and quality of life I can.

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

On a lighter note

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Love this!