Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[micstrachan]

You're doing a great job.

Thanks! I’m trying. I really don’t want to be responsible for any more suffering. I just love these girls to pieces!

 

[micstrachan]

Thank you, you are very kind to say so.

Well, it’s true.

 

[micstrachan]

They are all beautiful. That mint warrior video could be an ad for this thread!

I'm glad to hear that Ruby is responding well. It sounds like the flock is doing pretty well overall and I'm glad.

Thanks! Me, too!

 

[micstrachan]

No mistake: Now there is a fluffy butt!!

Haha! Right???

 

[WhoDatChick]

Oh my gosh! How terrifying. I am so glad everything is ok.

Thank you! Me toooooo!

 

[Ali James]

Alright, alright, I admit it. I'm losing my grip.
I've mentioned Moon before. She not exactly an outcast but she doesn't quite fit. Nobody in Tribe 1 bothers her but she is so obviously different in colour and demeanor.
Moon has decided I'm okay. She turns up often on her own and sits in the armchair napping or watching me go about what I have to do.
Treacle is another one who doesn't quite fit. I've mentioned the prospects of a pairing before.
Today I came over all soft and cuddly and the reason was the sequence of events that the pictures below just don't do justice to.
Moon arrived first. Her brother Tyle brought her to the door and then rejoined Tribe 1. Moon and her sister Tap are having problems picking a nest site. Cillin has had a brief attempt at suggesting suitable spots, but with 5 other more senior and more cooperative hens to look after, Moon has been left to fend for herself to some extent.
Treacle checks on me most days, probably every day but doesn't always find me. He arrived when Moon was here; she had already got into the nest box but was looking hesitant about settling. Most hens here expect a rooster to be there when they first pick a nest site.
Treacle isn't all that well clued up on this new nest business and got underneath the nest box on the floor and made nesting noises and scratching motions which is what a good rooster does when he wants a hen to lay in a particular place. Unfortunately I had left my camera in the car port but Moon ended up peering over the edge of the nest box at where Treacle was crouched. If Moon had got out the probability was she would have wandered off to find somewhere else to lay. I didn't want that. I really like to know where each hen is laying.
I interfered and picked Treacle up and put him where he should have been and that was in the box with Moon. It's not good scratching the floor underneath.
I went and got my camera.
The whole performance was just so sweet. Despite both being in the nest box for over an hour and a half Moon didn't lay an egg. But, she now knows that the box is okay and just maybe she'll get Treacle to accompany her in the future.View attachment 2036990View attachment 2036995View attachment 2037003View attachment 2037004View attachment 2037005View attachment 2037006View attachment 2037007View attachment 2037011

I love these two - Treacle is gorgeous, how could a hen not fall the that magnificent pair of ... wattles ...

 

[Ribh]

Every night I count 32 birds in the coop. If I don't count 32, I will scour the whole property late into the evening to find her/him, If I don't locate the missing bird, I panic. I know EXACTLY how you feel!

I always count. I have a couple of renegades & a couple who roost under bigger birds' wings ! Too easy to miss.

 

[Ribh]

Oh ma ga, yall! I woke up and to an almost nightmare! I was in the kitchen making breakfast and I look out and see Nilky walking around their yard !!! I froze!!! I know I put them up but the days can run together so perhaps I forgot a day!!!?? So I take the eggs off the stove and run out praying that I do not find a massacre in the coop!! As I approach the run/coop I do not see anyone walking around and am terrified as they should be out and about by now as it’s been daylight for at least 20 minutes! Then I see that the door is locked and the gals start pouring out of the coop....(my coop is open to the run but not the yard).... apparently Nilky got locked out last night!! So all was safe and she managed to stay alive..... I cannot begin to explain the feeling of terror to think that I could’ve possibly killed all my chickens!! I literally was shaking in the knees!! And still shaken up for a good 10 minutes afterwards!! This evening there will be double checks all around!!!!

Oh. My. That is heart failure material!

 

[Shadrach]

This is a repeat of last nights supper. Treacle 'encourages' Fat Bird away from the food so his two can eat in peace. Moon takes no chances; she also seems to think that is her chair.
If I sit on it she'll grudgingly budge over a bit.
Note the dust yet again.
The culprit is in the last picture try to be nice to me.

 

[RoyalChick]

Oh. My. That is heart failure material!

Totally agree I was holding my breath reading!