Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[micstrachan]

They are such lovely girls! I only wish I had had more time with Phyllis, she decided it was bedtime once we got there.

I did snap these 2 beauties!!
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You can clearly see she's a bit lopsided in the food boob area!!!

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Miss Hattie is such a lovely soft color, pictures really don't do her justice!!

OMG, aren’t Mr. Bob’s birds all so lovely? But I must agree... from a purely aesthetic perspective... Hattie is my favorite! I wanted a lavender Orpington as soon as I discover they existed. But the timing with chick availability, broodiness, Human ability to accommodate more birds, etc. just hasn’t lined up yet.

 

[micstrachan]

Sydney is Moved

@CrazyChookChookLady came down and brought these wonderful gifts for Sydney.

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We then prepared a nest in the coop and moved her to the new (old) coop after dark. Everything seemed to go well. I can't wait to check on her in the morning. I took no pictures of her tonight. I wanted everything to go smoothly with as little disruption as possible.

Here's hoping I got this done right.

A special thank you to @CrazyChookChookLady for the help. I felt much better having her here.

OMG, OMG, OMG!!! This is so very exciting! Are those eggs from one breed or multiple breeds? Not that it really matters. Sydney’s going to be a mama!

 

[micstrachan]

Fun Fact:
Did you know that female butterflies will mate with multiple males and can then choose which donor to use for her offspring? A 'try before you buy' arrangement if ever there was!

Umm... I LOVE this little tidbit of info!

 

[micstrachan]

@BY Bob is it 21 days for hatching?
Has everyone set a countdown?!

Bob will keep us on the countdown track, I’m sure!

 

[micstrachan]

Rejection and Failure

Well I feel like a failure this morning. Sydney rejected the move. I woke up to a frantic hen desperately trying to break out of the big run to get to her nest in the big coop. Screaming at the top of her lungs with Aurora yelling along with her.

What else could I do. After a quick check in with @CrazyChookChookLady I put the eggs in the big run, into her nesting box of choice, and opened the door. She is now comfortably sitting on her & Stanley's eggs in the big coop.

Happy

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I however, feel defeated. I think Aurora could tell. She has been hanging with me for a long time this morning, grooming.

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Such sweet babies! Both of them! Both Aurora and Sydney. You know what? Cashew didn’t accept a move either. Granted, the eggs under her weren’t fertile. But I had to let her choose the spot. And then I put the baby chicks under her. It was in the main coop and run with the big girls. And she kicked ass defending her checks against them. Pardon my French.

edited to add: Don’t feel like a failure. You really had no say in the matter. You should actually feel like you’ve done the right thing… You let her make the decision.

 

[micstrachan]

Oh why defeated? She has her preference and now you have accommodated it. You offered her ice-cream, she wanted pickles. It happens!

THIS

 

[micstrachan]

Miss Aurora is quite the full figures gal. She is much larger in person and she was stuffed full last night!! I believe her meal worm are soon to be rationed. Lol

It was an honor to meet your flock last night. Thank you so much for having Rich and I over for dinner.

WOW! So nice!

 

[micstrachan]

Full figured gal - you mean it isn't all feathers?!
I love that @BY Bob could get eggs from @CrazyChookChookLady - I feel like getting eggs or chicks from someone you know or as rescue is just so much more appealing than getting them in the mail.

Agree!

 

[micstrachan]

I hope you won't mind if I butt in here....
If she feels safe in the coop nest box then she at least is confident that she can defend her nest there. They are not often wrong ime.
Coop to coop and house nest box to coop I always do in the daytime and I make sure the hen sees me move her eggs. Most get off the new egg site and try to return to the original site. I pick them up and place them back on the eggs in the new site. I think a hen called Fray holds the stubbornness record. It took about a dozen manual relocations before she settled at the new site.
I move hens that sit at outside nest sites at night for obvious reasons.
You need to mark the fertile eggs and the eggs she laid. It is quite probable that other hens will try to contribute to the clutch. Senior hens tend not to put up with this; juniors are more likely to just sit there and guard their eggs and let another lay.
It is worth making a wire mesh screen to cover her chosen nest box for the night. It saves you worrying about what goes on in the mornings before you let them out. Ime quite a lot can go on in the early mornings.
You can force a hen to sit in most locations and I read a lot of this on BYC. I'm completely against it. If a hen abandons her nest then there will probably be another time. I never force a hen to sit. I only insist on location changes. After that it's up to her.
Provide water at the nest site Bob, but not food. You need to watch that she gets off the nest every day to eat, socialize and most importantly, dust bath. Do not under any circumstances feed her at the nest until the chicks start hatching!
I would not move her once the chicks hatch unless you see one of the other hens attack the chicks. If they attack mum (providing it's not serious) that isn't unusual. It generally stops. One of the great advantages of having a hen hatch in the flocks coop is the chicks hear the other hens while they are still in their shells and once hatched, can judge from their mothers reaction who to avoid early on. It also means mum and chicks get access to where they will be expected to live at an early age. Even in a coop and run situation this has tremendous advantages for the chicks development.

Really, really love this helpful post. Corroborated by my very limited experience with a chicken mama.

 

[drumstick diva]

Can I have the ice cream ?