Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[BY Bob]

By Bob, You really need to take away that cell phone from Phyllis. Her and my roo BLU, seem to talk for hours on end. I noticed many collect calls on my phone bill. Who is Phyllis trying to fool?

Hey BLU does not have to accept the charges. If he didn't have such large wattles Phyllis wouldn't be so infatuated. Get him a beakbook account and they could private message each other and save you money.

 

[featherhead007]

Hey BLU does not have to accept the charges. If he didn't have such large wattles Phyllis wouldn't be so infatuated. Get him a beakbook account and they could private message each other and save you money.

Now that's a great idea! no, wait a min.... BeakBook?

 

[BY Bob]

Now that's a great idea! no, wait a min.... BeakBook?

Phyllis and Ivy are beakbook friends.

 

[featherhead007]

Phyllis and Ivy are beakbook friends.
View attachment 2170207

They probably chat about that crazy roo from California, among other feathered topics.

 

[Ribh]

I was able to stop my bantams from being broody as I have a broody jail that will only accommodate bantams.. so I have left Sunny (BO) and Rosemary (Australorpe) to stay sitting until they are done being broody on their own... it’s been at least three weeks or more by now.. they seem fine and healthy.. Rosemary may be on her way to being done but not quite and Sunny is holding out for sure... I don’t mind leaving them to work it out on their own.. the only downfall to this approach is that they hog some of the nests! I plan to make more for this reason.. even though I do have an adequate amount.,. I do believe that in the future I will no longer use broody jail and just let them sit till done... Shads words got me.. the bit about how they cannot dust bathe ... I didn’t even think of that!

I use my old coop, which is small but allows for some exercise & dustbathing but I close of the roosts & nest boxes so my broody must roost outside @ night, quite safe. She is locked in away from any potential threat. Plus they are on their own. I lost one girl while the man was in charge because she wandered off, nested outside the coop & tranced herself to death & another one lost so much condition during her broody period she never really recovered. My last broody was a young Araucana [the worst I've had]. It took me over a month to convince her she didn't want to nest & she was refusing to eat & drink properly but expended large amounts of energy pacing. So while in a perfect world I would do things differently I have to work with what I've got & what I've got is a council veto on roosters, neighbours who don't want them & a lack of access to fertile eggs.

I am following this with close attention because the man is angling for a parcel of land to extend his bush houses & nursery business & thinks I should go in full on for chooks ~ roosters & all~ when he's got it.

My BRs are constantly going broody in summer ~ & as they are my best layers by far the lack of eggs from them is a pain. I'm sure there is a better way of managing broodies but I don't know what it is.

 

[Ribh]

Rooster Dance



If you don't mind @Shadrach I'd like to dive into this rooster dance a little more because I have video of Jabberwocky doing his "dance". It seemed to me that he isolated a hen and then, as I called it, "gave her the wing".

Can you explain how this is a herding shuffle? I very much want to understand the behavior here. Why is he doing this?

Jabber was certainly one beautiful rooster!

 

[BY Bob]

Jabber was certainly one beautiful rooster!

I think all roosters are beautiful but he was a real looker. Should have been better with the ladies.

 

[Ribh]

I think all roosters are beautiful but he was a real looker. Should have been better with the ladies.

Yes, I know. No~one to teach him manners, poor boy ~ says she who won't keep one.

 

[Shadrach]

I also cannot have a rooster so the only way this works is if I rehome any boys as soon as I can. I have plans to make this as easy as possible but the best laid plans can blow up. It is one of the reasons she has only 3 eggs. I'm trying to limit my exposure. If this works I may be able to repeat the experience. If not, we we experienced it once.

I think once you've seen a broody mum with her chicks you're on a very slippery slope.
I can still recal the debate I had with the people who own the property when I said if I'm going to be responsible for the chickens then the incubator has to go and the bantams and a single rooster have to be set free. According to the owners in the entire time they had had chickens here there had never been a broody hen. Much like I read on BYC they insisted that the broodiness had been bred out of them. It took a few moths and I can still remember my delight when Mini Minx sat and hatched the first clutch here. Now, every hen here whether they lay eggs or not has at some point shown broody instinct.

 

[Shadrach]

Rooster Dance



If you don't mind @Shadrach I'd like to dive into this rooster dance a little more because I have video of Jabberwocky doing his "dance". It seemed to me that he isolated a hen and then, as I called it, "gave her the wing".

Can you explain how this is a herding shuffle? I very much want to understand the behavior here. Why is he doing this?

I don't know why they do it on many occasions.
What I do know is there is no correlation between that movement and mating. Roosters do it to roosters here. Some call it a show of dominance, but I really don't like that word. It's much more friendly than trying to dominate anything. Herding is the best term I can come up with and it's the term the chicken keepers here use. It is in part a demonstration that a particular hen is his/their hen. But, roosters here will do that to stray hens from other tribes encouraging them back to the tribe they belong to.