Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[RoyalChick]

This is Dotty (I think - they are getting harder to tell apart).
She is always in a hurry and always vocal but not always clear on what direction she wants to go in.
Neither of the young ladies has mastered the art of slow elegant walking - it is all run or fly with them all the time.

 

[BY Bob]

Yes, the run is secure snd so are both coops. The orher night I went out with a headlamp and saw a rat scurry across the top of the (hardware cloth) covered run. I wasn’t overly concerned, as we live out in the country. Well, the last three nights, they’ve been ravaging my tomatoes. I went out with a headlamp to pick any tomatoes starting to ripen and sprinkle natural repellant (what a joke) and saw one trying to get into the coop. It was still relatively early in the evening and they had already been at the tomatoes! As a looked around, I could see rats scurrying. I went out a couple more times and saw rats every time. Last I checked (after midnight) they had taken (like removed completely) three softball sized green tomatoes. I told my husband who had to see it for himself with a flashlight and he agreed it’s a large number of them if we’re seeing thst many so quickly. I think I’d like to hot wire the garden. But I may not have any tomatoes by the time I can pull that off. I have piles of branches all over from doing tree work. They make sort of a barrier to keep the birds in my yard. The rats seem to be living in there. I ordered a reciprocating saw to attack those piles, but I might need to rent a chipper. DH also has a bunch of bunny and sports related things piled up messily alongside the garage. That all has to go, as they’re living in that mess, too. It’s war.

Oh my gosh. That just gives me the heabie jeabies. Good luck and be very aggressive.

 

[BY Bob]

War indeed!
I have been waiting to report in on my electric fence experiment but as it might help you I will go for it now.
First it is not that hard to set up. Not as easy as described(!) but definitely doable. But the fascinating thing is the impact it has had on the visiting wildlife - the raccoons and the foxes. I have had the fence up for 10 days and not a single one has visited. Normally I get a couple of visits almost every night.
I can't explain it except that they somehow know it is an electric fence and stay away. Worth a try!

That is awesome news. I'm so glad it works. Did you video the installation for us?

 

[BY Bob]

This is Dotty (I think - they are getting harder to tell apart).
She is always in a hurry and always vocal but not always clear on what direction she wants to go in.
Neither of the young ladies has mastered the art of slow elegant walking - it is all run or fly with them all the time.

That's just awesome.

 

[RoyalChick]

That is awesome news. I'm so glad it works. Did you video the installation for us?

Ha! If I had it would not be suitable for public viewing as it would be mainly me cursing to high hell. And I would have needed to be an octopus as I needed 4 hands just to deal with the fence!
Next time I do some pics of the Chicken Palace I will show you the set-up. It is still in temporary mode because I wanted to figure it out - but I think I will now properly bury the ground wire and make it a more permanent feature.

 

[TheOddOneOut]

Thanks for doing in. Welcome to the fun. This is a good question. It's been a journey since I first started telling their story.

From the original flock when I started the thread there are still 2.

Lilly
View attachment 2343650

And Hattie
View attachment 2343651

Who are the new members? What happened to Jabber?

 

[BY Bob]

Who are the new members? What happened to Jabber?

I will start with Jabber. Unfortunately I had a neighbor complain and he had become so vicious that I could not rehome him. So Jabber is no longer with us. I always feel a little bad about that but I simply ran out of options.

Patsy passed around a year ago from what I can best figure was old age. Something broke inside her and she passed gently in my lap.

I added two easter eggers while Jabber was still here. Maleficent was killed earlier this year by what I can only guess was weasel. She had roosted outside the coop and was taken right after dusk. Her sister Aurora is still with us. Here is Aurora.

The newest ladies came to us as a group from someone who had to let them go. I took them all as a package. Here they are:

Sansa

Sydney

and last but never least, Phyllis

 

[TheOddOneOut]

I will start with Jabber. Unfortunately I had a neighbor complain and he had become so vicious that I could not rehome him. So Jabber is no longer with us. I always feel a little bad about that but I simply ran out of options.

Patsy passed around a year ago from what I can best figure was old age. Something broke inside her and she passed gently in my lap.

I added two easter eggers while Jabber was still here. Maleficent was killed earlier this year by what I can only guess was weasel. She had roosted outside the coop and was taken right after dusk. Her sister Aurora is still with us. Here is Aurora.
View attachment 2343979

The newest ladies came to us as a group from someone who had to let them go. I took them all as a package. Here they are:

Sansa
View attachment 2343982

Sydney
View attachment 2343983

and last but never least, Phyllis
View attachment 2343984

Beautiful flock!

 

[BY Bob]

Beautiful flock!

Thank you. What is yours like?

 

[TheOddOneOut]

Thank you. What is yours like?

A girl power flock of six.
I'll post pics in a bit, I have to get on a call.