Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[BY Bob]

He is a seriously handsome guy!

Quiz Time: What kind of chicken is Ned?

 

[BY Bob]

MR.BOB
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He is truly a handsome fello. My gosh. He has grown up wonderfully. I am deeply honored to share a name with him.

 

[micstrachan]

Yes, and I have some to share! I'm beginning to think I've let the girls go overboard with egg sitting this year. I now have my adult flock of 11, 2 roosters and 9 girls, and they are all getting along pretty well, but some of my hens are past their laying years and I'm not getting enough eggs this year. Soooo....Surly sits on eggs, but only gives me one chick, and that's Louie Louie. I decide to put some eggs in an incubator, 6 because that should give me 3 chicks by most hatching standards, and I get 5 chicks. 2 are definitely cockerels, so hopefully 3 pullets. Perfect. Except that Gertie is sitting on 4 eggs and she is being pretty faithful. When she does get up,, Queen Bee hops up on her eggs and keeps them warm. So, that sounds like it might be a more successful hatch than Surly's first. Oh wait, I forgot Surly's second hatch of 2 pullets. Altogether, I'm at 21 chickens at some level of adulthood or development running around out there, and possibly 4 on the way.

How is this a problem? My large coop is 8x10, which is technically big enough for 20 chickens, but maybe not practically. It doesn't seem like it would work. And what do I do with all these cockerels? Start a bachelor pad? Divide up the girls for them? Who gets the big coop and who is relegated to the lesser coops? Do chickens feel slighted if their coop isn't as good as their neighboring flock's coop?

We have 4 usable coops and a prefab that is used as an additional food station, "The Restaurant at the other End of the Universe". We have a lot of safe space for them to run around in, and easy ways to divide them off. But, who do we divide off, how do we split them up, and will they be happy with it, are all the considerations.

I think about Shadrach's tribes and wish it could all just work itself out organically, but I don't see that happening now.

This all keeps me awake at night.

It’s complicated!

 

[BY Bob]

I think she wanted some oats that hubby had scattered and Lucy and Charlie weren’t sharing! I hadn’t heard her make that vocalisation before. I was thinking we should make a video library of chicken calls and what we think they mean.

I have been thinking the same thing.

 

[micstrachan]

I think Brahmas are lovely looking but they are just too big and slow to do well here free ranging. Unfortunately the Goshawk here doesn't care how big you are.

Ah. Ok, that makes perfect sense. The breeds considered “flighty” here would do well there. So the Leghorn obsession some of us share? They’d be perfect somewhere in your tribe network.

 

[BY Bob]

What type of chicken is that? They are all beautiful!!!

Mr Bob and his ladies are White Leghorns. Some of the best chickens around!

 

[micstrachan]

Not to confuse things even further, but New Hampshire reds are frequently confused for RIRs as well.

Yes. I agree. But my New Hampshire Red was closer to buff than red. I don’t know how typical that is.

 

[BY Bob]

Oooh. I want try out my new skills at identifying chickens. Those are Leghorns.
Did I get it right?

That's right!

 

[BY Bob]

Yes. I agree. But my New Hampshire Red was closer to buff than red. I don’t know how typical that is.

Neither do I but I do know that people do confuse them quite a bit.

 

[micstrachan]

Thank you everyone for the best wishes for Tap. I'm not entirely sure why I worry. I've had chickens living in the trees here before and they were fine. It was the combination of anger and surprise and having a routine broken.
Anyway, this is where she was. I must have walked right past her within three meters or so at least half a dozen times while I searched for her. Not quite high enough but not bad for a first attempt.
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A few steps back and you can see what I mean. She was in the small tree on the right in the picture below.
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Good girl! I would have been worried SICK. Seriously, I would have been completely distraught. But mine are much more “domesticated,” and perhaps not savvy enough to hide from all our nighttime predators (fox, bobcat, raccoon, coyote, great horned owl, to name a few).