Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Ribh]

@Ribh I say this as I am targeting frosted legbars to add to my flock next. My own small flighty breed. Pot, say hello to Kettle!

lol It seems for some of us personality & intelligence trump everything else. My girls might be naughty but they are so much fun!

 

[Kris5902]

Reassurance needed.
You all know I am sensitive to molting pictures. And that is partly because this is my first molting season.
Maggie is hit badly (nowhere near as badly as Alice was) and I worry.
I am 90% sure this is normal and it is her pin feathers growing but I took a picture of poor Maggie’s not-very-fluffy-butt (sorry Maggie) just to get reassurance from you all - my chicken@-ey friends.
This is normal right?
View attachment 2379580

Looks ok to me...

My awfully molting girl is now almost covered again... and the other girls didn’t take out too many blood feathers. It seems to go from scruffy to porcupines in a week, a week or two of nekkid prickly chicken, then boom!... almost fully feathered again over the course of a few days. Of course there are exceptions, and she’s having a hard time with the clipped beak dealing with the feather sheaths...

 

[featherhead007]

If you are trying to make Phyllis upset you can't. She knows she has it all.

View attachment 2379707

I'm not even trying to upset Phyllis. All I'm saying, is that BLU was innocent, but now he isn't!

 

[Kris5902]

Oh dear - I forgot to turn on the electric fence tonight and look who just came to visit.
Awwww - so cute! But get the hell away from my chickens!!!

any way you can electrify what they are standing on? They are smart little devils and you could train them to “no touching the chicken home” pretty quickly if you wait for them to get up then zap the little monsters.

 

[Kris5902]

I have seen documentaries of the bald eagles in Alaska where they are abundant and have flocks. They are a very different bird here, extremely territorial, and are never seen in a flock or convocation. The only time I see more than two at a time is when their young fledge. Then they fly together while they teach them to hunt for that one season only, at the end of which the young fly south for two years and don't come back to their parents territory. They have to stake out their own. You have said before that you didn't like their call, but I love it. It's one of my favorite sounds on the river. I often get to hear them having a conversation of sorts. Just like chickens, they have different vocalizations. Fascinating, majestic birds.

Shadrach says I'm unlucky because they got my chickens one year, and that was a heart breaking time, but I feel extremely lucky to get to know this pair of bald eagles as I have.

I don’t mind their call at all... I just find it very funny that a lot of the advertising you see featuring bald eagles feels the need to sub in Hawk calls instead. They aren’t too bad for the chickens here, but they can be devastating at lambing time. I will say I much prefer the vocalizations of our ravens. They have their own Very distinct and complex language, and you can hear them actually “talking” to each other. Plus, they are why I don’t have more problems with the hawks and eagles!

 

[BY Bob]

I have given up on completely keeping up... its a full time job almost!

I would never have thought that it would be like this. When I first started it this thread it moved 1 page every 2 days. That was with me writing 1/2 page long posts! Today alone was almost 10 pages. Amazing!

I am so grateful for all of you. I hope the volume does not drive anyone away. I love the conversation with everyone. The stories of everyone's flocks make me excited to start and end my day here.

 

[BY Bob]

lol It seems for some of us personality & intelligence trump everything else. My girls might be naughty but they are so much fun!

They surely are. I love to hear your stories and just love how your flock behaves. It is never dull.

 

[BY Bob]

I'm not even trying to upset Phyllis. All I'm saying, is that BLU was innocent, but now he isn't!

I believe that you showed him Phyllis photo. I agree with you it probably is your fault.

 

[BY Bob]

any way you can electrify what they are standing on? They are smart little devils and you could train them to “no touching the chicken home” pretty quickly if you wait for them to get up then zap the little monsters.

I just love the way you think!

 

[Shadrach]

Poor lucky. I tried to capture her molt in this video, but it’s hard to see that she has way more pinfeathers than regular feathers. This is one of the worst molts my flock has had. She also looks kind of fat across the back. A lot of you know I’ve been trying hard to slim down my flock, and I am grateful to have gotten through most of the hot season without any deaths. I’ve been very worried about fatty liver in the heat.

Normally Lucky is one of my biggest lap sitters.

She looks in a similar state to Fudge.