Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[MaryJanet]

My gosh she takes my breath away. And she is not a white chicken either!

She really is a honey

 

[MaryJanet]

Peggy had just picked on her (that's why she jumped up) so she may have felt affronted.

Oh! I thought we were talking about Ivy! Hehe oopsy

 

[MaryJanet]

She does look, just a little angry.

It was her first day of having stitches. She was very cranky.

 

[MaryJanet]

They are fur chickens, Shad. If Kris can have Giant Land Chickens MJ & I can have fur chickens.

And here's another one of my roo Henry. Just because.

He's upset because The Pegasaurus pulled out a few of his feathers.

 

[Ribh]

And here's another one of my roo Henry. Just because.

He's upset because The Pegasaurus pulled out a few of his feathers.

View attachment 2415421

I'm dying to know how you sexed that *chicken* I can never tell with them.

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

RC vs Wildlife (apologies for this long post - I have been obsessed for days and need to share!)

In good news, I think I am winning on the raccoon front. These two videos from two nights earlier this week. No visits since.

I rather like that it is deterrent rather than damaging - I was a bit disturbed at the thought that I might be injuring them - but seems like it is a nasty experience rather than dangerous.

The mice and rats are more complicated.
First up is an example of a rat digging down to the seam in the hardware cloth - where the vertical wall of hardware cloth meets the horizontal skirt to prevent digging predators. You can see that to fix any gaps in the seams I have to work deep down, sort of under the 'foundation' - so I spent Saturday lying on my belly trying to patch gaps.

This morning's trap inspection reveals 3 traps licked clean of peanut butter but not sprung, and one trap successfully sprung.
Rodents 3: RC 1
I am going to try the scratch on peanut butter trick tonight.

And because we recycle, here is Diana dealing with the body of the mouse just as dawn is breaking. RIP mouse, I am sorry, but you had to go, and you are now being recycled into eggs.

And finally, I realize this is a long post with only one chicken so here is a gratuitous chicken picture from yesterday.View attachment 2411965

Better than a documentary RC!

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

@HappyClucker7 Every time I see the quote in your signature
“The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes” — Sherlock Holmes

I think of this quote

"The world is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper" - Bertrand Russell

It is one of my favourites.

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

Lol, I also wanted to spare everyone my sordid and drama filled education history. TLDR but the summary goes: intelligent youth drops out of high school to avoid becoming violent, almost finished high school eduction at a college, quits for well paying job, loses job, digs in heels and refuses to complete education, regrets this for multiple reasons. Education doesn’t equal intelligence, but opens many more opportunities in life and reduces discrimination.

not a chicken photo but... why I’m catching up so much today, and don’t have any chicken pics recently.View attachment 2412584

That photo gave me a small heart attack Kris. For a moment I thought it was your new house!

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

Yep, no pics today! Data choke sucks... also ,Everyone is hiding (mostly) from the rain and HAIL. I’ve had to rescue a few birds from hail (4xnow)! So, on Friday, DH’s cousin’s Husband was over doing some “clean up” And being oh so awesome, so he started a burn pile on a stump/rootball of a fallen giant Douglas for with a 3.5-4’ diameter Trunk. Then left the island on the 4:00 ferry. Friday night it appeared to be mostly out, with just some light smoke rising from the remains... it’s across a field and we can’t get to it with the truck. It was just a little burn, so nothing to really worry about right? (Note: we didn’t know it was at the base of the tree)

Saturday morning, 10 am, we get the panicked phone call that his fire is now out of control. It Doesn’t look like much from the road, so I hop out and start the walk over to the pile, DH has to drive further down to turn the truck around, surely this is an exaggeration? No, the fire is traveling along the in ground roots and the uprooted rootball is smoldering with crazy embers at the center, and there’s a slow burn traveling along under the old fallen tree between the thick bark and punky wood.

With help from the ex fire chief, a big chainsaw, both tractors, and six hours of digging, making fire breaks, and stopping the spread, it was back under control, as you can see in the pic I shared previously. My first task in fire control was getting the herd of cattle relocated, so I led them into our area, about a 15 minute walk in each direction, a little longer with leading the cows, as they are now unused to following me on command. Aunt in law had already “driven them away twice with a switch” to great effect.

By the time we picked up milk, gas, dinner, and my mother to head up to the chickens/trailer it was almost full dark, the wind was picking up and it was raining fiercely. It had whipped the door to the chicken trailer closed, and only 3 chickens were in, one little black, Two Dot and a very dejected looking Sammy. They were hiding everywhere, and it was now pitch black out. DH and I began the relocation process which took over an hour. As the flock began arriving in twos and threes Sammy perked up and Roosting began to look more normal. Only a few birds were exceptionally soggy.

Gus that “dangerous bull” they were beating with a stick earlier, that I led off like a tame puppy dog to the confusion of all the in-laws, was being a big black shadow in the midst of our frantic chicken hunt. Well I’ve mentioned before that he is a sweet and empathetic bull, who gets quite distressed by dead animals (including the chickens!) and he was still upset from the days events, so the squawking, soggy panicked chickens we were putting in the trailer had him quite confused. Add in the darkness, and this is a recipe for disaster. I was down to the last (I thought) two little black pullets and there he was, planted right at the door and refusing to budge, with a look of concern on his face. He did drop his head in threat when DH tried to gently turn him away. We eventually got him moved away, but it was a struggle. This morning I found one Confused little black pullet loose. I have no idea where she hid overnight, but she was dry and safe and that is most important.

I have my fingers crossed for a cow/rain free and better roosting experience tonight, as DH is in town picking up feed and I will be all on my own.

Good heavens! I don't suppose Cousin's Husband helped with the damage control either did he? (Sorry, I'm being a bit Judgy McJudgeFace here. I am outraged on your behalf having to manage problems not of your making)

How have they managed to make a living on that farm? They all sound completely incompetent!

 

[MaryJanet]

I'm dying to know how you sexed that *chicken* I can never tell with them.

If they've got pointy heads they're in the category "Leonards & Henrys" and if they've got spotted necks they're in the category "Margarets & Helens"

Ps I think Howards End is one of the best novels ever and I love the period drama version the ABC trots out during Summer.