Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[micstrachan]

Bonus Hattie Videos!

As part of my redistributing cameras to try and catch the rodents at work, I got some fun close ups of Hattie. I thought I would share.

Here comes Hattie

Hattie vs the camera

Ha! These are great!

 

[micstrachan]

Yikes - you didn't put poison bait out did you? That can kill the chickens even if they don't eat the bait but only eat the rat. Please tell me it is bait in a snap trap or a zapper. You have me all worried now.

Ok... I am posting this response before reading ahead. I am guess Bob knows this and would not use poison bait. Please prove me right, Bob!

 

[micstrachan]

This was a tough decision but it is poison bait. That is why I am keeping such an active look on things. My hens have always ignored rodents. I catch a lot of mice and moles in the pool. No one is interested in eating them. However I am keeping a close eye on everything to be safe. I will not be leaving bodies where the hens can get at them and the bait will not be out long term. This is just to get on top of things quickly.

I understand the risk and believe that I can keep them safe. We used similar on the farm and lost no hens and I will be way more vigilant than we were there.

Ack! Your answer was only one post ahead.

 

[micstrachan]

She should be okay. The moulting isn't helping. Added stress will slow the healing up a bit, plus the not eating as much as she normally would. The wounds are clean. I just hope I've found them all. Little tallon punctures can be hard to find and I have to be extra careful when looking because of the pin feathers.
She's in with me tonight. It's got a lot colder here, from + 12 at night to +4 tonight and she needs to be warm.
I'll disinfect her again in the morning and pack the holes with a cream I have. She shouldn't be stressed in with me having laid eggs here and sat and hatched.
Hurry's limp isn't bad so she's in with the tribe.
What I didn't notice was Cillin has broken the end off one of his spurs and that's bled a lot. I've sealed the end up with Stockholm Tar and he went off to roost with his hens nervous but fit.

So you did bring her in! Yay. I wasn’t sure if you ever did that, even though they’re in your house all the time by day, Bucket Boy.

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

She should be okay. The moulting isn't helping. Added stress will slow the healing up a bit, plus the not eating as much as she normally would. The wounds are clean. I just hope I've found them all. Little tallon punctures can be hard to find and I have to be extra careful when looking because of the pin feathers.
She's in with me tonight. It's got a lot colder here, from + 12 at night to +4 tonight and she needs to be warm.
I'll disinfect her again in the morning and pack the holes with a cream I have. She shouldn't be stressed in with me having laid eggs here and sat and hatched.
Hurry's limp isn't bad so she's in with the tribe.
What I didn't notice was Cillin has broken the end off one of his spurs and that's bled a lot. I've sealed the end up with Stockholm Tar and he went off to roost with his hens nervous but fit.

This has answered my question

The Metacam has kicked in and she's not panting any more.
View attachment 2418464
Treacle has been concerned about mum and stayed here until I put her in the pet carrier.
View attachment 2418465
Fed, warm and safe, but obviously not entirely comfortable sitting down. I think it's because of the pin feathers.
View attachment 2418466

So glad the painkillers are helping. Looks like she's pretty comfortable up on the nesting box.

I'm going to sound a bit silly now but I can sense when there is a problem. That doesn't mean I know what the problem is.

So basically your "chicky senses" were tingling.
It's good that you know to listen to your "gut". Our subconscious picks up on many things that our conscious mind is slow to react to.

 

[micstrachan]

The Metacam has kicked in and she's not panting any more.
View attachment 2418464
Treacle has been concerned about mum and stayed here until I put her in the pet carrier.
View attachment 2418465
Fed, warm and safe, but obviously not entirely comfortable sitting down. I think it's because of the pin feathers.
View attachment 2418466

Aw, Treacle. Roosters are awesome.

 

[micstrachan]

I didn't see the attack and I don't know how he broke his spur. The most likely explanation is he broke it getting into the bamboo.
I'm going to sound a bit silly now but I can sense when there is a problem. That doesn't mean I know what the problem is.
There are changes in the sounds here.
There is almost always some creature noise. It was dead quiet.
Islay, one of the dogs was outside. She tries despite the hinderences from the main house.
I couldn't see a single chicken.

I start hunting then and don't stop until I've found every chicken. All Tribe 1 were in the bamboo and I could see Mel and what caught my eye was her foot was covered in blood. I crawled into the bamboo and eased her out.

You are a wonderful chicken keeper. I suspect you don’t like the term “keeper,” but I’m not sure how else to word it. Chicken human? Chicken servant?

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

Slow going....View attachment 2418660View attachment 2418665 and the picture quality sucks if I choose a smaller download size... I will try again when I find WiFi on our delivery route. Anyway enjoy these two Sapphire Marans ladies, Oddball (the grey) and one of the Gopala girls, also my attempted blurry contribution to Fluffy Butt Friday...

Yes, Oddball is molting! And her name comes from her eggs which are green and always an odd shape, with a weird fat band like they have been squashed at some point. They are 1/4 White Leghorn, 1/4 Crested cream Legbar, and 1/2 Black Copper Marans

They are beautiful and healthy looking Chooks Kris.
I love how they are unworried about the cattle.
Is that the chicken trailer in the background?

 

[micstrachan]

I get it. I get that feeling as well and I'm sure it is the same thing. Noises are not as they should be. I'm so glad everyone survived.

Speaking of noises, this morning one of the ladies, Lucky, I think, did a high pitched trill. The entire flock went dead still and then at least three of them weed doing the lower pitched rumble. Wish I had my phone on me at the time!

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

This isn't a good place to keep chickens. If you lock them up tight enough to keep the weasels and hawks out the chickens are in prison basically. It's always a hard call I find but I would rather they were free.

I expect the chickens would agree with you Shad.