Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[BY Bob]

She did not even try that night. But I was in the run too that first night, and since the day went really well yesterday, there was very little gang-ups and only bits of pecking, probably due to the changes in the run, the nice weather. They all went in and out and free-ranged, and explored the furniture I was experimenting with outside the run door. So I left them near roosting time and kept watch from the house to see what they would do. Queenie followed them a few paces behind as they went down the coop run to roost. They did their "Roosting Shuffle" (good song title!) of one or two going in and out again, or just jumping up to the perch next to the ladder and waiting there for the right hen to go in before them.

Queenie got nearer to the ladder and was looking up with neck all stretched out. Finally the last one went in, and I thought Queenie might try the ladder, when someone stuck their head out from the doorway looking down at her as if to say, "Oh, no way, don't even think about it, you!" and then popped her head back in. Queenie stopped stretching her head up and turned away.

She went back to the big run and looked all around it and into the bump-out, looking up. She flew to the top of the cat carrier which I had raised onto the arms of a broken captain's chair and put in the run corner, secured between the back braces and the run wall, with hardware cloth on two sides. No good. She flew down and got on the low perch and flew up to the next higher one. No good again, she jumped down. She eyed that stupid black plastic pipe 6 feet up which I have wedged in the corner to make an awning of the bit of tarp over the doorway, and yes, she chose that one. It had been in a convex shape; now it turned down and concave but it stayed put and she hung on. It isn't level at all and it's slippery. So it gradually forced her very close to the run upper wall which is 2x3" welded wire. The top of the attached coop run is right below it. Fearing predation I moved her after it got dark to the cat carrier, which she is still hating going in.
Here she is with three others free ranging

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Belated Fluffy Butt Friday
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Next time, wait until it's dark and then put her on the roost with everybody else. You will need to repeat this for several nights but by waking up together she will start to be expected there in the am. This is going very well.

 

[BY Bob]

Yes, it’s there! However, I’m a bit rattled right now, as I think I need to tube fluids into Ester and I’m scared. She is very weak and stumbling, but she is not handled easily and is covered in pin feathers. I don’t want to hurt her, but if I don’t get fluids into her, I feat she’ll die.

Oh no. This is scary. I missed when she stopped eating. How long has it been?

 

[BY Bob]

Yes, but I had two swings up and they really preferred the one I made, I think because it was heavier and steadier for them. It has long 8" eye bolts right through the 2-3" wood perch. First I had regular bolts with a nut on top, see picture. When they were little I had rug-grip stuff on it so they could really grab it with their toes as soon as they jumped up. The Chicken Swing brand has a short 3-4" section into the perch which is plastic and though it is textured (like a corn cob) it is slippery. I put rug-gripper on that too. The short 3-4" section made for a shorter radius of unsteady-ness, which theoretically would be good, but maybe because it all is so light I observed their feet would zip back and forth in that radius a lot. The wooden one was first choice, the plastic one got used if there was no room left on the wooden one.

I trained them as chicks, I would tap on it and hold a mealworm out above the swing. They would get it when they jumped up on it. I steadied it with my other hand a lot as they first jumped up, and then slowly let it go, to let them experience steadying it while standing on it, using another mealworm for incentive to stay on. Soon they were competing to get up there, and Butters and Popcorn were getting on either swing pre-emptively when I would approach. I also hooked up bungee cords going both ways for both of them - like trapeze trainers - so the swings would move, but had a soft end point. I thought the bungee cords would not be necessary after a while, or maybe I should have removed them earlier, but they really didn't like either swing to be totally free so I kept them.

They used both swings during the Summer to hang out on. Each fit two birds then. Unless someone hogged one I'd see all four of them on the swings, two-by-two. Now I think only one each would fit.

There was an element of using it because there's nothing else available - when they were in the coop run getting tractored around those and the ladder perches were the only perches available. I tried to have as many things as possible off the ground so I wouldn't have to move them when moving the tractor, and I wanted to give them optimal use of the ground area.

The swings got more sunlight than the ladder perches - I had a small shade tarp over the coop pop door and perch - so on cooler days they loved it there. Plus there was either clear tarp or no tarp on one or both sides, so they could look out either way while perching.

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That is amazing. I will have to try again with my next batch of youngsters.

 

[micstrachan]

Oh no. This is scary. I missed when she stopped eating. How long has it been?

She’ll eat a bit of scrambled egg, live meal worms, and wheat berries. But she stopped drinking. She needs fluids badly. I think I’ll be trying this soon. I’m just going to get it nice and toasty in here first.

 

[BY Bob]

Do you have tetra packs? The type that you cut a small corner off.
I've used tetra packs in the past. You kind of place the opening over their beak and tip a bit.
Or, something like this. The red cup is the plastic end of a pair of insulated pliers with a hole drilled to fit the end of the syringe. I've found it works well when tube feeding is a problem.
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This is very clever. I'm going to make one and put it in my first aid kit.

 

[BY Bob]

No. I’ll have to gently wrap her in a towel and use the tube & syringe. My husband WILL NOT STOP banging around in the kitchen, so I need to wait. It’s way too chaotic in here for a stressed hen to be tube fed right now. Besides, I have pedialyte being delivered in a but and would like to use that. Or maybe I’ll use it for the follow up.

Do you have Nutridrench? I use that in emergent situations to get them to a more permanent solution.

 

[BY Bob]

If you do get to the “you sleep in here now, with the other chickens” point and are putting her on a roost at night, it might not be a bad idea to try to place her near this chicken. She could be moving into a “leadership role” (Like taking on some rooster behaviors) in the flock. She might be more inclined to be accepting of this new addition, or feel so far above her in the pecking order as to not be threatened by her and be less likely to peck or fuss. Doing it that way, you want to be quick, for it to be full dark, and to get her firmly settled and the light gone as quickly as possible.

What roosting shenanigans I mostly see are in the middle of the hierarchy, and in the big free range bunch. Never any issues with the girls roosting right next to my Roosters. Or my most dominant hens when they roost more alone. It’s almost all within the 21 pullets, and pullet on pullet picking on. It usually happens as I’m trying to head count and they see the light. Some nights I’m frustrated, I need to make sure everyone is up, but I don’t like disturbing them.

The worst roosting issues here have always been between whomever was last in my pecking and whomever joins the flock. Last in the order does not want to move further down when others join and they will fight to not do so. If you look at mine now, that is one of the reasons Aurora continues terrorize the 3 below her.
@ChicoryBlue may also have a Sansa & Lilly partnership blooming between Queenie and Hazel which would be great.

I firmly believe that it is time to put her on the roost after dark with the rest. This integration is going well. I did not ask how they get out of the coop at night. If ChicoryBlue is opening the coop in the morning, she needs to get out just before or around dawn so Queenie is not trapped in the coop with them. That would be recipe for trouble.

 

[BY Bob]

She’ll eat a bit of scrambled egg, live meal worms, and wheat berries. But she stopped drinking. She needs fluids badly. I think I’ll be trying this soon. I’m just going to get it nice and toasty in here first.

Best of luck. Let us know how it goes.

 

[LozzyR]

That was all so neat!! I could listen to you talk all day!!

Aww, thanks!

 

[LozzyR]

Wow! I have only looked at a couple but am impressed - what started you doing those? I have bookmarked to watch the rest later.

I am creating an online business to teach people how to compose music for film and visual media, and the quick videos are there to garner interest.

Chicken tax: