Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Shadrach]

Dazzling

We had some patchy sun today and while windy it was not overselling cold today. I let the tribe out and they seemed to enjoy the day. I do have to say that after all the molting and dreariness we have had, the tribe just seemed to Dazzle in the sunlight. They seemed the very picture of health. These pictures comes close to capturing that.

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They were nice to each other and just seemed happy today.

Maybe I have rose colored glasses on because I haven't seen them in 2 days but that is what I perceived today.

Nope, not rose coloured glasses. They are looking rather svelt.

 

[BY Bob]

Don't talk to me about 'finicky as cats'. One of mine is not in my good books.
He just got back from the vet having had two teeth removed. Poor baby!
My instructions were that he would not be that hungry and his tummy might be a bit delicate because of the anesthetic and I was not to feed him for at least an hour and be careful because he might be woozy and fall down the stairs so try not to let him near the stairs for a couple of hours.
Poor baby!
What happens? I open the carrier, he leaps out. He leaps on the kitchen counter (what was that about stairs?) and proceeds to lick all the butter cream frosting off a cake I was decorating for a virtual tea party with a friend (what was that about delicate tummy?).
WTH?

Sounds like my cats.

 

[BY Bob]

Respectfully speaking, I’m going to immediately initiate chemical warfare on the little buggers! I detest lice. Right now it’s just more a matter of what weapon to choose from my very limited arsenal. It’s not that the other natural remedies don’t work, they are just much more time consuming, and we don’t really have the weather or facilities here to be shampooing, salting, and oiling even a small goat. It’s a difficult domestic situation for us at the moment, due to our environment and my In-Laws. I was wondering if I could convince her into the shower with me for a shampoo today, but given the general dislike of her, it is less risk of confrontation to quietly “borrow” some ivomec, than to let her out of the truck at the farm area, NVM bringing her into the shared bathroom facilities for a quick spa day!

I’m just thinking about the smell and what a salt and vinegar goat coated in oil would do to our furniture and bedsheets! If I had a time machine, I would go back to 2016, and tell myself to avoid the RV situation, just buy three or four singlewides and cobble something together from those! Although if I also mentioned the house goat, 100+ chickens, the pandemic, and farming in a friends greenhouse on the other side of the island rather than the irrigated acre of established garden here... I would think future me is clearly on drugs or something.

Oh, and Bob? The Greased Pig Diapering contest was a staple of the Lamb BBQ here until the 90’s... so it’s not that much of a stretch of the imagination!

I am giggling though. Can't help it.

 

[BY Bob]

Nope, not rose coloured glasses. They are looking rather svelt.

Thank you for the affirmation!

 

[Shadrach]

Shad, I am very far behind, but hope when I catch up I learn Cillin is doing well. How do you pronounce his name?

It's half of Penicillin. His mother was Otic, which is half of antibiotic.

 

[Shadrach]

The Ring

In general dry chicken feed comes in 2 varieties, crumbles and pellets. The school of thought describes the advantages of each as follows.

• Pellets: Less wasted feed. Chickens don't drop as much on the ground.
• Crumbles: It takes longer for the chickens to eat. It is closer to normal food intake and therefore provides a more satisfactory eating experience for the chickens.

The disadvantages of each are generally the opposite.

• Pellets: The chickens fill up quickly, the feeding experience is not satisfying and boredom can result. Boredom can lead to behavioral issues like feather pecking if there are not suitable enrichment opportunities for the chickens.
• Crumbles: Waste. Chickens will scoop feed onto the ground while looking for bigger crumbles or just fling feed onto the ground as they eat.

I started my ladies out on pellets. After taking my course on chicken behavior and learning of the potential for boredom and then evaluating my small coop and run in the winter when they were trapped inside, I made a decision to switch them to crumbles. I wanted to head off any potential boredom issues. Additionally I added some enrichment to the run for them.

With the rat infestation I started to wonder how much food they were actually spilling. So this past week I decided to try a little experiment. I placed a feeder up on the deck in the sun. After 5 days, this is the ring of spilled food they made. The feeder was full at the start of the 5 days so this is the waste from 1 feeder full of food. Chickens are for size purposes.
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This is one of the reasons I make a mash. It is also handy on cold days because you can use wram water. Making a mash wont stop some waste. Most keepers have on or two hens that will insists on scraping feed out with their feet. Fat bird does an interesting sideways sweep with her beak which showers feed everywhere.

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

Well, I know now why Rosie isn't asking for anything horse related for her birthday. She's been begging for a year for a bareback saddle. We have 6 different saddles she can use, and she claims 4 of them as her own, but if given a choice she rides Russ bareback most times. I didn't know that back at the end of November her and her papaw finally found the one she wanted and ordered it. It was supposed to be her Christmas present. It finally arrived Saturday. Yesterday the weather finally cooperated enough for her to try it out. I am a helmet nutcase, but somehow her helmet has been misplaced. After 30 minutes of searching and starting to run out of daylight i reluctantly agreed to this 1 time she could ride with no helmet. She wasn't going to ride long, 10 minutes at most, and not let him go fast. I watched for the first few minutes, then went out back to pick out his stall while mom was with her. It wasn't 5 minutes later when I hear raised voices but assumed she and mom were arguing about her riding longer. She gets on Russ and you have to drag her off sometimes. Then I see her slowly walking him back around the house without the saddle. I asked her if she was done already and her shaky smile said it all. Apparently Russ shook, saddle slipped and she fell. This is her 2nd fall off him, and unlike the first time when she landed in the grass this time she hit the blacktop. Thankfully she's okay just sore on her hip. At first all I could get out of her was "i'm okay, but I remembered, I remembered". What she remembered was 2 years ago one of the girls at the old barn taught her a valuable lesson, how to roll if you fall off. They practiced that for 3 days in the barn isle so she was landing in the cushion of sawdust. Now then her 10 year old self complained after a few times why did she need to know that. Well last night she called her and thanked her over and over again for teaching her that and apologized for arguing at the time. This morning she's stiff, but after another hour of searching, her helmet has been found, why it was packed out to the building i have no idea, and once the days schoolwork is done she riding again.
Here is the one picture I took before I walked away and the fall happened. She loves that new saddle and is determined to get used to it if it kills her as she put it.

And here is a pic for the chicken tax

 

[Shadrach]

As most of you know, I have Cillin as an overnight house guest currently. He sleeps in the pet carrier on top the the house nest box, about 8 metres from where my head is when I'm asleep on my bed.
Most will also have read people complaining about their rooster, or someone elses rooster crowing, mostly outside the house and in a coop I've gathered.
I'm not deaf I need to point out.
This morning Cillin started crowing at 0634. I'm auto awake by then and it just nudges me into full consciousness. This morning I was very tired. I had been up until 0200 the night before. I fell back to sleep and didn't wake up again until 0740.
There is no way I can beleive that Cillin didn't crow again untill I woke up the second time. I must have slept through him crowing. This is 8 metres away in a house!

 

[Kris5902]

Well, I know now why Rosie isn't asking for anything horse related for her birthday. She's been begging for a year for a bareback saddle. We have 6 different saddles she can use, and she claims 4 of them as her own, but if given a choice she rides Russ bareback most times. I didn't know that back at the end of November her and her papaw finally found the one she wanted and ordered it. It was supposed to be her Christmas present. It finally arrived Saturday. Yesterday the weather finally cooperated enough for her to try it out. I am a helmet nutcase, but somehow her helmet has been misplaced. After 30 minutes of searching and starting to run out of daylight i reluctantly agreed to this 1 time she could ride with no helmet. She wasn't going to ride long, 10 minutes at most, and not let him go fast. I watched for the first few minutes, then went out back to pick out his stall while mom was with her. It wasn't 5 minutes later when I hear raised voices but assumed she and mom were arguing about her riding longer. She gets on Russ and you have to drag her off sometimes. Then I see her slowly walking him back around the house without the saddle. I asked her if she was done already and her shaky smile said it all. Apparently Russ shook, saddle slipped and she fell. This is her 2nd fall off him, and unlike the first time when she landed in the grass this time she hit the blacktop. Thankfully she's okay just sore on her hip. At first all I could get out of her was "i'm okay, but I remembered, I remembered". What she remembered was 2 years ago one of the girls at the old barn taught her a valuable lesson, how to roll if you fall off. They practiced that for 3 days in the barn isle so she was landing in the cushion of sawdust. Now then her 10 year old self complained after a few times why did she need to know that. Well last night she called her and thanked her over and over again for teaching her that and apologized for arguing at the time. This morning she's stiff, but after another hour of searching, her helmet has been found, why it was packed out to the building i have no idea, and once the days schoolwork is done she riding again.
Here is the one picture I took before I walked away and the fall happened. She loves that new saddle and is determined to get used to it if it kills her as she put it.
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And here is a pic for the chicken tax
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She has a nice looking seat, was maybe the girth not quite tight enough? We have a horse here that likes to puff up his chest. He’s also a complete jerk that will roll on you and bite you given the opportunity. I don’t ride anymore, I might if our situation was a little less explosive with the in-laws. They are “their” horses and never get groomed, worked or ridden. Though they do get twice a year hoof trims. We also have a 30 year old ex race horse, a 20 something half-draft horse, and Raymond the jerk. We had to put down the little swayback ex therapy horse last year, I liked her, the draft boy and the other elderly quarter horse (who was put down in 2018) the best. Raymond and the old ex racehorse both have bad attitudes.

 

[Kris5902]

As most of you know, I have Cillin as an overnight house guest currently. He sleeps in the pet carrier on top the the house nest box, about 8 metres from where my head is when I'm asleep on my bed.
Most will also have read people complaining about their rooster, or someone elses rooster crowing, mostly outside the house and in a coop I've gathered.
I'm not deaf I need to point out.
This morning Cillin started crowing at 0634. I'm auto awake by then and it just nudges me into full consciousness. This morning I was very tired. I had been up until 0200 the night before. I fell back to sleep and didn't wake up again until 0740.
There is no way I can beleive that Cillin didn't crow again untill I woke up the second time. I must have slept through him crowing. This is 8 metres away in a house!

You must’ve been exhausted! I can get back to sleep through the crowing outside, but inside Crowing is DH’s line for “well enough to go back outside, now”