Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[RoyalChick]

Safely Tucked Away

The coop door closed as it should tonight. All fixed for now.
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Did you cover it over with cardboard?

 

[featherhead007]

Must be getting warmer and it's not likely to rain tonight.
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Who says, "Good things don't grow on trees"? !!!

 

[BY Bob]

Minnie was on the end. I wonder if she feels rejected and is sulking.
You are right she is safe.
Another thought occurred to me is that she is showing me I do have space for more chickens! I mean she is on a whole other roost that I know can hold 4 because they sometimes congregate there for a chat during the day while they look out of the window.
Hmmm. Maybe it is a 'sign from Minnie'!

Let's go with that! 35 chicks please!

 

[LozzyR]

I do love the way your mind works. I'm glad I'm not alone.

I’m glad you do! My husband is often scratching his head over how my mind works!

 

[Ribh]

Sick Tsuki

Tsuki did not come running when I went out to fill the breakfast bar this morning.
I checked the coop and she was sitting on the floor facing the window sitting well back on her heels. When I took her out and put her on the ground she fell over on her side and had trouble sitting up.

I have taken her to the vet and am awaiting news.
The way she is behaving reminds me of your description of Ester @micstrachan. She is moulting a bit, but nothing like Ester was. She was eating and bullying the other hens as usual yesterday.

I expect to hear something this afternoon. I will up date when I do.

Nooo!! Tsuki is one of my favourites of yours.

 

[BY Bob]

Did you cover it over with cardboard?

No time today. I spent my whole day digging out or actually working. The plan is to do so tomorrow.

 

[featherhead007]

Snow, snow, and more snow.
I went out to try and visit the Princesses. As I feared, the snow plough has changed the landscape. I can't blame him because there is just so much snow, but the net result is that there is a 5-6' snow bank between the ploughed drive and the Chicken Palace. My options are to wade through the meadow and approach the Chicken Palace from the back (that is 'only' 2' or so of snow but is a long hike); Dig through the 5-6' snow bank; get an emergency delivery of snow shoes.
Unfortunately it is still snowing so this will have to wait until later.
The snow shoes sound like an interesting idea!

Note to self, "Get RC some snowshoes"

 

[ChicoryBlue]

Good evening crew
A quick question for you all:
At what age would one switch from a grower crumble to layer pellets?

Might be a silly question but pullets this young (13 weeks) are new to me and I want to be sure I’m doing it all correctly

I give them oyster shell free-choice. Started putting it out in a hanging cup next to the grit cup at around 18-20 weeks, but I could have put it out earlier, because they only started to eat it when they needed it, and each chicken was different in the timing. How they know when is just amazing. One day you'll just see them scarfing it down, when before they tasted it and went "meh".
I feed them crumbles, they like pecking the little bits and it takes longer to eat, plus I make a mash of it a lot of times. It's messy in the bowls and cups, though they peck the bits that fly out, but works great in the deeper trough feeder. I'm not sure they wouldn't beak out pellets anyway. Queenie and Butters both get a good hoe-ing, sweeping-toward-them motion going, like they are sorting it out for the best bits. They do that with everything.

Buckeye chickens are a heritage breed and dual-purpose (eggs and meat), so I didn't get the usual feed for them growing up. I followed feed guidelines from Shumaker Farms (a Buckeye breeder) and the Livestock Conservancy www.livestockconservancy.org. The Conservancy has a chart called "Heritage Chicken Feed Guidelines". Both they and Shumaker Farms call for higher protein from chick age to point of lay and even beyond, compared to modern hybrid chickens. The Conservancy says it helps them with "heat/cold stress, and better maintains condition of the heavier bodied heritage laying hens." So they got Gamebird Starter/Grower and are now on a high-ish protein All-Flock crumble. Extra calories for the colder months without getting too much protein - I offer slightly more treats.
PS @BY Bob - Today 3 separate little bowls for cooked oatmeal worked well in staving off piranha-like behavior...

 

[featherhead007]

I'm calling it a night! Me, Jaffar, and Rocks-Anne are gonna watch a movie. (I just hope it isn't "Chicken Run" again) Night peeps!

 

[Willowspirit]

Hi all! I’ve been away from the board for awhile. I’m back and reading some of my favorite random threads. But I can’t find Kristen’s. I’ve been wondering how she is doing and what’s new with her house and fil. Any news? Can someone link me?

Hi, Bob! That greeting has started many of my days, too!