Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Ribh]

Lilly and I were sharing some fish yesterday and I thought the same thing. I really hope she never lays another egg. Since the last integration, this time last year, she has really mellowed. I guess Hattie does her fighting now.

She is just a sweetheart now and the last of Big 3.

The BRs are all that remain of my original 5. Luna & Ha'penny are all that's left of my 2nd intake. I'm hoping for a long spell with no further losses.

 

[MaryJanet]

The BRs are all that remain of my original 5. Luna & Ha'penny are all that's left of my 2nd intake. I'm hoping for a long spell with no further losses.

How old are Soda and Hepzibah now Ribh? Are they 5?

 

[featherhead007]

I can't view your attachment, Alex.

I will try again

 

[MaryJanet]

I will try again
View attachment 2522148

Little fuzzers

 

[Ribh]

How old are Soda and Hepzibah now Ribh? Are they 5?

I'm pretty sure they are about 4 ~ heading for 5 . Soda is only now starting to drop a thin shelled egg occasionally. I think I need to up their calcium & will change their feed back to Ren Hen 17, which is slightly higher in calcium. They have been excellent layers for me & lovely hens so no complaints. Soda is a really good lead hen but her weight is starting to tell as she ages. She is a very big girl & I can't put it down to an excess of treats.

 

[Ribh]

I will try again
View attachment 2522148

Can you get one of the top of the head Alex? That white spot looks large in this pic ~ but as I said I'm no expert. using your chicks as a learning curve for me.

 

[BY Bob]

The BRs are all that remain of my original 5. Luna & Ha'penny are all that's left of my 2nd intake. I'm hoping for a long spell with no further losses.

I wish that for you as well.

 

[BY Bob]

I'm pretty sure they are about 4 ~ heading for 5 . Soda is only now starting to drop a thin shelled egg occasionally. I think I need to up their calcium & will change their feed back to Ren Hen 17, which is slightly higher in calcium. They have been excellent layers for me & lovely hens so no complaints. Soda is a really good lead hen but her weight is starting to tell as she ages. She is a very big girl & I can't put it down to an excess of treats.

True BRs are dual purpose and hence big ladies. I doubt any of yours are "overweight".

 

[Ribh]

True BRs are dual purpose and hence big ladies. I doubt any of yours are "overweight".

I don't think she is either, @BY Bob, but she is a lot bigger than Hepzibah & getting a little clumsy as she ages. I think they are getting pretty close to 5 so not really young birds any more. They have been a stabilising influence on my nut jobs.

 

[ChicoryBlue]

Found blood on a part of the roosting bars today. The roosting bars (which is basically a barred floor) are next to the nestbox with a doorway between them.

Two days ago right after I had let them out for a bit I noticed a tiny bit of blood tracked onto the snow near the door of their run. I looked as best I could at everyone's feet and vent. Nothing found, but the foot inspection wasn't great, I had trouble looking at their feet bottoms, it was windy and they were flighty. It also was just that one bit of blood, not a series of spots like a bleeding foot. No blood on or near anyone's vents. Butters had had a frozen poop on her which I was about to deal with when I saw she had pulled it off while roosting (a featherball found in the poop tray). She's missing the small feathers that were there but there's no sign of injury.

Today's find was a big drip on the side of one bar, intact and frozen, and a couple smaller drops on top looking the same, then a few smeared prints from being walked on. It doesn't look like a foot injury unless it bled while she was holding it up, because of the lack of smear. Is chicken blood lighter in color than human blood? This has a rosy hue to it.

So I looked again at everyone's vents and faces today, and didn't see anything. I notice Hazel's vent, and I think Peanut's too, evert somewhat when they squat and I'm petting them. Could this be concerning?

I felt all their crops. Seemed fine. I felt three hens' keels and abdomens and noticed Queenie's abdomen feels more plump than the others, also wider, but her body is wider. I don't have a good reference for her usual abdomen because I haven't been inspecting that regularly (unfortunately). One Buckeye has just started laying, I don't know who for sure, though I suspect Butters.

Of course they all act fine otherwise. There's been a lot of ruckus the last two days as they wait for the nest boxes to free up. They call and hop up onto the perch and go into the coop and come out again. Peanut was in there a very long time yesterday. Two Buckeyes will share the long area sometimes, one in each end. Yesterday Queenie wanted to go in and share but was prevented, and another Buckeye jumped the line and went in ahead of her and got to share. Queenie eventually got in. But today it seemed they wanted to be in there one-by-one and everyone was not happy. When I checked Hazel today in there she was sitting almost in the middle, partly blocking the doorway.

I relate this because I wonder if the blood may have happened during this time. Because it's hard to imagine the blood not getting smeared and tracked around if it happened during roosting.

No poop has had any signs of blood, old or new. Everyone's poop looked darker yesterday, due I think to the extra soldier worms and a different scratch they got the day before, but there was no visible blood on any of it; today's poop looked more like usual - light green & white, dark green and white, & small brown poops. In the run there was one fresh poop with a bit of bubbles in it yesterday.

I've been researching this and so far am finding that it could be a cracked egg inside somebody, to a bleeding comb or a nail injury. From bad news, to nothing to get too excited about. Does anyone have any specific instructions on what to look for in checking everyone again tomorrow? Thank you everyone!