Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[BY Bob]

Thanks. I will definitely consider that. Her fluff isn't too bad just not perfect for FBF portraits. So I was hoping to get away without a full on bath. I might be able to crumble it off with my fingers. Sorry, I know that sounds a bit icky.

That's how @Shadrach does it. Nothing wrong with that.

 

[Cynthia12]

I have two ceramic eggs already in there. I think I have a third I'm not using. It had actually crossed my mind maybe the ceramic eggs were teaching them they could be rough without breaking them. Chicken brains don't work that way though do they? Is how to handle eggs instinctive or learned? I have seen Popcorn test-pecking a ceramic egg. Adding a third would increase the chances she'll get a fake one.

I've used golf balls too.

 

[BY Bob]

OR, View attachment 2569891

So adorable.

 

[BY Bob]

I consider this stuff essential for me or anyone to learn about, so ick away! Well, I suppose if very gross use a spoiler.....If it doesn't break the feather, crumbling could work. I let it go too long, they had some cemented poo that had to be soaked and gently worked down, two had them close to the skin and there was no way I could do that without soaking or even safely cut them off.

That's what I tend to find when I intervene, you have to soak it to get it off. I crumble it when we are soaking so as to not hurt them. I find that works best as the cement softens.

 

[Cynthia12]

Very odd-shaped egg today. Don't know who laid it, it looks worrisome! One end is formed like a tail. The other end seemed to have a weak shell. It didn't hold up to being moved around and gathered like they do when they lay, or maybe it was stepped on. Looked like there was a yolk and whites in there. There've been a few thin rubbery weak-shelled eggs, then everything is fine for awhile. This is their first laying season, first egg was early January. This is definitely something weird. A bad sign?
View attachment 2569652
View attachment 2569670

I've also been watching for egg-eating on purpose since I found one or two strong-shelled eggs that looked poked, a hole in an otherwise fine shell, and I caught Popcorn with a yolky beak a couple of weeks ago. She came up to the nestbox to visit while I was inspecting a broken egg and dipped her beak in there to eat some more! I've been trying to gather them as soon as laid, which is near-impossible when the ladies get in there as soon as one leaves. Is it okay to reach under a hen while she is on the nest to gather eggs? I try to leave them their privacy. Today there were two hens, one at each end for a time. I haven't been able to really track who is laying what yet. This doesn't look like what I think Queenie lays, which is a smaller browner egg, so I think it is one of the Buckeyes.

Yes, talking about you, ladies!
View attachment 2569735

That egg looks soft. Is she one to have just started laying again? Sometimes they just throw an odd shape, or soft shelled like this one, for unknown reasons. No cause for concern unless it keeps happening. Throw a bit of oyster shell in for them to free feed. Sometimes it's lack of calcium for soft shells. I had one last spring. Oh, and it doesn't look like it's been eaten!

 

[ChicoryBlue]

Good grief those dinosaurs of mine eat a lot. It seems like the longer days has triggered them all to start laying (I wish they wouldn't all lay every day), but also to eat like pigs. I swear they are going through a bag of the commercial chicken food at twice the rate.
I need to start noting the date when I start a bag of feed so I can log it accurately, but I am pretty sure they are eating at close to twice the rate they were in the winter.
I did switch from pellets to crumbles so I wonder if that is it (though I did that because I thought they might eat crumbles more slowly!).
And it definitely isn't mice as it is in a sealed canister in the coop and no mice have been spotted on the coop cams for a long while now.

Mine are blazing through feed right now as well. Ironically I did just switch to pellets............

More here too. More water also. I am on the Nutrena pellets for their outside bin and Purina crumbles for their mash dishes (the pellet stuff doesn't clump together well). I don't have a treadle feeder set up yet, I wondered if mice are getting some.

 

[BY Bob]

Photo of me being ignored. ... Leave me alone, I'm busy! All girls laid today, that green you see at the bottom of the nest box is carpet. Some hens stand up high when it's time to drop the egg. So when they've dug around and made a bare spot in the middle of the nest box, the eggs have a soft landing when they hit. Can you see the fake egg? They look so real. View attachment 2569939View attachment 2569940View attachment 2569941

I love the carpet idea. I may do that now. You have intrigued. Any issues with bugs in the carpet?

 

[ChicoryBlue]

Mine are laying more too. One girl in particular has started laying more often. Oh, and I find they eat pellets less quickly. Plus, less waste because they can pick up what falls to the ground. Crumbles tend to work into the ground. Hope that makes sense.

Yes that does make sense. But I have also seen then pick up the tiniest crumb! Pellets are less likely to get missed though.

 

[BY Bob]

That egg looks soft. Is she one to have just started laying again? Sometimes they just throw an odd shape, or soft shelled like this one, for unknown reasons. No cause for concern unless it keeps happening. Throw a bit of oyster shell in for them to free feed. Sometimes it's lack of calcium for soft shells. I had one last spring. Oh, and it doesn't look like it's been eaten!

It does look like a soft shell. I can't remember if you have had soft sells before. You could crush up calcium pills and put them in their mash.

 

[Cynthia12]

Yes that does make sense. But I have also seen then pick up the tiniest crumb! Pellets are less likely to get missed though.

True, they..spy..every little thing! lol