Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Aussie-Chookmum]

Nooooo, easy peasy!
The only downside.... more poo!

That's not a downside, that's fertiliser!

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

TRUTH!! Simply the best smell on earth... I get to smell it everyday for awhile... I am babysitting my sons new puppy while they work View attachment 2669808View attachment 2669809

Awww, look at that cute puppy tummy and those big, soft ears.....

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

When it rains it pours...

I have been in the hospital since Thursday afternoon. Not for myself, I'm fine, but for Rich.

For the past week he has not been feeling well. He had diarrhea, fatigue, chills and shakes. His family doctor ordered some blood work and sent us home. Thursday morning he started vomiting. Vomiting for him is usual from his GERD and once he startes he can't stop without fluids and meds from the hospital.

When Thursday afternoon came and he couldn't even keep a sip of water down, I finally said enough is enough and got him ready to go to the ER.

On the way down to the hospital he was almost unresponsive and extremely pale. That is not normal for him. Hospital security had to get him a wheelchair and get him out of the car to get into the hospital. Once inside a nurse came out, took one look at him, and took him straight back. He keep saying he was in so much pain and freezing cold.

He had about 6 or 8 people all over him. Every one thought he was having a heart attack. Thankfully that was not the case. What did happen is they found a disection of his mesenteric artery. We were quickly told that a surgeon would be in to talk with us soon. We were told that rich would need to be transferred to a different hospital because they don't do that surgery at our local hospital.

About a hour later the surgeon was back and said that they were going to treat him with blood thinners instead of surgery because the tare in the artery is on the inside and very small.

He's been on IV heparin since last night and now they are switching him to Coumadin. He'll be in the hospital another night at least until they can get his levels shorted out.

He was still pretty unstable an in a lot of pain so I refused to leave him. I spent the night "sleeping" in a very uncomfortable chair. We finally were moved into a room and I have a lovely recliner to sit in but I can't stay all night today. They are making me leave at 9pm and that's probably not a bad thing, I am exhausted.



Chicken tax
View attachment 2669862

That's so scary! Glad you got to the hospital in time and they have him in hand.
Get some rest while you can CCCL. You are no good to anyone if you collapse.

All the best to you and Rich.

 

[Ribh]

So beautiful! I had a thing for birds long before becoming a chicken lady.

Me too.

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

The Egg Saga (part 1)

I told you I had collected a bunch of 30 second videos from monitoring egg laying on Wednesday. Well I got about a 1/3 of them uploaded to YouTube to try and tell the story of how egg laying works at Fluffy Butt Acres. The motion sensor did miss a couple of events. The videos are not there but I will fill in with commentary as I walk you through a day of my tribes egg laying.

The nest boxes are numbered in my head from left to right. 1, 2, 3. Nest box #1 is the prime egg laying box. that is where is vast majority of all eggs are laid.

View attachment 2670037

9:00 I knew Phyllis would be early after skipping a day. She begins trying to select a nest box at 9:00 sharp.

9:40 After 40 minutes, Phyllis selects box 2 but after 15 minutes at 9:55 she changes her mind and moves to box 1.

10:02 Aurora arrives to lay her egg.

10:17 After waiting 15 minutes Aurora's patience is exhausted and she roots Phyllis out of box 1.

10:22a My best guess is that for 5 minutes Phyllis has been mouthing off. You can see her beak flapping and Aurora has had it. She comes after Phyllis and tries to run her out of the coop. Watch closely at the end because this seems to work out for Phyllis.

10:22b Something distracts Aurora from getting back in the nest box. I probably opened the back door. Phyllis settles back into box 1.

10:36 Aurora has returned an booted Phyllis from the box again.

10:44 Sydney shows up. Somehow Phyliis has gotten back into box 1 and Aurora is trying to get her out of it again.

10:54a Aurora gets Phyllis out of the box while Sydney waits

10:54b Phyllis gets back into box 1

11:04 Even without sound you can tell how angry Sydney is. Watch her beak flapping.

11:05 Hattie arrives to find Phyllis and Aurora in box 1 and Sydney waiting

11:08 Phyllis finally lays her egg. 2 hours and 8 minutes after she started. She leaves the nest box, pecked at as she does but Phyllis will hang around and chat with everyone for a while. Probably saying something like, "Phew, I'm glad that one had a shell. Those softies are rough I tell ya." EGG #1

11:10 Hattie starts to check out alternate laying locations as Aurora still has box 1. Hattie considers box 3. Sydney continues to wait.

11:11 Hattie has moved on to box 2. Sydney is still waiting, Phyllis is still yacking away. "That wasn't the biggest egg I have ever laid but let me tell you, I am glad it is out. Better out than in I always say."

11:12 Hattie looks to try and join Aurora in box 1, just a threat or does she really mean it? Something happens outside the coop and Phyllis and Hattie go to investigate. (It's probably me doing something)

11:13 Sydney returns and checks out box 2

11:15 Sydney has settled in box 2 but Hattie returns and she gets up in case Hattie wants box 2. Sydney knows her place.

11:16 to 11:23 The camera missed it but somewhere in this time period Aurora lays her egg and Hattie takes over box 1. It took Aurora at least 1 hour and 14 minutes to lay her egg. EGG #2

Poor Sydney. In the 11.04 video she looks like she's cued up for the only bathroom in the house.
"Hurry UP up up up ! Hurry UP up up up !"

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

I kind of want to die. Queenie was killed today, we think by a hawk. Butters may have been the first target but she escaped with a couple of big tufts of hackle feathers out of her neck. A hawk, we think THE hawk, came back and flew down towards the body, while I was gone digging a grave for Queenie, DH saw it and chased it away.

Spoiler: What likely happened and why I can't deal

We were home, out and about, and they were out in their yard. There was no sound that we heard, and it happened around the corner of the house just out of sight while we were moving the big wire run over to their yard to set it up there. We suddenly noticed we didn't see any chickens around, I went looking, only finding Queenie's body and seeing no others. Whatever it was had eaten some of her. But she was warm still, and limp except for her legs. Eventually one Buckeye came out of the coop box. The four had run into the coop tractor and up into the roosting enclosure, Butters far into the nest box. I need to check her body again but I found no blood, and she let me handle all of her except her neck area was very tender.

I am so sorry. I feel I got Queenie killed. And she is particularly dear to me. I have tried to let them be chickeny and also have been putting into place safety measures to try to minimize risk, which I knew there was - I accept that to some degree but I feel particularly guilty about putting the electric fencing not up to the back house deck. Peanut had tried to run under there before and encountered the fence. I had thought about doing that, but it would be in the way of gas deliveries and DH didn't want them hanging out on the deck and pooping on it. I think Queenie, who had also run to the house when there was a previous attack in this same area - another reason to not have widened the fence area to include this spot! - and she had run that way when this hawk came I think, and of course couldn't get past the net. There were fluff feathers there. She fought back though and made it halfway back towards the coop where she either died because of her injuries sustained already, or was overtaken again. I think Butters was attacked first and then Queenie, which makes her inability to escape due to what I did with the fencing, denying her the house which she probably had time to run to, really hard.

There aren't enough emojiis in the world

Oh, not beautiful Queenie! I'm so, so sorry. Scrambles put it really well. Try not to blame yourself.
She had a new family with you and was truly loved.

 

[Ribh]

Aww love the stories!!!
I have 5 hens all barred rocks.
Meanie (who was mean as a baby but very sweet now) and she loves cat treats .
Becka who was picked on as a baby chick by the others in the flock. I kept her because I felt bad for her and made an early connection. (I raised 16 chickens last summer for meat and kept 5 for eggs)
Laney, she's my favorite and loves to follow me and comes running for me whenever she sees me walking around, she's best buds with meanie.
Daliah- she's friends with bekah and is very protective of her.
Betsy-shes my biggest chicken and seems very motherly.

They all look the same but they all have certain markings that I can tell them apart by. They also have different personalities. They all love sunflowers and they seem like they enjoy music being played. This is them late last fall.

Lots of Barred Rock lovers here!

 

[Shadrach]

Are there chickens for you in Bristol?

I expect I'll find some somewhere eventually.

 

[RoyalChick]

Happy FBF!
Compliments of... RUBY!
View attachment 2670075

She’s doing so well, I’m just tickled!

She is gorgeous. I am so glad she feels better.

 

[RoyalChick]

I kind of want to die. Queenie was killed today, we think by a hawk. Butters may have been the first target but she escaped with a couple of big tufts of hackle feathers out of her neck. A hawk, we think THE hawk, came back and flew down towards the body, while I was gone digging a grave for Queenie, DH saw it and chased it away.

Spoiler: What likely happened and why I can't deal

We were home, out and about, and they were out in their yard. There was no sound that we heard, and it happened around the corner of the house just out of sight while we were moving the big wire run over to their yard to set it up there. We suddenly noticed we didn't see any chickens around, I went looking, only finding Queenie's body and seeing no others. Whatever it was had eaten some of her. But she was warm still, and limp except for her legs. Eventually one Buckeye came out of the coop box. The four had run into the coop tractor and up into the roosting enclosure, Butters far into the nest box. I need to check her body again but I found no blood, and she let me handle all of her except her neck area was very tender.

I am so sorry. I feel I got Queenie killed. And she is particularly dear to me. I have tried to let them be chickeny and also have been putting into place safety measures to try to minimize risk, which I knew there was - I accept that to some degree but I feel particularly guilty about putting the electric fencing not up to the back house deck. Peanut had tried to run under there before and encountered the fence. I had thought about doing that, but it would be in the way of gas deliveries and DH didn't want them hanging out on the deck and pooping on it. I think Queenie, who had also run to the house when there was a previous attack in this same area - another reason to not have widened the fence area to include this spot! - and she had run that way when this hawk came I think, and of course couldn't get past the net. There were fluff feathers there. She fought back though and made it halfway back towards the coop where she either died because of her injuries sustained already, or was overtaken again. I think Butters was attacked first and then Queenie, which makes her inability to escape due to what I did with the fencing, denying her the house which she probably had time to run to, really hard.

There aren't enough emojiis in the world

Oh no. I am so sorry. It is heartbreaking. But you absolutely must not blame yourself. You gave Queenie a wonderful life and she lived it to the full. You cannot protect them 100% and let them have a good life. There are dangers everywhere. Know you did right by her. Remember her fondly and take comfort in the rest of the tribe.