Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[LaFemmeKatia]

Shake Your Beard Thing

I was saving this for later but today seems to be Aurora's day. Check out her beard in this video.

She is too cute!

 

[featherhead007]

My tribe made it through the night, (I barely did) it was still very hot up until midnight. Either too hot outside or too cold inside the house. Jaffar is out in the run, crowing his Cochin head off. Everyone is complaining that I haven’t let them out yet. I can’t, I need to go to town for a few hours. (They are safer in the coop and run, than out free ranging, when I’m not here) a few hours isn’t going to hurt them.

 

[featherhead007]

Tax. (Yesterday in the yard)
I think they were planning something!

 

[ChicoryBlue]

Hi guys. I would like your thoughts on Miss Ruby. I don’t want to keep cluttering up Bob’s thread, and would like as much advice as possible. If you’d like to weigh in, please check this out. Thanks!

Spoiler: Miss Ruby

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/advice-please-free-ranging-a-sick-hen.1472620/

I meant for the spoiler to take you directly to another thread, but I’m not sure if we have that option.

The link did work. I'm quite gun-shy now as you could guess, and my emotional vote is no, that you'd be sending her to a different, more terrifying way to die, than if you took her to the vet to be euthanised or she died naturally.

My more rational vote is also no however, She's in a weakened condition for running or
flying from a predator and wouldn't have the benefit of anyone else's eyes for lookout in the first place. How is she going to eat well and look out at the same time? And loneliness. Doesn't she want to live and die with her tribe, isn't that an important thing when you're a chicken?

But it's not clear what she's eating while out; it is clear though she's going through the motions which seems healthy. Can you feed her yummies that are nutritious while she's out with you? Your evening time means she'll go to bed with a crop full of good things, and the morning time you could help fill her up then too.

You could get a small predator-proof chicken tractor. Then you could put her with a few buddies in there for the day plus the yummy food and at least they'd be on a new spot every morning, it goes a certain way towards satisfying the foraging instinct.

 

[ChicoryBlue]

I’m a little slow on the uptake this morning, so it took awhile, but now I see what you did there! Lol!
Your “Rock garden” is beautiful!

Me too, I totally didn't get it until your post @LaFemmeKatia !

 

[micstrachan]

The link did work. I'm quite gun-shy now as you could guess, and my emotional vote is no, that you'd be sending her to a different, more terrifying way to die, than if you took her to the vet to be euthanised or she died naturally.

My more rational vote is also no however, She's in a weakened condition for running or
flying from a predator and wouldn't have the benefit of anyone else's eyes for lookout in the first place. How is she going to eat well and look out at the same time? And loneliness. Doesn't she want to live and die with her tribe, isn't that an important thing when you're a chicken?

But it's not clear what she's eating while out; it is clear though she's going through the motions which seems healthy. Can you feed her yummies that are nutritious while she's out with you? Your evening time means she'll go to bed with a crop full of good things, and the morning time you could help fill her up then too.

You could get a small predator-proof chicken tractor. Then you could put her with a few buddies in there for the day plus the yummy food and at least they'd be on a new spot every morning, it goes a certain way towards satisfying the foraging instinct.

A tractor is a great idea. I “chickened out” and put her back in before I left. At least she got in a dust bath. Her crop felt empty, but I did see her actually eating things off the ground. Maybe I could give her an hour each morning before work, plus the three hours in the evening. Maybe she’ll get hungry enough to eat feed. She feels like she weighs half what she used to. I haven‘t weighed her, but she thpically weighs around seven pounds when bloated. The vet drained off over a full pound of fluid, plus she dripped more, sl I don’t know her actual weight before she started losing muscle.

 

[ChicoryBlue]

A tractor is a great idea. I “chickened out” and put her back in before I left. At least she got in a dust bath. Her crop felt empty, but I did see her actually eating things off the ground. Maybe I could give her an hour each morning before work, plus the three hours in the evening. Maybe she’ll get hungry enough to eat feed. She feels like she weighs half what she used to. I haven‘t weighed her, but she thpically weighs around seven pounds when bloated. The vet drained off over a full pound of fluid, plus she dripped more, sl I don’t know her actual weight before she started losing muscle.

She might be eating grit. The only other idea I have is scattering some good relatively nutritious food around where she's foraging. Shelled sunflower seeds? Bits of walnuts? You could put a small-ish circle of low chicken wire around her so she can be with everyone but they can't gobble it all up first. Wil she eat little balls of wet feed?

The lack of interest in feed is concerning, are chickens like cats, they will avoid whatever they were doing when they felt pain - like avoiding the litter box when they have a urinary tract infection or issue?

You are doing your best, hang in there!

 

[BY Bob]

Doh - got me! I was trying to think, who of your tribe could it be?

I figured that would fool no one.

A hawk just screed over my house. Headed out.

 

[BY Bob]

Tax. (Yesterday in the yard)
I think they were planning something!View attachment 2699899

It is nice to see them all together.

 

[BY Bob]

A tractor is a great idea. I “chickened out” and put her back in before I left. At least she got in a dust bath. Her crop felt empty, but I did see her actually eating things off the ground. Maybe I could give her an hour each morning before work, plus the three hours in the evening. Maybe she’ll get hungry enough to eat feed. She feels like she weighs half what she used to. I haven‘t weighed her, but she thpically weighs around seven pounds when bloated. The vet drained off over a full pound of fluid, plus she dripped more, sl I don’t know her actual weight before she started losing muscle.

I have a small run from Tractor Supply that I can pick up and move as needed by hand. It used to be part of the coop complex and then I started using it for chicks. I always have water and sometimes include feed. I even drape something over 1 end for shade.

This is why I was asking what predators you have. For hawks, simply staking the run into the ground would be sufficient. For fox, that might not provide enough protection.

I do suggest that you don't have her go it alone. She should have a buddy if nothing more than for predator awareness.