Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Marie2020]

I do believe that the stress from high temperatures can bring things like this on. Let's hope it is just a random event. Sounds like you are doing everything you need so that they have what they need to lay.

Thanks Bob.

 

[Marie2020]

Mine won't eat bananas.

Mine will take your fingers off for a banana. I add them to their China feed bowl now. I've learned at last

 

[BY Bob]

Has anyone tried using the bug zapper in the coop? My newer babies have started sleeping in the run on top of something and the only thing I can conclude is that the mosquitoes are so bad inside the roosting area... they usually roost in a smaller section that is a little separated from the others and I think the mosquitoes are worse in there... when I put my head in I can feel them hitting my face and can also hear the loud buzzing!!! I think I’m gonna try it either way... I really think they need relief from these devils... I use a fan for cooling but that doesn’t really get rid of the pests!

They are a great source of food. If I put mine out the ladies run straight to the bottom of it to eat anything that has fallen to the ground dead.

 

[BY Bob]

Thank you for taking the time on this for me.
You are spot on and aligned with my thinking.
They are elderly as they are (I think) production sex-linked hens (I adopted them so not 100% sure) and they are the same age as Maggie (2+ years). So in the egg-laying department they are elderly unlike the roadrunners.
They have freely available oyster shell and crushed egg shells and they do eat those.
Their commercial feed is Purina Layer pellets.
My thinking was that since the snow melted and I fenced in a big area of yard for them they are spending much more time foraging and less time eating the pellets and therefore may not be getting enough of things that are not naturally prevalent in my yard. I would hope though that they would supplement themselves with the oyster shell and egg shells but maybe they just can't keep up.
The only things going against that theory is that they are eating more feed than ever (just judging by how often I need to restock) and I think their shells have been thin for a while I just didn't really notice.
I hate to lock them up just to force them to eat more feed because they have such fun poking about looking for stuff in the long grass.

I would not lock them up. Try supplementing their calcium first. My concern is that there may be nothing you can do if it is just part of the aging process.

How many eggs a week do you get from them? Are they slowing down?

 

[BY Bob]

Last summer I resolved to do that - I thought of hanging it from a chain so nobody can get in trouble by touching it. I thought they might like turning those nasty biting things into dead little snacks on the floor!

Mine go crazy for them. I put it on at times just to harvest for them last year.

 

[ChicoryBlue]

I've written about this so much now....
There are some basic problems to do with observation and other problems due to perception.
Observation
Most people do not spend enough time with their chickens to make valid observations on their behaviour. This is a simple fact. It seems from the various polls and posts that the average may be as little as half an hour a day and this seems to usually be when feeding and cleaning. A great deal of normal behaviour just isn't shown when feeding and cleaning; the important stuff goes on when either your not looking or when you are looking so much that the chickens no longer associate you with a limited range of activities and pretty much go about their business as if you were not there.
Coop cams have helped change the keepers ability to watch normal behaviour and people get to see stuff they otherwise would not. This is what has happened with Royal Chick and By Bob just on this thread; maybe others as well.
So, it is reasonably safe to assume that these behaviours have gone on and go on day to day. The problems Phyllis has at roosting and in the coop would probably not be known about without the aid of a coop cam.
I believe it's safe to assume that such behaviours have not suddenly developed; the suddenness is in the keepers ability to observe and recognise.
For those who go to work, be that at home or away from home, their working day does not allow for lengthy observation; an hour or two free range time at the weekend is not going to show much of the chickens natural behaviour.
It drives me to distraction when people post stating their chickens don't behave in a certain way or contradict species specific behaviours when it is apparent that the time they spend watching their chickens is minimal and their interpretation of what is going on is biased. See perception section below.
Yes, chickens are individuals, but they do have species specific behaviour and have more in common between breeds and keeping circumstances than some people want to acknowledge.
Perception
If we could address the following we would all have a better understanding of the species and consequently be able to provide better care.
1) Chickens are not cute and cuddly. From what I've seen they're pretty savage, don't like people much, don't like being picked up, will rip a mouse, or other creature to shreds with any sign or remorse and bully outsiders to death. That cute exception you've got on your lap that you're about to post about to prove me wrong will behave just like the rest given the right circumstances.
2) Chickens do not make good pets and they don't make you breakfast either. They don't lay their eggs for you and no matter how much you may thank them and make silly noises at them the simple fact is you are stealing their potential offspring. Chickens lay eggs to further their genes. You are not even in the equation.
3) Chickens are stupid. Not from what I've seen and not according to the studies I've read either. We haven't quite managed to reduce out ego far enough to recognise they are as smart as we are but with a different skill set yet...
Treat them with some respect for what they are and you'll get a better response from them. If some are more reluctant to engage with humans then let them be.
4) Chickens are not suitable creatures for close confinement. No, they don't like their coops and runs. They know they are imprisoned and as many of you have seen, are just dying to get out at every opportunity. They are not standing at the gate because they are waiting with baited breath for a word or treat from their magnanimous keeper; they want out!
5) Chickens are tribal creatures and not flock creatures. They don't like other chickens that look different to the majority, or are not related.
Chicken don't like strangers. All new comers will be treated with suspicion and often violence. Now comers have to earn their place in the group and no amount of careful integration is going to make the slightest difference in the long run.

My belief is Ribh and some others have fewer social problems because the range of breeds and looks kept is so great that tribal pairing, or grouping is difficult to sustain. If there is a fairly regular influx of new inmates then social bonds are constantly being readjusted. Short term prison management works on a similar principle, no one group gets the time to establish control.
For many chicken keepers this isn't the case and the group is relatively stable over longer periods of time and relationships are formed and held over time.

The solution to most of the behaviour problems is essentially simple. Keep one breed, preferably related and let the chickens choose when to add to the tribe and who hangs with who. Even then, should a stray gene pop up in offspring you can expect that chicken to be picked on. Time and stability and in tribe breeding will often raise the oddball in the hierarchy, but importing company is not a certain route to peace.
The ideal chicken relationship is much like humans. One rooster to one hen with offspring attached until a certain age. Some roosters will mate and breed and move on to another hen, others it seems will stay with one hen for life. Children are tolerated until they become competition.

I liked reading this, thanks. It struck me there's an interesting correlation to cats and the various ways we keep them in a lot of what you write. How is it that you've taken to chickens but not to cats? I don't mean this confrontationally, I mean it in a friendly way. Just wondering if you've had any insight on that.

 

[ChicoryBlue]

Has anyone tried using the bug zapper in the coop? My newer babies have started sleeping in the run on top of something and the only thing I can conclude is that the mosquitoes are so bad inside the roosting area... they usually roost in a smaller section that is a little separated from the others and I think the mosquitoes are worse in there... when I put my head in I can feel them hitting my face and can also hear the loud buzzing!!! I think I’m gonna try it either way... I really think they need relief from these devils... I use a fan for cooling but that doesn’t really get rid of the pests!

Why are the mosquitos hanging out in there do you think? Is it damp anywhere? Could they have bred there? Another thought is that mosquitos do not like light areas, they prefer dark places, that's why in the tropics the walls are often painted white. Perhaps during the day (when not roosting) a bright light might discourage congregations of mosquitos in there.

 

[Marie2020]

Has anyone tried using the bug zapper in the coop? My newer babies have started sleeping in the run on top of something and the only thing I can conclude is that the mosquitoes are so bad inside the roosting area... they usually roost in a smaller section that is a little separated from the others and I think the mosquitoes are worse in there... when I put my head in I can feel them hitting my face and can also hear the loud buzzing!!! I think I’m gonna try it either way... I really think they need relief from these devils... I use a fan for cooling but that doesn’t really get rid of the pests!

I saw that mosquitoes hate lavender and eucalyptus, I haven't used the euccalypus but I have added a sprig of lavender and rosemary just under their straw.
So far I haven't had problems with bugs in their coop, maybe that is why.

 

[featherhead007]

"Snag" ? Is this an Americanism I haven't heard before or a typo?

You Aussies make great ground troops, and made ww2 much easier to win, but the USA has always ruled the skies, and always will! IMHO.

 

[featherhead007]

Who is this "Chad"?

Typos abounding this morning.