Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Cynthia12]

I haven't been able to even look at pictures of the tribes without getting very upset until the last couple of days, so yes, I miss them terribly.
I don't have any plans for a new tribe. My current circumstances make keeping chickens free range impossible and the circumstances are unlikely to change enough in the foreseeable future.
Keeping ex batts, or rescues may be possible at some point. Ex batts would never be safe in a fully free range environment in the UK, so a chicken old peoples home with a run and supervised exercise might be an option.
The fact is that Bucket Boy and the tribes is over. I've been incredibly privileged to have lived with the tribes for a decade.
What I hope to do is get organised here and get my book published in the hope that the book will help change the appalling view most people have of chickens, their intelligence, their behaviour and the cruelty involved in the keeping of them.
Meanwhile, I'll come on to BYC when I can and see if I can pass on some of what I've learned to those prepared to pay attention.

 

[RoyalChick]

Hi all. It's been a while. Still having sad days, but the children have been so wonderful. Thankful for the his, mine, and ours! They have surrounded me with love and help. Thankful for them. I'm not alone, thank the Heavens. Our son and wife..and cute little two year old is living here. I think I shared that a while back. I'm going to go back a bit and check posts..two pages I think.

Good to see you back here.

 

[Cynthia12]

Oh my gosh, that reminds me! I forgot to share that Dorothy managed to put a shell on an egg. It looks like a “body checked” egg, but still!
View attachment 2715932

Awesome!

 

[micstrachan]

Hi all. It's been a while. Still having sad days, but the children have been so wonderful. Thankful for the his, mine, and ours! They have surrounded me with love and help. Thankful for them. I'm not alone, thank the Heavens. Our son and wife..and cute little two year old is living here. I think I shared that a while back. I'm going to go back a bit and check posts..two pages I think.

Hi, Cynthia!

 

[Cynthia12]

Hi, Cynthia!

 

[Kris5902]

I haven't been able to even look at pictures of the tribes without getting very upset until the last couple of days, so yes, I miss them terribly.
I don't have any plans for a new tribe. My current circumstances make keeping chickens free range impossible and the circumstances are unlikely to change enough in the foreseeable future.
Keeping ex batts, or rescues may be possible at some point. Ex batts would never be safe in a fully free range environment in the UK, so a chicken old peoples home with a run and supervised exercise might be an option.
The fact is that Bucket Boy and the tribes is over. I've been incredibly privileged to have lived with the tribes for a decade.
What I hope to do is get organised here and get my book published in the hope that the book will help change the appalling view most people have of chickens, their intelligence, their behaviour and the cruelty involved in the keeping of them.
Meanwhile, I'll come on to BYC when I can and see if I can pass on some of what I've learned to those prepared to pay attention.

Oh Shad... I can only imagine how hard this is. I’m heartbroken at the thought of this and what you must be going through is devastating. We all feel for you, and appreciate you sticking with us, sharing your experience and knowledge. Maybe one day you can, if not establish new tribes, help rehabbing some less fortunate girls at least. I quite like the thought of the chicken old folks home idea... no expectations and a better life than they would have otherwise.

It's a question of how much time and effort you are prepared to give her.
The easy option is to kill her, but if she is otherwise healthy then I would find that hard.
I have read of blind chickens being cared for by a best friend and/or rooster. You would need to know which hen would be most suitable taking into account that probably neither could free range any more.
I think I would try for a best friend companion before I made the decision to kill her.

Thanks, that is where I am heading, and it’s good to hear I’m not completely crazy for wanting to try. So, it’s just going to be a few days of very intensive observation of her tribe to determine who will be best suited to rooming with her, so far there isn’t any clear “best friend” that she has, so I will be watching carefully to see if I can suss out who will be best to keep with her. She is in with my low maintenance rescue group, and they usually just go about things on their own in their tractor.

I also think she really needs a companion or two to be able to function, for finding the feeder and waterer, and knowing when it is time to roost. I will build a lower, secure coop with a more accessible roost for her as quickly as I can. (I’ve been selling and using up some of our house materials anyhow, so why the heck not!) I don’t have the energy, or time, but I will give it my best go. For her sake. If she declines horribly then I will reassess. Her Rooster is a bit of a Jerk (to me) but mostly quite good with his hens, gentle, and he makes sure everyone is up good and early. I don’t think he would be a great companion to her though, another hen or two perhaps. Sammy would be great (he’s one of my two “best” Roosters) except he’s too accustomed to free ranging and I don’t think she could keep up.

I really appreciate the feedback @Shadrach and I also cannot wait for the book, though I suppose I will have to. Once I get the house completed I plan on setting up multiple smaller coops and going almost fully free range. I really believe that the chickens have better lives like that. See, there’s hope for some of us yet!

 

[Kris5902]

Thanks, Kris. I *think* I may have had this problem, too, but was able to get around it by manually entering the coding… I will sub a “3” in place of “E” so the site doesn’t get confused.

[M3DIA=youtube]link[/M3DIA]

Not quite sure if this will work, or I really understand it (wow, I am so not a techie...) heck, I tried turning it off and turning it back on again. There isn’t a plug to check to see if the you tube is plugged in... how has the internet has become both so easy to access, and so annoying at the same time?

 

[Kris5902]

Hi all. It's been a while. Still having sad days, but the children have been so wonderful. Thankful for the his, mine, and ours! They have surrounded me with love and help. Thankful for them. I'm not alone, thank the Heavens. Our son and wife..and cute little two year old is living here. I think I shared that a while back. I'm going to go back a bit and check posts..two pages I think.

Hi and

I haven’t been on much lately, but please know that you’re in our thoughts and prayers here in Canada as well. Andrew and I are so sorry for your loss and are glad you’re surrounded by loved ones and family.

 

[micstrachan]

Not quite sure if this will work, or I really understand it (wow, I am so not a techie...) heck, I tried turning it off and turning it back on again. There isn’t a plug to check to see if the you tube is plugged in... how has the internet has become both so easy to access, and so annoying at the same time?

If you share the link to one if the shorts here in this thread, I’ll try it. If it works, I’ll tell you how I did it.

 

[micstrachan]

Kris, I practiced in a private message with myself and it works. Use the same code I wrote before, except the 3’s should be E’s in the word “media.” Where I wrote “link,” just enter the unique series of letters and numbers that comes after “shorts” and omit the question mark at the end..