Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Aussie-Chookmum]

Ruby was too weak to jump up onto the shelf and too dumb (or uncoordinated? I never saw her try) the ramp, so I lifted her up there. She went to bed in a nest box.

I think she ate some of the mash I made that had aloe detox, nutridrench and buttermilk in it. If she’s back on feed, that will help her gain some strength. I hope I find no maggots in the morning, but will wash and treat her bum again. I think this time I’ll use betadine or chlorhexadine in a large syringe.

Also, Buttercup had a bit of a raw spot (not an actual sore like Ruby) when I cleaned her back end. A couple other girls have full-on turds, though dry ones, dangling back there. Not sure what’s going on, but I will clean and possibly trim them, too.

Fly strike is horrible. I'm glad you caught it in time ))
Deana went to bed in the nest box tonight which she never does.
I'll be checking her over head to toe in the morning.
Thank you for sharing. It is helpful to learn of others experiences when we have a crisis of our own.

 

[adwil21]

I shared this on pests and predators thread and wanted to share here on Bob’s busy thread... I got these bug zappers and they have diminished the mosquitoes by about 85%... View attachment 2754855View attachment 2754856

I love your birds!!

 

[BY Bob]

This has had a side effect of being a very interesting behavioral experiment. Maybe if the Best Box is unavailable, the other two are now equally 2nd Best? Possibly until one of those two becomes the more desirable and the new Best Box?

So far, box 2 has been the only one with eggs. So that will be our first data point.

 

[BY Bob]

So I’m feeling like the world’s worst chicken mom. Ruby got a little bit of fly strike. Yesterday she seemed to be declining and put herself to bed in a nest box. This morning she didn’t seem so great, either, so I let her out for some private free range time. I decided to squirt some warm soapy water on her back end and help her out since she’s been so messy in the back. I pulled a couple chunks of turd off and one of them had a maggot on it! I kind of freaked out, got some more warm soapy water, cleaned her up pretty decently, trimmed feathers, towel dried slightly, patted permethrin powder on the wet area I had just washed, and put neosporin on the raw spot, which was about the size of a dime. I did not actually see any maggots on her, but I definitely saw a maggot on a turd, so I have to assume more might be coming. She seemed pretty weak this morning, but right now at the end of the day, her body language is better than I have seen in a few days. I am hopeful and optimistic that I caught it in time. I feel awful!

Oh gosh. So scary. I sure hope you caught it in time.

 

[BY Bob]

cant be good, a lot of lighting in that

There was. That was a vicious storm. The most close lightning in any of them so far.

 

[BY Bob]

The foxes were back again. Doesn't really help that I live in a neighborhood called Fox Hollow.

Are you going with a hardware cloth apron or a foundation for the coop? You don't want them digging into the coop.

 

[BY Bob]

You’ve just motivated me to catch Snow tomorrow and clean/clip her problem area. It’s so cold and wet here there aren’t many flies but want to be sure.
Sounds like you have expertly exploded onto the scene with Ruby and co and are doing a great job as chicken Mum sometimes you just can’t get to everything pre-emptively, life is busy and things get missed.

Yup, it will be bath time here tonight as well. I have put it off too long as well. Expect pictures tomorrow. We will be starting with Aurora which is never fun.

The Target

What do you think you are going to do to me!

I will need to be very brave............

 

[BY Bob]

Old Eggs

I came across this photo of a nest in the yard from the Big 3 back in 2017 just after the big coop was built. I thought everyone might might this interesting for 2 reasons.

1. I can't tell who the brown eggs came from, Lilly, Patsy or both of them but check out how brown they were.
2. The ratio of Daisy, the greatest hen ever, eggs to the others. That's 4 Daisy eggs to 2 non-Daisy eggs. She laid every stinking day.

 

[Grandmas Coop]

There was. That was a vicious storm. The most close lightning in any of them so far.

Sadly we knows what follows, I just PRAY there are no fires from it

 

[BY Bob]

Sadly we knows what follows, I just PRAY there are no fires from it

No fire danger here. We have probably had close to 6 inches or more of rain in that last 4 days from the big storms. Everything is so wet here I could take a blow torch to the ground and not start a fire.