Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[BY Bob]

I may have missed a post. How long before they start sleeping in the Cluckle Hut?

Not long now. A week or so. Nighttime temps are my concern. They are still not fully feathered.

 

[BY Bob]

Now @BY Bob is going to think that I see his beautiful new chicks as gremlins. (I don’t see them as gremlins by the way) but they look like trouble to me.

I expect the Phyllistines will be mischievous. And I look forward to it.

 

[BY Bob]

Someone just had a good preen and now is sleepy
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So adorable.

 

[micstrachan]

Something has been bugging me a couple of days so in case it's helpful I'll mention it. Does Minnie's gaze look normal to you, as in normal for her? Would Marek's cause her to have trouble with her eyes, since it's a nerve thing? There's something about the look in her eyes that's not right, it's distracted, off. It struck me when I first saw this, and it's hard to explain or see now when I'm looking at the video again, esp knowing she doesn't feel well. I had just been out with the Buckeyes here when I watched this the first time, so the difference struck me. Minnie isn't quite up to the "bright eyes and bushy tails" intense laser-focused eyes they have. Maybe it's just her individual look. But it seemed to me somehow slightly "out of it." I know she's not feeling well, so maybe it's just that? Have you noticed a change?

Yes, I think you are right. She is no longer ataxic, but does not have all of her spunk back. Some, but not all.

 

[micstrachan]

It's Friday here

Today's butt courtesy of Alice.
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Beautiful!

 

[micstrachan]

FBF
View attachment 2844621Oops, Cheetah's isn't fluffy, just getting tail feathers as long as he is.
2nd try
View attachment 2844625Thing...wrong end....
3rd tryView attachment 2844629Twirp exploring the carport. I have a heated waterer (crock pot) in there for winter. I'd like them to know about it. So far she's the only one (that I've seen) willing to explore the area. Once winter hits, that may change. There's a corner shelf (empty), a plexiglass skylight, the water, and I keep my extra bale of straw in there...sometimes they like to spread it....enclosed on 3 sides, you'd think they would like sitting in there out of the wind. Nope. In the past, they like to woodpile...getting dripped on as snow melts/rain slides between the boards of the deck. Have a heated waterer under the porch coming off the deck around the corner from the wood pile too.

Ooh, another FB
View attachment 2844630Jessica
View attachment 2844631View attachment 28446323 weeksish to egg watch....maybe...probably egg hunt, but Silver has built a nest or 2 in the nest boxes inthe coop even though she hasn't laid anything yet...modeling for the pullets or starting to work on eggs again while finishing her moult?View attachment 2844633

Such beautiful birds!

 

[micstrachan]

Antibiotics can be responsible for slow crop which if you catch, as you seem to have, early enough, will not develope inot full blown sour crop.

THIS

 

[micstrachan]

This is the view of the allotments with my back to the chicken coop. Lots of scope here for "improvements".View attachment 2844813
This is what needs improving.
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Oh arr, I'll be helping out with the geese as well.
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The person who is responsible for the allotment area do their best with what help they can get and what funds they have.
They've found it difficult to find anyone who knows much about chickens, let alone some nutter like myself who is prepared to put in what will turn out to be quite a lot of work and when extra food and rebuilding projects are taken into account, some money.
Some people like to spend their disposable income on other things. I'm happy spending it on the chickens.

Me, too. I don’t go to Starbucks or get my hair done professionally, and I never pay full price for clothing, but I’ve spent a small fortune on avian veterinary care.

You really have a lot to work with there, Shad!

 

[Scrambles83]

A year for Maggie (and RC)
Warning: long post.

The last couple of weeks has been an important milestone for Maggie and @BY Bob said it was OK for me to mark the occasion here.

On September 18, 2020 I found this in the nest box.

Spoiler: Warning - not for the squeamish

View attachment 2846580View attachment 2846581

I had no idea what it was and no idea who laid it. Everyone was acting normal and all cameras were deployed monitoring rodents and other, scarier, visitors.

I did research and learned that it was a lash egg – a sign of serious and long standing infection in the reproductive tract. I also learned that it is invariably fatal with the maximum life expectancy of less than 6 months.

I confirmed it was Maggie who laid it. She had stopped laying real eggs and laid one more lash egg a few days later.

Off she went to the vet.

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Because of Covid I wasn’t allowed in with her but she apparently wandered around the vet’s office investigating everything while she waited for him. The vet-tech was rather taken with her and fed her the blueberries I had brought.

The vet was very kind but confirmed what everyone else had told me which was that she would not live long. He offered to euthanize her but agreed with my view that it was a bit premature as she still had quality of life. I felt reassured that he would be able to put her out of her misery when the time came.

He also educated me about production breeds who are not really expected to live past 2 years. I spent quite a while really upset and furious about that and I still am.

Everyone on this thread was very kind and supportive. @BY Bob encouraged me not to give up on Maggie and at the same time helped me be prepared for the worst.

And I resolved to spend as much time as possible with Maggie and make sure her remaining time was as wonderful as possible.

Maggie visibly declined. She started molting and wouldn’t eat anything that wasn’t alive. I dug for worms, I trapped beetles, and I bought live mealy worms to tempt her to eat. I provided heaps of leaves so she could pick through them for bugs.

Slowly she started to develop new feathers
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And to share in some treats
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And then much to my surprise, on January 23rd – 4 months after the lash egg - she laid a normal egg. I think nobody was more surprised than @BY Bob who posted:
“She successfully laid an egg today!?!”
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-of-our-flock.1286630/page-3059#post-23891234

So, I am marking this week as one year since Maggie got her death sentence.

I feel she has had a good chicken year.

She dug some deep holes.
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She explored snow.
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She shouted at me.
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She spent time with chicken friends.
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She sunbathed (a lot).
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She helped with construction projects.
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She shouted at me some more.
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She got in my face.
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She posed with her left side
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She posed with her right side
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She ate ice cream

She sunbathed some more
View attachment 2846623

And she cooled off by dunking her wattles.

Today, a full year later, she is still shouting at me, she is still in my face, and she is the undisputed queen of the long grass.

View attachment 2846625

* * *
Thank you all for indulging me in this post and joining me to celebrate Maggie's gift and mine - a whole year of chicken fun together.

That has given me goosebumps and a tear
Well done, Maggie (andRC), keep living life to the fullest!!
Truly happy days

 

[micstrachan]

Ladies having an evening out.View attachment 2845275

What a wonderful playground for them!