Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[featherhead007]

Lillie, please come back home. And Lord Jesus please heal Bob’s family and heal everything . I have my own problems today, but I care more my friends, than I do myself at times. Nothing compares to true friendships. Which I lost today. My friend from Texas died this morning this hurts!

 

[Shadrach]

Logically an entire breed, regardless of color, should have the same basic characteristics: free range, cold/heat hardy, broody, etc. It would make sense for the all black or all white to NOT be considered good free range due to easier for predators to spot. Color variety/non extreme end of spectrum colors would blend better whether predator sees in color or monochrome. The lacing of both the gold and silver would HELP with the camouflage. Columbian wyandotte would be easier to spot and black or white easier still. That being said, Silver has the ability to play ghost and simply vanish in spite of the snowy white. I hope she manages to teach the rest of the tribe that skill in the years to come.

This is an interesting and according to the people I've spoken to about the topic whose knowledge I respect; badly missunderstood.
The best free rangers are fast. The colour that is supposed to aid camouflage doesn't play much of a role. All the ariel predators I'm told hunt on movement.
Sitting hens is a good example, I used to wonder how a couple of the tribes hens managed to not get taken by hawks because of the exposed natare of the sites they chose to sit at. Donk, and her mother Dink, Fray, Tan, Thunder and of course Cheepy prefered exposed site. Their colours ranged from almost pure white to black and white and about every shade of brown. They survived by keeping perfectly still and when they moved from their nests they moved to cover very quickly.
Of course, this may not help much when it comes to ground predators who may locate the hen by smell. I am told that some hens more used to feral sitting choose strong smelling foliage to help hide in. Rosemary and Thyme bushes are favorite in many warm climates.
So, it's movement that usually gives the hens away. Donk, who is black and white and sticks out like a sore thumb once you know where she is is virually invisable while she is still. She looks like an odd looking rock.
Fayoumies (probably my favourite breed) are just too fast for hawks and the feral ones will fly into trees when in danger.
It's speed and stillness that counts most.

 

[featherhead007]

Lillie, please come back home. And Lord Jesus please heal Bob’s family and heal everything . I have my own problems today, but I care more my friends, than I do myself at times. Nothing compares to true friendships. Which I lost today. My friend from Texas died this morning this hurts!

My New Mexico trip will have to wait. I need to go to Texas. Steven left a widow and two children. I have to go there, I cannot just express my love to them on any phone ! He was a good buddy and a great United States Deputy Marshal!

 

[BY Bob]

Thanks for sharing Bob! Your chick videos are a great start to the day

I'm beginning to mix them up. Do we start with Sylvie closest to the camera?

That is Legertha closest to the camera to start.

 

[featherhead007]

Paul is prepping my plane. I’m making this a short trip.

 

[Marie2020]

Unfirtunately,there’s still no sign of Lilly.it’s nearly bedtime.I don’t know what to do.ive been panicking since evening.idk what’ll happen I’ll keep u guys updated.poor Era.anyways thanks everyone for comforting me.I’ll try my best to do whatever it takes to find Lilly in the garden.My garden is enormous and it’s really hard to find her.thanks again for comforting me.

I hope you find her really soon

 

[Marie2020]

I’m literally losing my mind.Good night

I know that feeling please try and stay strong. I've lost one of mine for a whole night and found her hiding in the morning

 

[Marie2020]

Lillie, please come back home. And Lord Jesus please heal Bob’s family and heal everything . I have my own problems today, but I care more my friends, than I do myself at times. Nothing compares to true friendships. Which I lost today. My friend from Texas died this morning this hurts!

Alex

 

[Marie2020]

My girls worm lab results came back as completely negative. No worms or worm eggs at all

 

[Shadrach]

Advice for Hazel?

I'm not horribly concerned as she's doing chickeny things with more energy, foraging well and she's fiercely pecking others away now, chasing Popcorn around, away from whatever she's digging, to take her place. She had been much less confrontational before during the heaviest part of the molt. Now I've seen her get a couple of worms and she's digging with gusto. She eats dandelion greens, sardines (need to get more), but won't eat sunflower seeds or walnuts too readily. She did eat some yogurt & crumbles mash balls yesterday and one or two today. I have not really seen her eat pellets when I've been with them. I have baby bird feed on order for the future. She just doesn't get in there and mix it up with everyone for food like she used to. She hangs back. Anything else special for her, or shall I just watch her and there's no need to try to get her to eat as this will take it's natural course?

This is her first real molt, hasn't eaten a lot, is still resting more than anyone else, and today I determined who's been having watery poops because I saw her jet one out today. And the wall of the coop had some poop on it, that's unusual). I thought if that keeps up I'll try my first fecal float (that's been a project going along and progressing, I had to get some of my mom's estate boxes gone though and cleared away to make room).

Anyway she is drinking well so I think -hope-she's keeping up. Yesterday I felt quite a keel, seemed to me she was skinnier than I remembered, and so I compared to the other three. I don't have the proper scale to know exactly what she weighs, should be a human scale but digital?

Anyway by comparison Popcorn and Peanut have a keel you can feel but there's much more meat on either side of it. Butters, who makes a beeline for the feeder in the morning, tops up a few times in the evening, and eats a few pellets whenever she can, has a keel line but it's there with the most plumpness on either side of any of them. She's also always been the largest-boned bird since she was a chick, she's a relatively big girl. Traditionally Butters is biggest, then Popcorn, Hazel, and then Peanut. But I'd say Peanut is bigger, firmer than Hazel right now.

Any thoughts?

My thoughs are you are doing all you can. With the tribes, the heavy first moulters did most of what you describe and survived. It seemed to me that the heavy moulting hens felt they needed nutrition from things they wouldn't have chosen prior to their moult. Fudge for example took it all very badly and I was worried about her. But, when I flet her crop at roost time somehow she had managed to fill it.
That's the first thing I would suggest; check her crop at roost time. If it's reasonably full she's probably going to be fine.

The next thing is when possible give her access to as much natural ground area as you can. Fudge used to wander over one hundred meters from her tribe looking for what she felt she needed. My lot ate some very strange stuff, bits of root they had shown no interest in before, weeds i hadn't seen them eat in the past, a very small bug that lived around the roots of the cherry trees, lots of grasses.....