Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

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I am putting that on my Christmas wishlist

 

[fuentemoon]

Are you not allowed to stay and watch the show?

Nope, not that I am particularly into country music anyway. I generally just work the set up and tear down, you have to pay to see the show unless you are working it. And if you are working you don't generally see much. The only show calls I work are theatre, and then I am backstage the whole time, but that is cool too

 

[ChicoryBlue]

The Roosting Tribulations of Phyllis

I recorded Roosting time the other night with the new camera. I took week over 30 minutes of video and Phyllis was already roosted when I started. I have condensed it down into just over 15 minutes in 2 video clips.

I have said before that roosting time with my tribe is not for the faint of heart. The tribe is vicious to each other.

SPECIAL WARNING: All of you Hattie fans may not want to watch because of how she treats Phyllis.

Also, every night this week Phyllis has been forced to roost in the big run. This bullying has really amped up since I let her set her nest. In every way it seems that was a mistake on my part. All of this is a contributing factor to the new coop and little ones. I do think her Roosting in the run will lead her to be more accepting of Roosting in the new coop when the time comes.

Video 1

We start with Phyllis on the high roost. Lilly will jump up to it and Phyllis will be forced to jump down. Shemoves to the main bar and at around the 1 minute mark, Hattie forces her off and she leaves the coop.

Around 2:48 Phyllis re-enters the coop, gets up on the main bar and Hattie goes after her again. Phyllis manages to stay on the main Roland get away from Hattie for a moment.

At 3:40 Phyllis seems to inexplicably move towards Hattie again an another round of punishment occurs. She quickly moves away.

Around the 5 min mark Phyllis seems to be looking at the small roost which I added for her but she never tries to use it.

Video 2

This video is longer as the action is almost non stop for 10 minutes.

We start off with Aurora on the roost forcing Phyllis to head towards Hattie and then off of the roost. Aurora then jumps down and forces her out of the coop. Sansa is them forced off the high roost and Aurora runs her out as well.

At the 2:40 mark Phyllis scoots past Aurora an re-enters coop and gets up on the the roost as far as possible from Hattie.

Around 3:37 Aurora surprise attacks Phyllis on the roost but Phyllis is able to run away and remain on the roost.

Around the 5 min mark, Sansa enters the coop, jumps on the roost, and forces Phyllis off. At 5:35 Phyllis jumps up by Hattie and pays for it. After the beating, everything actually looks settled. But at 8:34 Phyllis jumps down! Why? Did Hattie say something to her?

At 9:27 Phyllis comes in again and jumps on the roost. At 9:45 Aurora goes after her again and she flees. Phyllis would run and jump up by Hattie again. Hattie would send her to the other end of the roost where Sansa awaited.

The video ends here, bad edit on my part, but Sansa would chase her off the roost and Phyllis wouldn't return. She would roost in the run.

Kinda looks like Phyllis is trying to appeal to Hattie. She invites the domination and doesn't struggle against it, even steps on Hattie's foot again, submitting again as Hattie gets on her. It does look like the appeal is successful, but is that Sidney who's come in and she's looking at? I think that's why she jumps down, whoever that is.
Another thought is that it is unfortunate it is so easy to get at the feet of someone on a roost from the floor of the coop.
Phyllis wants acceptance by these knuckleheads. I hope she takes to the new coop and the new companions/underlings, and enjoys being in charge, and finds it an acceptable substitute for Crazy Acres!

 

[micstrachan]

There’s still no sign of Lilly

Oh no, Afi! Is her mate upset?

 

[micstrachan]

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.....

Yes, this! They seem to know what they need. I wish I could free range mine all the time, but I’m just not willing to take the losses. Though… I might prevent other losses in doing so. It’s so hard to know what’s best for them.

 

[micstrachan]

In your first set of birds without an established pecking order, how did you identify your top hen? What behaviors made that apparent?

Sorry I haven’t answer this; I had to think about it! With my first four, I was not sure who was the alpha for a long time. I think it was Margo, BUT Bagheera pecked her lower back feathers and Margo submitted.

I think it was subtle and came down to who had their pick of roosting spot, who backed down to whom with treats, etc.

Now it’s clearly Bridge, but she’s the oldest, meaning, she has been there from day 1 for all the others. She rarely pecks anyone. She just lifts her head in a certain way with a stern voice.

The others squabble for position. I see Flo as an alpha in the making. She is VERY assertive (and has her head plucked almost bare to prove it! ) She will challenge anyone, including Bridge, bit then gets put in her place.

Buttercup seems to be the #2 (enforcer) and is a bit of a jerk to the others.

So, here is an interesting observation. I’m curious as to what @Shadrach thinks, since he’s not as much into the cuddly lap pet thing for his birds. ALL of my highest ranked birds gave been affectionate lap sitters. I’m not sure what to make of that.

 

[RoyalChick]

ALL of my highest ranked birds gave been affectionate lap sitters. I’m not sure what to make of that.

Maybe in part they get their power from being close to you?

 

[LozzyR]

In your first set of birds without an established pecking order, how did you identify your top hen? What behaviors made that apparent?

I didn't get that with my original pair of ISA Browns, nor when I got the second pair and there were three of them. There was no aggro, no chest-bumping or feather-pulling. Lucy seemed to be the third wheel for a little while initially (from my first pair) but then they'd just hang out together, there didn't seem to be an alpha hen. It was only when I got a pair of non-ISA Browns did I see the establishment of a pecking order and boy, was it apparent!

 

[micstrachan]

Hey Everyone. It's been a while since I've last been here I'm slowly getting caught up with everyones posts.

Do y'all remember the two chicks I rescued? The first in May and the second in July? They're all grown up now!

Kiko (Rescued in May)
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Gizmo (Rescued in July)
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Kiko & Gizmo
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Clearly Gizmo is a rooster. He started crowing a few weeks ago and makes a GREAT alarm clock!

Okay, going to continue catching up on this thread!

Oh they are sooo beautiful! I am happy for you and them!

 

[LozzyR]

Oh thank u

I'm only just catching up now, I hope I read good news ahead.