Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[BY Bob]

I am sorry to bore everyone with the figs, but I found this really interesting from a chicken behavior perspective.
Maggie jackhammered her way into the unripe fig while Minnie watched closely. Closely enough that she managed to get at least one bite of the inside of Maggie's fig.
Not 5 mins later I heard this banging and it was little Minnie trying it out for herself on another unripe fig. I really think she watched and learned from Maggie!
Amazing.

They absolutely learn from each other. I'm so glad that you got to witness this behavior first hand.

 

[BY Bob]

No Bob! They will sit with you like Ned and Lucky used to! Get the cushions ready.

Boy I hope so. They are just darling!

 

[BY Bob]

Excellent news!! No treatments needed

It is always good to check before treating. There is a limited lifespan to all wormers before the worms develop resistance.

 

[RoyalChick]

These feathered dinosaurs will be the death of me.
I am sitting at my desk on a work Zoom and out of the corner of my eye I see movement outside.
It is Maggie marching purposefully past the window. I drop everything and run outside shouting ‘MAGGIE!!!”
“No need to shout” she says as she meets me by the garage.
I pick her up (very carefully because she is molting) and deposit her back in the chicken yard and am relieved to find everyone else is there chowing down on cucumber.
I have no idea how she got out. Theoretically she could fly out as the deer fencing is only 4’. But nobody has shown any inclination to do so before.
She is remaining silent in that topic (though not on any other topic).

 

[rural mouse]

That cross beam has caught me so many times. My head hurts so badly today. I should have worn a helmet. ⛑

The next "remodel" project?

 

[rural mouse]

Sorry, nice doesn't cut it. Try to think of a better word .

I like having a little scrap with Bob and Alex, it makes my day.

Come on chicken dada a better word please

Big-hearted, mischievous, impish, generous, laugh-loving, delightful...

 

[BY Bob]

That was kinda where my mind was going on it too. The same ones who express opinions on behavior based upon 30 min of observation at coop open/close time. So do I contact the hatchery when Jessica is a year old (covers all the seasons) and ask them to modify their breed characteristics being as mine contradict what they're saying? (Hoping to spread better info?) Do I contact sooner and ask about the discrepancy between the "breeds" (color variants)? or Do I just let it go and enjoy the chickens? (I do the 2nd half of that Q anyway)

let it go and enjoy the chickens

 

[BY Bob]

This from the Smithsonian Magazine

Here’s how you do it:
All you have to do is hold the chicken's head down against the ground, and draw a straight line using a stick, a finger, chalk or whatever.
The line should start at the beak and extend straight outward in front of the chicken. If done properly, the chicken -or rooster- will be put into a state of trance and lie still for anywhere between 30 seconds to 30 minutes! To de-hypnotize the chicken just clap your hands or give it a gentle push. It may take a few tries to awaken the bird.

Tonic immobility is what researchers call "a fear-potentiated response” to being restrained. In other words, the chicken (or any other animal that exhibits this response) is convinced that it is going to die and goes into a kind of cationic state. According to Beredimas, farmers have known about this trick at least since 1646, when Athanasius Kircher published "Mirabile Experimentum de Imaginatione Gallinae.” The reaction seems to be most commonly reported in domesticated birds like chickens and quail, but other species seem to demonstrate tonic immobility as well. One study from 1928 looked at the response in lizards. Another watched the brains of rabbits during movement, rest, sleep and tonic immobility.

Here is the full article: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/can-you-hypnotize-chicken-180949940/

I think I may have said this before but in my personal experience this works.

When we butchered our roosters my father did it with a stump and an ax. We would butcher at the first significant snowfall so we could pack the birds in snow prior to picking and butchering.

My father used this method with the ax. As I was holding the bird he would draw a line across the stump with the ax and the rooster would stop struggling and its neck would stick out so my father had easy access. It really does work.

It is nice to hear that they had gone catatonic. It helps a little to know that they were in that state.

 

[Marie2020]

These feathered dinosaurs will be the death of me.
I am sitting at my desk on a work Zoom and out of the corner of my eye I see movement outside.
It is Maggie marching purposefully past the window. I drop everything and run outside shouting ‘MAGGIE!!!”
“No need to shout” she says as she meets me by the garage.
I pick her up (very carefully because she is molting) and deposit her back in the chicken yard and am relieved to find everyone else is there chowing down on cucumber.
I have no idea how she got out. Theoretically she could fly out as the deer fencing is only 4’. But nobody has shown any inclination to do so before.
She is remaining silent in that topic (though not on any other topic).

 

[BY Bob]

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!

I agree that Phyllis submits to Hattie but it does not seem to matter to Hattie.

The roost is that low so Hattie does not hurt herself when she jumps down. She needs a step to get to it as it is. Aurora can actually reach the high roost and pull the other hens off it. There is no way to get one high enough that they cannot reach.