Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[RoyalChick]

My lil laid me another egg today does it seem fertile?

I think if you have a rooster you can assume mostly the eggs are fertile. That doesn’t automatically mean they will successfully hatch.

 

[BY Bob]

Oh yes, I know that about hawks. Last time I was chasing it, yelling with my hands waving in the air and it still went after the chickens. It was when I told Lexi to “get it!” that she bolted for it and the hawk flew off. Hawks can dive bomb their prey in open areas and stun or injure them, then start eating them alive. Brutal predators!

I have never heard that about bald eagles. I know they are considered fishing birds, but have seen with my own eyes one carrying some sort of plump mammal; I thought it must have been a rabbit, but could not tell for sure. Why not a chicken?

A chicken just shouldn't be their first choice but they certainly could take one away.

 

[BY Bob]

Bagheera (my old black australorp) only molted once and it was soooo sloooowww, she reminded me of that childrens book Rainbow Fish where the fish had some fancy shiny scales scattered betweenbtge dull ones.

I was just reading Rainbow Fish yesterday.

 

[BY Bob]

I find this all very worrying. I am not really a dog person (I like all animals but am definitely more cat than dog person), but I am seriously wondering if I should get a dog.
I like big dogs so that would probably be helpful - I think I am a bit intimidated by the whole training aspect of dog ownership - I would only want to own a very well trained dog but I think I am too inexperienced in dogs to be confident of that.
I think as we go from fall to winter the predators will be more active (or more accurately my chickens will become even more enticing as other prey goes to ground) so the hawk issue is very much on my mind at the moment.

You can get fully trained dogs of go to class with the dog to train it together. For me though I don't know that I would ever be 100% confident of the dog around my chickens. I would rather supervise free range time myself.

Of course Lexi is a special dog and I would trust her.

 

[BY Bob]

I have a powdered egg replacer for baking in winter. It works pretty well!

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I never knew this existed.

 

[ChicoryBlue]

Day 2: Encounter with Phyllis

This morning Phyllis did not wish to leave the coop. I am partly to blame. If you remember that mug of mealworms from last night, o spread some in the coop so that when Phyllis woke up there would be a treat for her and the chicks to enjoy together.

So they had all been up some time before I opened the door to let Phyllis out. Even so, Phyllis did not want to go. She did come out on the porch several times and then went back into the coop. She ate their food, drank some their water and just did not fish to leave.

Eventually the chicks wanted out into the coop so we had a meeting this morning. I filmed with the coop camera and my phone. Here is the phone first. It is Sylvie that you see. First, she was not harmed. Second, Phyllis does "go after her".

I turned the coop cam to record before I went out. Because it is up higher, it captured much more than I did. First Legertha is actually the first to come out but she goes back when Phyllis looks at her. Then you can see detail of what happened with Sylvie.

I did some stop frame photos of two of Phyllis's pecks to see where she was aiming. As you can see in both instances it was Sylvie's back. To me these indicate dominance pecks and not an intent to injure. Something which has to be expected as hopefully they come together to form their own tribe or subgroup.

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Not a pleasant thing for Sylvie but overall not an awful first encounter.

What does everyone else think? Am I reading this correct?

As long as she's not keeping them too long from the food and water!

 

[BY Bob]

Fantastic friendship to rekindle!

Tax
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That is a wonderful photo.

 

[BY Bob]

Love this so much!

I'm so glad. Feel free to tell me about your flock. Pictures are also appreciated.

 

[BY Bob]

The sky was so pretty but by the time I got my phone most of the colour had gone

It was still pretty Marie.

 

[BY Bob]

Thank you for posting the link to Mal's tribute here, @BY Bob. It brought tears to my eyes! I'm quite sure Aurora still thinks of/misses her friend, too.

I'm not on @Ribh's thread. I'm only up to page 930 on your link...the thought of trying to play catch up on another thread, too, is overwhelming!

I sometimes get lost between the threads upon which I post. Of course this was the wrong time to do so. I'm glad you liked the tribute.