Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[RoyalChick]

I meant it in a "maybe the roosting hat spell is broken" kind of way and not in a "criticise Bob's lack of headwear" kind of way.

I think we can all align that we wouldn't criticize anyone who wears chickens on their head. It is the ultimate BYC fashion statement!

 

[MaryJanet]

I love it. Though in my head I always turn it into 'The Phyllistinies"

Me too!

 

[RoyalChick]

I don't have transport. I don't even have a proper home really. I'm very reluctant to go onto Facebook. I can get into enough trouble here.

Check out the Freegle link I posted - it is nothing like Facebook - you can only post things you have to give away or things you are looking for. So you could post 'wanted chicken coop' or 'wanted material to build a chicken coop' and that is all you can post - no chit chat!

 

[ChicoryBlue]

That is very interesting. Mine react to the song birds as well. I never thought about losing that warning system due to the wind.

But I think @Shadrach has mentioned his theory that the wind affects their being able to hear everything well too.

But now that I think of it, I do know that wind speed will also affect songbirds' ability to forage - fly here and there, etc., and do their rounds. But I think that kind of wind is greater than just a breezy day. Of course the smaller birds are affected first with increasing wind speed. I think I read a study on that and what the wind speeds were for each type of bird... from ability to fly across fields, from tree to tree, fly/jump from branch to branch, to essentially being grounded / seeking shelter and not moving (sheltering in pine trees in the case of chickadees...)

But a breezy day would create more noise in general, so sound interference theoretically would be a problem for chickadees and songbirds. There is a whole system of warnings that get transmitted through forests. Chickadees keep their flock/tribe in contact with each other through peeps and whatnot as they forage, and they rely on this system too. I wonder if they also forage closer together and are more nervous on breezy days? The radio gets a lot of static...

Chickens need to hear each other and hear the other species around them. So it seems to me that in general chickens that have the genes or a predilection for more caution on windy days would have better chances to individually survive and thus their species to survive.

 

[MaryJanet]

I mentioned on this thread somewhere that once I had left Spain and the tribes behind what I would like is to look after Ex Batts. After the years I've spent trying to take care of chickens, I've got to the point where I can accept they will die, probably very quickly, and although I will come to love them, I now have the strength to let them go.
I've never owned my own chickens, I've never bought or sold a live creature.
These poor Ex Batts need help and helping them helps me in some strange way.
I don't think I can ever explain it well.

It's altruism. Empathy. Our ancient ancestors developed it because it helped them survive.

 

[RoyalChick]

At 20 eggs minimum during peak laying season that would be 6 months at 20 so 120. Add in a few months at 30 and you are right there in the ballpark. They may have shut things down for the year.
This is another instance where knowing their normal matters. Make certain you write this down so you can reference it when the same thing happens next year.

Yes - I realized this a bit late - I now keep a calendar in the Chicken Palace and mark eggs each day including who I think laid them and what condition they are in (relevant to the broken ones Elizabeth was laying).
Your math makes sense and tomorrow I can go to the calendar and count 'since records began' (earlier this year). I know there was a time when I was getting 2 Roadrunner eggs a day - so they may have hit their quota for the year.
Thank you for helping me out with this!
On Minnie's diarrhea - does wait and see feel OK for a few days at least?

 

[MaryJanet]

This is very reassuring. Thank you for sharing.

I'll just add that the term artificial intelligence is a misnomer. It's not "intelligence" at all. Merely self-directed processing and analysis of literally more data than history has ever known. And I've just added another paragraph to the data stockpile.

 

[MaryJanet]

I think we can all align that we wouldn't criticize anyone who wears chickens on their head. It is the ultimate BYC fashion statement!

Absolutely!

 

[RoyalChick]

Yes. Every word we write is analysed by AI so that "better" advertising can be served to us, eg, as emails or updates that a friend liked this or that product.

Mind you, at this time there's little else that particular AI can do. For example, the AI that drives cars is an entirely different AI and it doesn't know how to analyse which type of ad you'll respond to.

There is a big difference between targeted advertising and an e-mail about caring for furry animals. It sounds like the email might have been from a BYC moderator perhaps?

 

[Lexicon]

At 20 eggs minimum during peak laying season that would be 6 months at 20 so 120. Add in a few months at 30 and you are right there in the ballpark. They may have shut things down for the year.
This is another instance where knowing their normal matters. Make certain you write this down so you can reference it when the same thing happens next year.

I don't know if I should out myself as a total egg nerd, but I actually have an app for tracking my flock's egg laying.
It makes it really easy to keep track of how much everyone is laying (assuming that one can recognize whose egg is whose).