Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[ChicoryBlue]

Yes - the info on it says animals can't see it - but I now have pretty definitive proof that is untrue. A cat, a chicken and a raccoon have all shown quite specific awareness of the light.

I thought I read chickens see ultraviolet light.

 

[ChicoryBlue]

Owl vs eagle: what time is it? Middle of the day is eagle. Dawn/dusk: probably owl. Middle of the night? HOW ON EARTH CAN YOU SEE IN THE DARK?!

I would agree in general but Snowy Owls hunt during the day, also Short-Eared Owls (Short-Ears are ones that really look like flying bullets or WWll propeller planes btw). I used to go on a winter field trip during the day to look for migrating short-ears just north of here. They would be hunting the fields, flying low until about midday, then start up again towards late afternoon.

 

[featherhead007]

That's interesting. I wonder why?

 

[featherhead007]

I have learned one thing over the years. (If I’m out of corn, I’m out of friends)

 

[Marie2020]

Good evening

I've been given the flesh of a pumpkin with seeds for my chickens. Would cooking it in a casserole be okay?

 

[Marie2020]

Same where I live. I hate the time of year where they get zero mid-week free ranging time. They get almost all day on weekends, but weekdays don’t work, since I am not home for any daylight hours. I’m considering letting them range unsupervised, but probably won’t go there. I’d love to put up a giant aviary where I could have a few bushes and small trees for them. At least for now I can get the little grow boxes going. They love those! I got some leaves into the run, but the rain hit early before I could get more.

I don't know if you will like this way but I used hard wood bought from a company that sells chicken products.

They have removed all the dust and theres no chemicals, my chickens are really happy with it under their feet. Various insects crawl in under it so on wet day they are entertained and it dries out.

I will shovel some out tomorrow and put it on my flowers it feeds them really well.

 

[RoyalChick]

Happy Friday

From Legertha

View attachment 2881908

Happy Friday

From Legertha

View attachment 2881908

Looking very ladylike!

 

[RoyalChick]

Here's a few quick tips that I use: Eagles are definitely day hunters, you will not see them in dim light or at night. Owls have blunt heads and your first impression is a small body relative to the length and breadth of the wings (like a bullet with wings too big for it). Eagles soar with their wings horizontal to the body, and from below it looks a lot like a paper airplane with squared-off rectangle wings, there's not much "point" to the wing tips. They are also very steady flyers. Vultures hold their wings in a V-shaped dihedral (looking at it horizontally), and that makes them pretty unsteady in flight, so you see them kind of tippy with any cross-breeze or wind change, dipping one wing or the other.

Here's a good short page on the basics of the three types of "hawks"
https://www.audubon.org/magazine/fall-2021/look-introduction-identifying-raptors-flight

Here's all about our friend
https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/red-tailed-hawk

The following is very cool, an animated map showing the migration patterns and dates for your chosen bird, here I put in Red Tail Hawk (@BY Bob and RC check out what PA looks like in early November). You might have to join ebird to see it? It is free. They have been collecting data from volunteer users and have gotten some really robust visualizations of it now.
https://ebird.org/science/status-and-trends/rethaw/abundance-map-weekly

I misspoke earlier - it's the Rough-Legged Hawk, not the Red-Shouldered Hawk, that for the Northeast is mostly north and we don't see it except seasonally
https://ebird.org/science/status-and-trends/rolhaw/abundance-map-weekly

Wow. Very interesting. Thank you for sharing. My part of NJ goes from a lot of red-tailed hawks to a s**t-load of red-tailed hawks right about this week.

 

[Marie2020]

No offense taken...just that question was well beyond my abilities!

Thanks for your understanding. Vets have been nothing but bad news too my animal's and also a lot of people's pets that I have come across.

You only see really good ones on TV

 

[RoyalChick]

Good evening

I've been given the flesh of a pumpkin with seeds for my chickens. Would cooking it in a casserole be okay?

Yes! Raw it can be a bit tough for them but cooked they should be fine. Mine go for it raw but only slowly.