Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[bgmathteach]

I am feeling a bit more optimistic about Minnie because of this.

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I really hope I did the spoiler correctly. I suspect only @MaryJanet will really understand my joy!

Good girl Minnie!
Honestly, @RoyalChick, I was concerned after your last post about her with good/bad...after having been excited about her behaving so much better when you returned from your trip.

I hope you are feeling better, as well!

 

[629522]

Good evening y'all. Just put the chickens and goats to bed and let the dogs run. It's 6 pm and pitch dark ugh!!!! We hates it! The husband did report that he let the horses and mini donkey into the yard and my 25 year old gelding put his head up in the air and pony pranced all the way to the front of the house

 

[micstrachan]

Roadrunner update
First up is Minnie. There is good and bad on the Minnie update. So I am not sure where we really are with her. But definitely not out of the woods.
The good:
- She is running around like a normal active healthy chicken (no hunching up)
- She produced at least one poop that was more solid than liquid
- Her comb is a tad less shrunken than it was when I left for my trip
- She is back roosting with her buddies
- She has more feathers coming through
The bad:
- She actually lost weight in spite of all the nutritious food she got while I was away
- Her poop is still quite liquid (not as bad as before but not normal)
- She won't eat commercial food
- Her comb is still shrunken
I am particularly worried by the weight loss as the vet thought she was skinny to begin with.
I am going to reinstitute breakfast in the hospital ward. She is in there now tucking in to scrambled egg, cabbage and meal worms. And she has Gatorade.

And next is Dotty who decided to welcome me back and let me pet her. Amazing! I was so touched. And isn't she looking great? Don't worry, normal programming resumed shortly after when she came to herself and started pecking my ankles again.

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Dottie looks great. Yes, Minnie’s weight loss is concerning. Here are a couple more ideas for weight gain: sneak some baby bird formula or chick starter (unmedicated) into scrambled eggs. Whole fat buttermilk. Sprouted grains. The meal worms are great. Fresh corn, canned fish… I think you are wise to have some supervised breakfast time. When I did that with Minnie, she then wanted to eat even more if I offered her special treat to everyone. At this moment I have brown rice on the stove. It’s not the most nutritious food ever, but it has calories and vitamin B1 to help with appetite (and other B vitamins, as well). My Flo is starting to starve and shiver a bit as the temperature drops and I’d like them to have a warm treat before bed. She wouldn’t even eat baby bird formula, but will eat sprouted wheat, sardines, and is walking around picking specific leaves out of the run.

 

[bgmathteach]

I've lost track of which pictures I've compressed and posted.
I think the easiest thing to do is chuck up the batch I've got in the compressed folder and start again. My apologies if you've seen them before.
Henry with the grey bunch. I think that's Cloud, Fax, Fret, Carbon and Copy
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Just behind those houses is the main road that connects the City Of Bristol to the docks at the point where the river severn opens out into the sea.
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That's Cloud at the front; not sure about the other two. Similie and Copy have similar looking rear ends atm.
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Cloud again.
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Carbon.
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Volt and...
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Lima and her bestie Similie.
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Some idiots finger.
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Wow, Carbon looks like she is half tail!

The two besties look like they are quite content. It is so nice to see them form fast friendships!

 

[micstrachan]

You gave them a choice. That's all you can do.

I gave them a choice today , too, and they mostly stayed in. They do love their home, but I think maybe something has visited them.

 

[micstrachan]

I've lost track of which pictures I've compressed and posted.
I think the easiest thing to do is chuck up the batch I've got in the compressed folder and start again. My apologies if you've seen them before.
Henry with the grey bunch. I think that's Cloud, Fax, Fret, Carbon and Copy
View attachment 2891196
Just behind those houses is the main road that connects the City Of Bristol to the docks at the point where the river severn opens out into the sea.
View attachment 2891199
That's Cloud at the front; not sure about the other two. Similie and Copy have similar looking rear ends atm.
View attachment 2891200
Cloud again.
View attachment 2891202
Carbon.
View attachment 2891203
Volt and...
View attachment 2891204View attachment 2891205View attachment 2891209
Lima and her bestie Similie.
View attachment 2891210View attachment 2891211

View attachment 2891214
Some idiots finger.
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They look very happy, Shad! Amazing!!!

 

[micstrachan]

I am feeling a bit more optimistic about Minnie because of this.

View attachment 2890953

I really hope I did the spoiler correctly. I suspect only @MaryJanet will really understand my joy!

Nice looking poop, Minnie!

 

[micstrachan]

We had a good bit of sun today so the girls got 9 hours and 50 minutes outside. I feel good for the battery girl's having a good time after their awful ordeal being locked up and forced to lay then coming here and my three being so mean too them. Tina always came too tell me when she felt something was unfair and still does.

It didn't stop them finding their way around and taking the lead in some ways. They have taught everyone too tap the plant pots, I think they have now formed their own fluffy butt beat band

In return my old three have shown them very quickly how to dig into the mud and which grasses to eat.

Today was good for everyone now they are all tucked up as the sun retires

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I just love it when they get lots of sunshine. Great photos.

 

[micstrachan]

I don’t think I will ever finish my drainage project with all the help I am getting.
At the top of the picture you can see the end of the pipe that I want to connect to.
And down the picture you can see my trenching shovel with Diana being helpful. Guiding the shovel maybe.

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I managed about 3’ of ditch that way with no injuries to Diana. Then she carefully filled in the ditch I had dug and went for a rest on my chair.


I honestly think I will have to lock them in if I am to finish before the ground freezes.
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Oh my gosh, too funny! Chickens LOVE shovel work, I have found!

 

[bgmathteach]

The idea of staying on it means more light at the end of the day (time wise). It also means getting up in the dark. Currently we spend 5 months of the year NOT on it and 7 on it. May as well stay on it then (is the general philosophy I think). Different states have different rationale for why. Currently Arizona is the only state that doesn't have a time change. the other states have to get some kind of congressional/capitol hill approval to implement staying on daylight savings. if I understood what I read correctly, no state has to have approval to stay OFF daylight savings. Not sure how I feel: leave for work in the dark or come home from work in the dark.

I just meant that we have organized our lives around artificial light & lost rythyms of nature. Either way, one end or the other gets darkness with our current lifestyle (i.e. no longer fully/mostly agrarian, where you work when the sun shines.)