Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[MaryJanet]

I'm thinking about starting a thread for Ex Batts and Rescues.
I would like to tell the story of what has and what may happen to these poor creatures.
The full horror of their previous lives will never been known but the terrible circumstances they are now in I have well documented and photographed.
The way things are going an awful lot of Bob's thread will get taken up with people posting commiserations as the chickens gradually die off. They are unlikely to live long no matter how well anyone cares for them.
Some of you have seen the coop and run. What I doubt many have fully realised is just how shocking it is.
The coop without the nest box roughly measures 1.131 metres by 0.75 metres.
The nest box measures 0.75 metres by 0.32 metres. Roughly we are looking at a bit over 11 square feet. There are 20 chickens sleeping in this. 20!
There were 25!
The coop wasn't even getting cleaned out every week let alone evry day. Imagine what a weeks worth of 20 chickens pooping in 11 square looks and smells like.
Most have some respiratory problems. The amonnia build up is considerable.
The coop is one of those off the shelf jobs. It's really really bad. Nobody who knows the basics about chickens would build such a coop.
Most weeks I'll be posting sad news. I don't want to spoil all the lovely chicken stuff with what is likely to happen.
Vet isn't an option. A vet visit here just to get seen is around £60.00. Treatment is expensive. Roughly if one allowed even £300.00 per chicken in vets bills that's £3,000.00.
My job is mainly to try and make sure the sick die quickly and the living have the best quality of life I can afford to give them. Not much of that is going to be happy news.

If you start it, I'll follow along for the learning.

 

[MaryJanet]

To all of you who laughed at my dilemma:

How is she now? Is she up yet?

 

[DaisyBuff]

The fact you reply shows you care and that's a help knowing you are there for us

Aw, Thank you! I feel a bit better now!

 

[DaisyBuff]

To all of you who laughed at my dilemma:

Who would laugh at your dilemma? You have a real problem not some practical joke here! Right!

 

[Blazinga]

The housing is progressing. Anticipated completion date is?

No idea. But it's built like a fortress with the craftsmanship of a civil engineer.

 

[bgmathteach]

A bit of research on poultry dust.
I Googled 'poultry dust' and looked at the top 9 products that Google puts at the top of the page (there were only 9). I also looked at Tractor Supply (TSC) and examined the products they had under poultry dust.
Of the 9 Google search products, 2 were also on the TSC list and TSC had one that wasn't in the 'Google 9' for a total of 10 unique products.
Here is what I found:
- In the 9 from Google: 6 were Permethrin 0.25%; 1 was DE; 1 was Aluminum Silicate; and one was 50% Rosemary, 25% mint with the rest made up of garlic, thyme and cloves (and no, it wasn't being promoted as a seasoning)
- At TSC one of the ones that was on the Google 9 list with Permethrin 0.25%, was described by TSC as Permethrin 25%, and the one that was not in the Google 9 was also Permethrin 0.25%
So, of the the total of 10 unique products, 70% were Permethrin 0.25% (though one was wrongly described) and the remaining 30% were each different.
From this you can conclude:
1) RC has lost her mind
2) There is absolutely no regulation in the US on what is described as Poultry Dust
3) There is a good chance of getting the right stuff (Permethrin 0.25%) if you just buy whatever is on offer, but it is probably a good idea to read the actual label

And for that little excursion I will pay Chicken Tax. Minnie growing her new tail.
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For this one, we REALLY need to be able to use more than one 'like' I need to use the 'Heart' for the gorgeous picture of Minnie, with her new charcoal grey 'necklace',(Phyllis's pearls got nothing on her 'natural' pendant necklace, , Sorry @ BY Bob) and "I" for the great research, @RoyalChick

 

[bgmathteach]

Hi folks. Cashew seems to have moved on from her broodiness. I know the water dips (I did get her belly once) were iffy, but it seemed to work.
Now Little Mill is broody. I took several videos and settled on this one to share. It doesn’t show the beach ball posture nor broody vocalizations super well, but I think she’s pretty darn cute! Millie is not ranked very high, and typically does not get in my lap. (Though she is very docile and tolerates picking up and handling quite well.) This was a surprise bonus of her going broody. She’s sleeping in a nesting box (without eggs) tonight, so I’ll have to rig something up for her tomorrow. I don’t have a wire crate (except a huge one meant for a large dog), so I might try to put a cookie cooling rack in the pet carrier.

Blast from the past again, as I try to read all the old stuff:

@micstrachan OMG, Mill is so gorgeous in this vid! The iridescence of the black spots really shows well here...and I love the vocalizations...it sounds almost like a momma clucking to her chicks.

 

[RoyalChick]

For this one, we REALLY need to be able to use more than one 'like' I need to use the 'Heart' for the gorgeous picture of Minnie, with her new charcoal grey 'necklace',(Phyllis's pearls got nothing on her 'natural' pendant necklace, , Sorry @ BY Bob) and "I" for the great research, @RoyalChick

Maybe Minnie was jealous of Phyllis's pearls and decided to grow her own.

 

[bgmathteach]

Some Photos from the Weekend

I did not see the ladies at all yesterday so here are a couple of pictures from the weekend.

Lilly having some watermelon.
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Phyllis continues to be underfoot but for a while she helped Mrs BY Bob with the laundry.
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I had some friends come and groom themselves on Mrs BY Bob's chair while I was reading.
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One thing I can't figure out and that makes me sort of melancholy is when Aurora hops up on the footstool in front of me. Aurora has never permitted herself to be touched, even when she came new to us as a 6 week old. I could not get near her. Her sister Maleficent was the complete opposite. As you all know she loved just hanging out with me. I could touch her anytime I wanted. I always felt that Aurora only hung out with me because she wanted to be with Mal.

So my question, why come anywhere within touching distance of me willingly and hang out on my footstool? Especially when there is no snack to be gained? All I can figure is that somewhere in her mind there is a happy memory of doing this with Mal.
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@BY Bob,

This is such a lovely photo of Sansa....what a difference with these rich colouring in her feathers versus now. I do hope she ends up being fine/nothing wrong..and she moults fully to have good strong, healthy feathers for the winter...and so she can reclaim her gorgeous beauty.

I suspect you may be right with Aurora....or she just may like your company but isn't a 'touchy feely' kind of girl. There are sweet people that are like that, too....just saying...

 

[featherhead007]

How is she now? Is she up yet?

She’s done. She’s on the roost