Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Chicken poppy]

Looking for a bit of help on my 8 week old silkie chick, so, i have 3 silkies. one 10 weeks with a huge huge head pom (buff coloring) and 2 white ones that are 8 weeks or so. Now, bean, one of the white ones, i am confident is a girl, she has the prettiest quiet melody and is very calm. However, vanilla i think is a boy, picks a fight with dolly which i also think is a boy, and has very very big and bright waddle and comb, while bean has none (dunno about dolly, cant see past the poof) anyway! Heres a photo, any thoughts?

Its clearly not “huge, but its pretty darn big for a roughly 8 week old chick or younger. Im secretly hoping one is a boy, because that means baby chicks! But we’re only keeping them if their nice and stuff, so if he is a boy, lets hope hes nice. Im thinking vanillas a mix considering they dont usually have red combs/waddles and yellow beaks and stuff, the others have blue and blue combs/waddles.

 

[bgmathteach]

I think the complication for many of us (but not for you given the circumstances of your tribes) is guilt.
We see ways in which we believe we failed the chicken from our ignorance or thoughtlessness, or from keeping the chicken in a certain way.
When Posh was taken by a fox I felt terrible because I felt I had failed in my duty of care to her. I had tried to protect her but I missed a tiny spot she managed to get through and it took me a while to get over that.
When Elizabeth died more recently I felt sad for myself because I liked Elizabeth and she was good company. I felt anger at the whole chicken breeding industry to breed an ISA Brown that was so subject to reproductive issues. But I did not feel guilt. She had a good (albeit short) life with me and a rapid and natural death in amongst the members of her tribe.
Although much more recent, her death weighs less on me than does the death of Posh much longer ago.

Exactly!

 

[Chicken poppy]

I think the complication for many of us (but not for you given the circumstances of your tribes) is guilt.
We see ways in which we believe we failed the chicken from our ignorance or thoughtlessness, or from keeping the chicken in a certain way.
When Posh was taken by a fox I felt terrible because I felt I had failed in my duty of care to her. I had tried to protect her but I missed a tiny spot she managed to get through and it took me a while to get over that.
When Elizabeth died more recently I felt sad for myself because I liked Elizabeth and she was good company. I felt anger at the whole chicken breeding industry to breed an ISA Brown that was so subject to reproductive issues. But I did not feel guilt. She had a good (albeit short) life with me and a rapid and natural death in amongst the members of her tribe.
Although much more recent, her death weighs less on me than does the death of Posh much longer ago.

I feel as though this is everyone. People feel guilt this way with chickens, animals, humans, anything. If a cat escaped and got lost, you wouldnt blame the cat for getting out, youd blame yourself for not watching carefully. I've had this happen many times, and lots of people consider it like your looking for someone to say “no its not your fault” however people genuinely do feel as though it is.

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

I'm happy to report that Butter is back to her old self again. When she first started her crazy hard molt she became evil and grumpy. I understand as she was a walking bald porcupine so I wouldn't want anyone touching me either. That being said she did take a few cheap shots at the hand that fed her and I got a few good bites from her. In the past week not only does she look better, but my loving attention seeking princess was back. This morning there was another hold up and commotion with the nest boxes. Butter is back to laying and was the first to get the "prize" box. After 10 minutes of very loud complaining from Holly, Bunny and Raven, Raven finally went in the 2nd box. Holly and Bunny continued to complain and then fight over the prize box once Butter exited. In the end both fat hens stuffed themselves into the crate to lay at the same time. Bunny actually laid her egg on Holly's back. I think it's time to add on to the porch box idea as everyone seems to love that spot. I did hope that Butter would wait until at least the end of January before she started back up laying, she only took about a 5 week break but she had other ideas. Considering she laid for 6 days in a row before skipping a day for 13 months I hope 5 weeks was enough of a break for her for her long term health.

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

Looking for a bit of help on my 8 week old silkie chick, so, i have 3 silkies. one 10 weeks with a huge huge head pom (buff coloring) and 2 white ones that are 8 weeks or so. Now, bean, one of the white ones, i am confident is a girl, she has the prettiest quiet melody and is very calm. However, vanilla i think is a boy, picks a fight with dolly which i also think is a boy, and has very very big and bright waddle and comb, while bean has none (dunno about dolly, cant see past the poof) anyway! Heres a photo, any thoughts? View attachment 2943136Its clearly not “huge, but its pretty darn big for a roughly 8 week old chick or younger. Im secretly hoping one is a boy, because that means baby chicks! But we’re only keeping them if their nice and stuff, so if he is a boy, lets hope hes nice. Im thinking vanillas a mix considering they dont usually have red combs/waddles and yellow beaks and stuff, the others have blue and blue combs/waddles.

Good luck on getting a boy. I thought I had a 1 boy to 2 hen ratio from my 3 original silkies only to have the 2nd boy crow at me at 6 months old. Silkies are notoriously hard to sex. 1 giveaway is streamers in their head poofs for boys that can show up at about 4 months old. My sneaky 2nd boy though didn't have the huge head poof so I missed that sign.

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

Looking for a bit of help on my 8 week old silkie chick, so, i have 3 silkies. one 10 weeks with a huge huge head pom (buff coloring) and 2 white ones that are 8 weeks or so. Now, bean, one of the white ones, i am confident is a girl, she has the prettiest quiet melody and is very calm. However, vanilla i think is a boy, picks a fight with dolly which i also think is a boy, and has very very big and bright waddle and comb, while bean has none (dunno about dolly, cant see past the poof) anyway! Heres a photo, any thoughts? View attachment 2943136Its clearly not “huge, but its pretty darn big for a roughly 8 week old chick or younger. Im secretly hoping one is a boy, because that means baby chicks! But we’re only keeping them if their nice and stuff, so if he is a boy, lets hope hes nice. Im thinking vanillas a mix considering they dont usually have red combs/waddles and yellow beaks and stuff, the others have blue and blue combs/waddles.

I forgot to add, check out the thread Silkies - They're Simply Spectacular in the General Breed Discussions and FAQ section. It is a very popular thread with many people who are more knowledgeable with silkies that regularly post. They may be able to help sex your silkies.

 

[Chicken poppy]

Good luck on getting a boy. I thought I had a 1 boy to 2 hen ratio from my 3 original silkies only to have the 2nd boy crow at me at 6 months old. Silkies are notoriously hard to sex. 1 giveaway is streamers in their head poofs for boys that can show up at about 4 months old. My sneaky 2nd boy though didn't have the huge head poof so I missed that sign.

Thanks! Yeah, i heard their really hard and i see that now. I was curious if this maybe was a sign. Ill be on a lookout for some streamers in dolly!

 

[Chicken poppy]

I forgot to add, check out the thread Silkies - They're Simply Spectacular in the General Breed Discussions and FAQ section. It is a very popular thread with many people who are more knowledgeable with silkies that regularly post. They may be able to help sex your silkies.

Thanks a bunch! Im in no rush, i know their hard to sex but if possible why not know early!

 

[featherhead007]

I don’t feel guilt.. I don’t want to argue, All I need is my emotional support rooster, and a cup of Coco every day:!! This is my Coco, she’s a nut! (I belong to my chickens) end of argument!

 

[BY Bob]

Chickens are pretty tough, but I do worry about their feet and combs/wattles.

One thing I have to be careful of is to put my own 'feelings' regarding the cold on that of the birds. I do have one of those Cozy Coop heat panels, but since no one was cozying up to it I put it away!

Was thinking of getting one of those infra-red heaters, been reading some of the threads on them.

@Bob maybe one of those IR panels for your gal...?

I have one deployed in the coop right now. She is roosting at the opposite end most nights but did move close to the panel the night we had snow.