Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[RoyalChick]

Love those ideas, and will use them - if summer ever arrives

But will still need night time cool down options...

You did say - what is the floor? Watering the floor provides quite a lot of cooling unless you are in a very hight humidity situation.

 

[featherhead007]

Summer time evening: 34C and about 80 percent humidity and no wind... Winter isn't the issue, the hen house has been around the freezing mark at its coldest without heating. But summer will be brutal without fans/cooling. Hmmm think I need to build a summer hen house! All screen mesh and a fan... Oh I guess I can enclose one of the unused stalls in chicken mesh and they can have a summer house ...

You don’t want to know what she just said!

 

[featherhead007]

You don’t want to know what she just said!

“just make a room in your house, like daddy has for us, when the weather gets too extreme” (but what does a chicken know anyways)

 

[ChicoryBlue]

So, Hi again… it’s been far too long I know! And I am very sorry to have dropped out on everyone here. Life just got a little out of control, overwhelming and I have been having a really rough time. 2022 is getting better, it really is. So long story short, the contractors/goat hunters that were helping build our house didn’t. They totally ghosted us, didn’t return my calls and had asked for $20k, which I got (through primarily saving, and borrowing a bit from my family… I briefly considered a go fund me, but asked my dad for some help instead). I also lost cell phone/internet service for a little bit due to funding issues. I fell into a really, really bad depression, and was barely managing the day to days here.

Then DH (Andrew), who was working his behind off, became very ill. For anyone who doesn’t know, he has a congenital heart defect, pacemaker, and has had multiple heart surgeries since he was a young child. I almost lost him. He spent three weeks in Hospital, his was when the Flooding hit our province, we were fairly lucky on our island, but I was literally trapped for quite a while with no help or ability to get fuel/feed. While trapped by the Washed out roads I had to Put down my cat Charlie. Then I had a Mink attack literally the next day (it found a little hole in the floor of the coop by the door) and lost 31 birds, some I had quite close relationships to.

I got Arduinna a friend and slept out in the Barn with the two goats for several nights in early December. She’s moved outside and wasn’t too happy about it, but being completely distraught over Daddy not coming home… it seemed like a now or never time for bringing home Jimmy (especially as webhad lost a few other “goat friend” prospects to freezer camp with their owners not wanting to wait on my fencing getting done). There was another In-laws family blowout situation which culminated in a “If anyone harms my pets statement” so yeah, you can imagine. Andrew finally made it home the second week of December (with many new meds, and some upcoming surgeries are likely this year). We had to put down my last kittie Bullet, just before Christmas. That’s the really dark place I’ve been trying to climb out of for most of last year. Things are doing better…

I still have Sammy and Dean, we lost Cass to a raccoon attack. Roostie’s boy Chunk survived the mink attack, as did my Bully Girl, Tailless, Ziptie, and my Rogue mama who hatched out 11 babies in late summer, in my house trusses. It mostly took my broody hens and up and coming layers, as well as some of the core laying flock.

We have fully scrapped our second floor, replacing it with a planned attic, I reframed a lot of the first floor to accommodate the loss of the upstairs, and make it the wheelchair accessible space we had requested in the plans. I have been working everyday for the last three weeks for 5-9 hours on the build, often alone, sometimes with Andrew’s help, regardless of the weather. I also hired a local kid for a few days as well ($50/hr got me some general labour, and I knew I was in trouble when one of the first things she said was “so, what do you mean when you say “stud”…”)! But I’m making progress, and feeling a lot better about things.

Kris, to you and yours. You and DH have been through a lot. Nearly losing your life's companion is a gut punch. Plus, our close animal friends and companions are such a comfort, and losing them is a big deal. Worse coming on top of the scare and stress of DH's troubles, on top of the family issues too. The shock of all that can just throw your body & mind all out of whack. The real physical recuperation and healing needed from that goes hand-in-hand with the emotional/mental.... Glad to hear you got Jimmy as a companion for Arduinna, even that you were out there with them too for awhile - you care so well for all your animals - because I wonder if that wasn't a part of your self-care too in that time - finding a path forward through the horribleness with them. Good on you!

 

[bgmathteach]

Hawk Attack
As most of you know, I have a lot of chickens. I am out with them when free ranging, but it is impossible to be 'near' them all as each group tends to go to a different spot.

So, I was hanging around with the group that is in the most unprotected area...when I hear a "Whummmp" (Sounded like a cow-patty hitting a wooden wall.) Then, a fruckus breaks out from the group near the house, with hens running & squawking bloody murder!. I go running over to that space (thinking the neighbor's dog was out & chasing them.) Nooooo, as I arrive (out of breath) a 'chicken'; flushes from the dense yew shrub against the house - I look down under the shrub, and there is a hen 'dust-bathing'. I look back in the direction the flushed 'hen' went and see our resident hawk sitting on a limb not 30 feet from me. I ran at ?her? yelling & waving my arms and she took off.

Back to the hen under the shrub..I could see blood dripping from her mouth, but she was clearly frightened and wouldn't let me near her. Finally got hubby to help and caught her. After cleaning her up, it appears this is her damage:
Scraped/abrasion on skin @ base of left side of beak and just below eye - minor. Blood from inside the mouth leaking out both sides of beak and dripping from cheek puffs appeared to be from a talon piercing the right 'cheek' through into the mouth, and she has an abrasion/cut around her right nare. After cleaning her up best I could and applying triple antibiotic ointment to exterior, she seemed okay but still quite frightened (she was anything but cooperative!). She will be fine if she doesn't get an infection. I am concerned about the inside of her mouth getting infected...but outside has been flushed well & again, anti-biotic cream....

Didn't have camera with me then, but older, poor pick of hawks (I am pretty sure they are Cooper's)

My Americauna hen, after clean-up: (it was still bleeding slightly)

 

[bgmathteach]

Hawk Attack
As most of you know, I have a lot of chickens. I am out with them when free ranging, but it is impossible to be 'near' them all as each group tends to go to a different spot.

So, I was hanging around with the group that is in the most unprotected area...when I hear a "Whummmp" (Sounded like a cow-patty hitting a wooden wall.) Then, a fruckus breaks out from the group near the house, with hens running & squawking bloody murder!. I go running over to that space (thinking the neighbor's dog was out & chasing them.) Nooooo, as I arrive (out of breath) a 'chicken'; flushes from the dense yew shrub against the house - I look down under the shrub, and there is a hen 'dust-bathing'. I look back in the direction the flushed 'hen' went and see our resident hawk sitting on a limb not 30 feet from me. I ran at ?her? yelling & waving my arms and she took off.

Back to the hen under the shrub..I could see blood dripping from her mouth, but she was clearly frightened and wouldn't let me near her. Finally got hubby to help and caught her. After cleaning her up, it appears this is her damage:
Scraped/abrasion on skin @ base of left side of beak and just below eye - minor. Blood from inside the mouth leaking out both sides of beak and dripping from cheek puffs appeared to be from a talon piercing the right 'cheek' through into the mouth, and she has an abrasion/cut around her right nare. After cleaning her up best I could and applying triple antibiotic ointment to exterior, she seemed okay but still quite frightened (she was anything but cooperative!). She will be fine if she doesn't get an infection. I am concerned about the inside of her mouth getting infected...but outside has been flushed well & again, anti-biotic cream....

Didn't have camera with me then, but older, poor pick of hawks (I am pretty sure they are Cooper's)
View attachment 2985772
My Americauna hen, after clean-up: (it was still bleeding slightly)
View attachment 2985776View attachment 2985777View attachment 2985778View attachment 2985780

She was anything but impressed with my efforts!

 

[ChicoryBlue]

Hi everyone. I hope all is going well. It was a terrific day with the girls. You know what? I think the veggies I’m grating for them might be making them healthier. That combined with the spring-like weather we are having (drought in California is returning to scary levels after a completely dry January). Today there were two eggs. The youngins seem to be coming back into lay. The almost 5+ year olds? Not so much.

In other news… we might have a place to move to!!! The best part? The owner who lives next door is excited for chickens and tomatoes!!! I think it’s going to be OK. It’s only 7 minutes away from here and we’ll still have a bedroom for my son to come home to from college. We’ll be paying 32% more in rent (ouch) for a slightly smaller place, but we’ll just have to not be so spendy on other things. And my chickens will be welcome. I’m actually kind of excited.

Yay for you all! Looks like it's going to work out, I'm glad!

 

[bgmathteach]

These are for @RoyalChick :

The first 2 are my black sex-link ( [Edited]BR dad mom and not sure of mom Dad)
These next 2 are of her 'twin' Raven, Part Marans & part Lavender Orpington (my neighbor's fertile egg, so not related!)

Raven's has the big, gorgeous brown eyes, and a slight flop to the back of her comb, otherwise they look identical! However, Raven will follow me everywhere - especially into the barn where there might be treats. You can see in the last picture that she hopped up next to the metal feed can while I was replenishing their feeders.

 

[RoyalChick]

Hawk Attack
As most of you know, I have a lot of chickens. I am out with them when free ranging, but it is impossible to be 'near' them all as each group tends to go to a different spot.

So, I was hanging around with the group that is in the most unprotected area...when I hear a "Whummmp" (Sounded like a cow-patty hitting a wooden wall.) Then, a fruckus breaks out from the group near the house, with hens running & squawking bloody murder!. I go running over to that space (thinking the neighbor's dog was out & chasing them.) Nooooo, as I arrive (out of breath) a 'chicken'; flushes from the dense yew shrub against the house - I look down under the shrub, and there is a hen 'dust-bathing'. I look back in the direction the flushed 'hen' went and see our resident hawk sitting on a limb not 30 feet from me. I ran at ?her? yelling & waving my arms and she took off.

Back to the hen under the shrub..I could see blood dripping from her mouth, but she was clearly frightened and wouldn't let me near her. Finally got hubby to help and caught her. After cleaning her up, it appears this is her damage:
Scraped/abrasion on skin @ base of left side of beak and just below eye - minor. Blood from inside the mouth leaking out both sides of beak and dripping from cheek puffs appeared to be from a talon piercing the right 'cheek' through into the mouth, and she has an abrasion/cut around her right nare. After cleaning her up best I could and applying triple antibiotic ointment to exterior, she seemed okay but still quite frightened (she was anything but cooperative!). She will be fine if she doesn't get an infection. I am concerned about the inside of her mouth getting infected...but outside has been flushed well & again, anti-biotic cream....

Didn't have camera with me then, but older, poor pick of hawks (I am pretty sure they are Cooper's)
View attachment 2985772
My Americauna hen, after clean-up: (it was still bleeding slightly)
View attachment 2985776View attachment 2985777View attachment 2985778View attachment 2985780

Phew - narrow escape! Looks like she will be OK. She is a fine looking lady.

 

[RoyalChick]

These are for @RoyalChick :View attachment 2985790View attachment 2985791
The first 2 are my black sex-link ( BR dad and not sure of mom)
These next 2 are of her 'twin' Raven, Part Marans & part Lavender Orpington (my neighbor's fertile egg, so not related!)

View attachment 2985792View attachment 2985793
Raven's has the big, gorgeous brown eyes, and a slight flop to the back of her comb, otherwise they look identical! However, Raven will follow me everywhere - especially into the barn where there might be treats. You can see in the last picture that she hopped up next to the metal feed can while I was replenishing their feeders.

Lovely. You can always cheer me up with a black chicken.
Is a black sex-link a high production kind of chicken? Probably right?