Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Ponypoor]

I’m so happy he came through for you, Mich! Takes a bit of stress off your plate and it might be fun doing it together

Wonderful such a lovely hubby make sure he gets extra hugs and kisses

 

[Scrambles83]

I have been discouraging the cockatoos because they are being destructive (as @Ribh predicted) and tearing fly screens and wood trim off the house.
When I went out to shoo them away I noticed that we had another visitor.
View attachment 2990311

I didn't want to feed the cockies but I'd like to encourage the Rainbow Lorikeet (They don't eat houses do they Ribh?) So I held my hand up and..
View attachment 2990312

He is much smaller than a Sulphur Crested Cockatoo and will eat from my hand.

Hahaha, I just posted about having a bunch at my place! Your one is a little more trusting than the flock feasting in my apples they are just beautiful though

 

[Scrambles83]

Phyllis Lay's her egg early today

I woke up to Phyllis on the nest. She actually laid her egg while I was watching but I was not expecting that and was not recording. Betty was hanging out with her the whole time. There was not much in the way of conversation though. View attachment 2990438

When finished she proceeded to snack and then tell the whole world what she had done!

Awww, Betty was her support partner that’s so cute, I miss Belle doing that with Snow.

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

Lilly is back home tonight

I felt it best to put that right out there. Now I will endeavor to explain what the visit to the vet revealed, did not reveal, and what action was taken.

Revealed

1. Lilly has lost muscle mass. Her keel bone is significantly more prominent than it was back in November. The doctor noticed it immediately. At the time of the initial exam the thought was that this indicated even more fluid weight.
2. Lilly's liver is enlarged.
3. Lilly has a temperature of 108F (42C). This a degree higher than the vet would prefer.
4. X-rays revealed no eggs in the works, no crazy calcium deposits, nothing significant in the reproductive tract at all. (I was not surprised by this at all. My hope is that she really is done laying eggs forever.)
5. X-rays reveled some fluid build up but not enough to explain the weight gain and distension of her abdomen.
6. X-rays show a noticeable loss of calcium from her bones. (Can elderly chickens have osteoporosis?)

Not Revealed

1. The vet was not able to withdraw any fluid for analysis. This shocked us both.
2. The x-rays did not reveal any easily identifiable mass in her abdomen. However, apparently chicken x-rays are difficult to read for masses. She would need to send the x-rays to a chicken radiologist to be certain that she was not missing something.
3. No single easily identifiable cause for her symptoms was uncovered.

Action Taken

1. Lilly came home. With no solid prognosis at this time there was no way I was taking any other action but bring her home at this time.
2. The vet and I agreed that there has to be some kind of an infectious process going on. Therefore she got a dose of Doxycycline. I say a dose but it is a 7 day course of time release antibiotic in one shot. The perfect method to give a chicken an antibiotic. She remembered me saying how difficult twice a day was with Sansa and went and got this newer method of treatment for her chicken patients.
3. A comprehensive battery of blood tests were sent out. They could be back as soon as tomorrow and she will call as soon as they are back.
4. We held off sending the x-rays to the chicken radiologist until the lab work is back.

So no definitive answers at this point. Lilly is back with the tribe. Hattie too. I spent quite a bit of time with Lilly sitting in my lap at the vet's. It was fun to hear her and Hattie talk to each other as Hattie scratched in the carrier while Lilly sat in my lap.

The Queen is still with us. Long may she reign.

To be realistic, I still expect the final verdict to be bad news. For now there is hope and I will give her that chance until I KNOW otherwise or she has demonstrated that she is no longer interested in carrying on.

@Ribh @MaryJanet @Aussie-Chookmum @LozzyR @micstrachan @ChicoryBlue @Shadrach

At least the vet was able to rule out a couple of things. As they say no news is good news.

I hope Lilly picks up with the antibiotics. May the other test results reveal something treatable.

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

i heard there was a vampire finch , it eats animal blood. like kills animals, looks horrific and is horrific

(and they live 20 years old in the wild) no thanks!

also, wouldnt look it up unless you want some gorey images.

rainbow lorikeet is cute though! Sorry for the dark turn

Please take note that the Vampire Finch is not an Australian bird!

 

[Ponypoor]

All this talk of diet has me thinking of poultry and their requirements - outside that which commercial growers dictate. As I am sure most research has been done for fast growing meat birds or heavy laying hens.

I would say in the real world feral chooks are going to eat whatever they can find, bugs, fallen fruit, small reptiles (thank you fluffy for eating that snake!), Small mammals (was that mouse tasty Pangoo?), Etc.

The one thing I noted with my cousin's hens when they arrived at my place they were very heavy, now they have skimmed down and I think exercise is the big thing, along with the frigid temps here, I am not so worried about their scratch grain and left overs I throw to them. I am betting that there extra calories help with the cold weather and of course all the roaming, jumping and flying about in the barn helps.

Bob and I have similar climates so I think extra calories in treats and scratch might be mitigated by the calories burnt staying warm... Just a thought.

 

[MaryJanet]

MJ, do you also ration the pellets or is it available free free choice all the time? I am trying to remember NOT to top off the feed dishes a couple mornings a week so they get a little hungry and gave to dig around to find the spilled feed. But mostly it’s available free choice at all times (outside the coop).

I have been giving lots of produce (some combination of carrot, kale, cabbage, zucchini, apple, broccoli, blueberries, or tomato along with wheat berries sprouted for four days) so could be overdoing it. I scatter it all around the run each day, and it’s fun to watch them forage around the run, being active first thing in the morning. I feel chickens who are confined to a run or even a back yard would fare better on produce than high-calorie, high-carb, and/or high-fat treats, and I’m trying to offer variety. It seems I can see mine getting more active. Now, I don’t know if this is because of their diet, days getting longer, or something else, but I can see it.

Then there’s the whole calcium issue. Calcium biochemistry is delicate, and I am far from an expert on it. I do wonder if calcium from calcium-rich foods might be more readily metabolized than straight calcium supplements in chickens. In addition to free choice oyster shell, I’ve been offering a dairy treat (lowfat greek yogurt mixed with lowfat cottage cheese) a couple times a week. My hope is it is a good animal protein and calcium boost. I just hope lowfat is healthful enough for my little fatties.

I love the idea of a high protein pellet, but have had a few soft shell issues despite constant access to oyster shell, so I’ve been feeding mostly layer. This concerns me for my non-layers, but so far in my flock laying issues have been the top killers, so I’m sticking with it for now. It’s only 17% protein, so I sometimes mix it with 22% protein starter/grower.

I don’t know if my current feeding practices will have good or bad long term effects, but the birds seem healthy and happy, and like I said before, seem to be slimming down. My undertanding is heat and laying hormones can both be factors in fatty liver disease, so I’m hoping to get them in top shape before summer.

My point of this rambling post is that dietary changes can be transformative and just a reminder that I have first hand knowledge of excess body fat killing chickens. So here it is: Bob, I know it’s so cute that your girls love their pasta, cracked corn and meal worms, but I fear it might be killing them. It stings a bit to say that to such a loving, caring chicken care taker as you, but as your friend, I must. Please forgive me. I don’t claim to have the answers, but I hope you will fully evaluate the diet of your flock and consider some tweaks.

I wasn't very detailed in my earlier post. I'll close that gap now.

Some time ago (it feels like 18 months) the vet took a look at Peggy's liver (as in surgically - he opened her and looked at her liver) and made a confirmed diagnosis of hepatic lipidosis, noting her liver had fractured and she had internal bleeding.

It was my fault for giving too many treats because the hens loved treats and I loved seeing them excited for meal worms or bread crusts or whatever.

Back then, they were on a 17% protein blend for layers, made up of "mash" (shaped like a crumble but with nutrients for layers) and grains. Perhaps Peggy was selectively eating her favourite grains and ignoring the mash.

The vet said

• High protein pellets 24/7
• Foraging
• Cottage cheese
• DMG
• Milk thistle
• Biotin
• Choline
• Almost no treats
• If I must give a treat, it had to be fresh food like lettuce, carrot, apple, tomato etc

I feed the four supplements mixed into a nightly mash (ie pellets softened with water). I give it in four bowls, one per hen, with maybe a quarter to a half teaspoon of cottage cheese on top. They come running and the bowls are usually empty by roosting time.

Peggy has thrived. They all have.

Until she sat for four weeks recently. While she was sitting she did not get the evening dinner. She ate regularly and maintained good habits, but she was zoned out at dinner time and I didn't want to mess with her body clock by getting her up again. Her poops went black. I presume her liver bled again. She's ok again now that she's been back on the regular diet for a few weeks.

Mainly for this reason, I won't let her sit in future. (But also she killed the chick and now I don't trust her with hatchlings.)

That's the full story of Peggy's liver.

For your hens, I think what you're doing sounds good. But I would be tempted to let them fill up on chicken food whenever they wanted to and I would keep the chop to a minimum.

Would it be possible for your new coop to have two apartments? One apartment for the retirees and their diet, the other apartment for the layers and their diet? Still the same flock while foraging around the garden, but living as next door neighbours in the coop. Friendships would stay strong but there might be fewer scuffles at roosting and better dietary outcomes.

(And I share your fears about corn, mealworms and pasta, your friendship for Bob, and your pain in bringing up these thoughts )

 

[RoyalChick]

MJ, do you also ration the pellets or is it available free free choice all the time? I am trying to remember NOT to top off the feed dishes a couple mornings a week so they get a little hungry and gave to dig around to find the spilled feed. But mostly it’s available free choice at all times (outside the coop).

I have been giving lots of produce (some combination of carrot, kale, cabbage, zucchini, apple, broccoli, blueberries, or tomato along with wheat berries sprouted for four days) so could be overdoing it. I scatter it all around the run each day, and it’s fun to watch them forage around the run, being active first thing in the morning. I feel chickens who are confined to a run or even a back yard would fare better on produce than high-calorie, high-carb, and/or high-fat treats, and I’m trying to offer variety. It seems I can see mine getting more active. Now, I don’t know if this is because of their diet, days getting longer, or something else, but I can see it.

Then there’s the whole calcium issue. Calcium biochemistry is delicate, and I am far from an expert on it. I do wonder if calcium from calcium-rich foods might be more readily metabolized than straight calcium supplements in chickens. In addition to free choice oyster shell, I’ve been offering a dairy treat (lowfat greek yogurt mixed with lowfat cottage cheese) a couple times a week. My hope is it is a good animal protein and calcium boost. I just hope lowfat is healthful enough for my little fatties.

I love the idea of a high protein pellet, but have had a few soft shell issues despite constant access to oyster shell, so I’ve been feeding mostly layer. This concerns me for my non-layers, but so far in my flock laying issues have been the top killers, so I’m sticking with it for now. It’s only 17% protein, so I sometimes mix it with 22% protein starter/grower.

I don’t know if my current feeding practices will have good or bad long term effects, but the birds seem healthy and happy, and like I said before, seem to be slimming down. My undertanding is heat and laying hormones can both be factors in fatty liver disease, so I’m hoping to get them in top shape before summer.

My point of this rambling post is that dietary changes can be transformative and just a reminder that I have first hand knowledge of excess body fat killing chickens. So here it is: Bob, I know it’s so cute that your girls love their pasta, cracked corn and meal worms, but I fear it might be killing them. It stings a bit to say that to such a loving, caring chicken care taker as you, but as your friend, I must. Please forgive me. I don’t claim to have the answers, but I hope you will fully evaluate the diet of your flock and consider some tweaks.

Don’t forget she is six years old so her diet hasn’t been killing her very fast.

 

[MaryJanet]

Don’t forget she is six years old so her diet hasn’t been killing her very fast.

Good point.

 

[MaryJanet]

I’m desperately catching up, only 100 pages behind now
Update from me…
Snow had one tail feather left first thing this morning, now she’s like a fluffy beachball
View attachment 2996413View attachment 2996414

The other issue I have had the past few days is these cuties
View attachment 2996415

I have about 20 come daily to feast on my apples on the trees (it’s our almond tree they are perched on in the photo, they didn't what I was up to so they got up high!)
I had to make the choice: beautiful wildlife in my suburban backyard or my apples.
I chose the wildlife, they can have as much fruit as they desire. They are simply gorgeous to watch and they knock apples onto the ground for the chooks so everyone wins I guess

Hey, I see Belle is up and about! Did you encourage her to stop sitting or did she give up of her own accord?