Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Aussie-Chookmum]

I have a sign. @Blazinga safety chicken! I still hit my head. The other day my good got hooked on the door latch for the Cluckle hut and I nearly hung myself! It's dangerous in there!View attachment 2997579

Hang it so a bit of the paper hangs down past the beam. Then you get some warning before you hit your head.

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

Are you certain. Maleficent passed a long time ago. That would have to be a ghost egg.

Whoops! Good Heavens, I meant Aurora.
Sorry Bob

 

[rural mouse]

They love going up so high but then look so awkward trying to get down, I am so paranoid of the wee silkies and old Penelope.

I want to keep the happy to get up higher but also keep them safe...

Can you do a step/platform at say the 2 foot mark so they have the option to use it?

 

[rural mouse]

Oh my. That's disappointing. I'm sorry that was the outcome.

This time of year is a bad time to be broody. It was good to find out that several were fertile. 3 of 10 isnt great...Those numbers need to go up, but she also needs to keep PITA (and others) from adding to it after she starts sitting. As young as they are, takes time to learn. I'm hoping she'll go again in may/june....but she's a bit growly so we'll have to see if she stays broody or snaps out of it.

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

I’m going to have to go out and find more chicken tact pictures now… No real estimate on the timeline for finishing due to budget issues and scavenging stuff. Depending on how quickly we can get it actually watertight my goal is to be in it before next winter. I had a budget setback of about $4000 in the form of Both of our trucks breaking down. We absolutely NEED the trucks for getting feed, supplies, groceries, and DH to work, so I bit the bullet, and pulled some cash out of the build budget.

Current goal is 100% watertight ASAP so I can get stuff out of storage. that will save us $350/month which I can then use to buy insulation, electrical bits etc. A lot of our daily operational budget disappeared when my mom was “encouraged” to move to the other side of the island into the 55+ building. She also has a new smoking neighbour buddy, so that’s jacked up the expenses there even further. “How many packs do you have left? So that’s a little More than a pack a day…” at $18/pack that’s more than the cost of feeding 100 chickens!

The biggest challenge towards this will be getting the roof on, properly… not just tarping the heck out of the attic and hoping for the best. And getting enough insulation into it and a wood stove before winter. Then we can move onto fun things like interior walls… always a nice “addition” for a bathroom! Lol and if I can get a wood stove in I can cut winter heating costs like crazy!

Your budgeting troubles remind me of a saying from "The Secret Garden"
"I've got four places to put every penny.."

I'm not sure I follow about the smoking though. Are you saying that your Mum smokes and has been smoking more since getting someone to smoke with? At first I was thinking someone was making her buy packs of cigarettes for them! I thought "That's a bit rude!"
If it makes you feel any better, I just looked up the cost of cigarettes in Australia at the moment:

"Here are the latest cigarette prices in Australia: a packet of 20 cigarettes costs $23.86. a packet of 25 cigarettes costs $29.48. a packet of 30 cigarettes costs $38.11.31 Jan 2019

Cigarette Prices in Australia in 2022"​

 

[rural mouse]

I keep mine lower, much lower… and still have issues with some of the heavier girls and Chunk (if you ever see an “i” in that name instead of the u forgive me, that’s not a word I use except very rarely in terms of log cabin building… I don’t know why my phone is so fond of it) my highest roosts are 30” off the ground if I’m not running deep bedding in there 18” on the lower ends over the bunks in the trailer. I really try to minimize flying and jumping down because of the meat bird breeding hold backs. 13lb chickens are NOT meant for flying or jumping!

Oddly, my Rusty (RIP) seemed to like flying out of the coop through the people door. Jersey giants have the weight, but not the current meat bird lineage. No idea if that factors in or not. He also jumped up to the top of the nest boxes at 5 feet routinely. And the top of the woodpile was a favored retreat.

 

[rural mouse]

Yeah

Check in daily, or you wind up 50+ pages behind and are asking yourself how did that happen?

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

@Aussie-Chookmum

Hi there

You have been a huge help too me and my girls. Would you mind taking a look at this feeding treadle please. I only need a small one but may have to get two to save fights
https://www.littlefieldsfarm.com/po..._C7ZBXrXeLFg2DZ8KQl2lC4TlU-4xJd4aArGLEALw_wcB

These look rather different to the one I have.

If it were me, I would go for the one with the large flat treadle but that depends on how much room you have and how level the ground where it will sit is.

What do other people think?

 

[rural mouse]

Yup, he's a brat. Tonight he kept attacking me so I grabbed him and chucked him out in the snow, about a foot of new snow, and it was darn cold at -11c. But he kept tripping me up.

I continued with the chores checking him a couple times. Then after about 10 min let him in, he went back to attacking me so I chucked him back out so I could get water and hay done. Otherwise I just couldn't walk without him attacking my boots tripping me up!!

I let him in again and he stopped attacking me, he was likely too cold at that point. Not sure what to do with him.

Give it time. i "walloped" a roo with the corner of my shawl to the back of his head. he quit picking at me after that. i had bigger "wings" and more buffet. it was more waterfowl type behavior, but he got the message.

 

[rural mouse]

He bites really hard and broke the skin, he is such a little so-an-so... Wish we could geld chickens!

They can be....look up Capon....of course they wind up like turkeys in size....