Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[micstrachan]

A Behavioral Experiment

I just did a behavioral experiment with Hattie. I have posted before about how when I spread snacks on the deck Hattie does not participate. Instead she moves to the end of the deck extension and stands sentinel. Like in this photo.

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She did the same thing today when I spread some meal worms around for everyone. I was sitting in my chair feeling sorry for her being all serious about protecting everyone else when I got an idea.

I stood up and walked over to her.

I looked down and said to her, "It is OK Hattie. I got this."

The end result was this.

Spoiler: Safety

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@Ribh @MaryJanet @LozzyR @Aussie-Chookmum @Marie2020 @Shadrach @micstrachan @ChicoryBlue

Awwwww….

 

[micstrachan]

Mrs BY Bob has been known to sing to chicks.

Mrs. BY Bob is sooo cute!!!

 

[BY Bob]

All I can say is I. Glad I am not a hen going through that every day. I really feel for them.

A whole new respect. No wonder they sing when done!

 

[micstrachan]

Oviposition

I decided to research the study that proved the rotation of the egg and I'm glad I did. I thought that they rotated vertically, assuming there is more soft space that way than horizontally which would run into the hips. I think that is exactly what happened to @RebeccaBoyd hen today. The narrow point of the egg poked out and limited rotation of her leg, otherwise it would hurt and perhaps she even knew she might break the egg. As soon as the rotation was done she wanted it out. I'm not certain if the rotation was early or late but I'm leaning towards early as Rebccaboyd did not think egg laying was the issue initially. Therefore it could not have been that far down the tracks.


For those who have not heard of this before:
The egg rotates prior to being laid in a process called oviposition so that the large end comes out first. The oviposition, is regulated by several hormones (oxytocin, arginine-vasotocin and prostaglandines). This hormone surge causes the fully formed egg to go through a 180-degree rotation. It is this rotation that causes the egg to be pushed into the vagina. Bradfield (1951) using X-rays found that hen eggs do rotate 180° within the uterus in a horizontal plane about an hour before laying and in 9 of the 10 hens he studied eggs were laid blunt end first in a lab environment.

@bgmathteach @Ribh @LozzyR @Aussie-Chookmum @MaryJanet @Shadrach @Marie2020 @micstrachan @ChicoryBlue

Wow! Very interesting! Thank you so much!

 

[BY Bob]

Mrs. BY Bob is sooo cute!!!

Yes she is. There is one somewhere when she signs to Jabber that is super cute.

 

[micstrachan]

Yes she is. There is one somewhere when she signs to Jabber that is super cute.

Oh, you have to find that.

 

[BY Bob]

Oh, you have to find that.

I will look.

 

[ChicoryBlue]

Happy Mugs Monday from Blueberry. It also appears her frostbite incident was not severe enough that she is going to loose the tips of her comb.
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That is an outstanding picture, the colors, the swirl of her feathers, her expression! Something about it says runway too!

 

[Kris5902]

We are thinking about adding the rooster after sunset to avoid drama.

Best choice… I always try to bring in any newbies, especially Roosters after dark. I was lazy and thought I could get away with putting Dean back by having him out when I released the overall flock, the result? Sammy spent about a week in my “coop” with a black eye. So always introduce or return to the flock at night is my new motto…

 

[Kris5902]

That first boy is a real looker.

he is half Barnvelder and half Ameraucana from my friends tribe’s eggs hatched out here and raised under Sammy and Dean by his foster mama. Unlike his actual siblings he has manners nurture over nature I guess.