Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[bgmathteach]

They're all for a friend whose husband had a stroke and are having a hard time. They will eat 1 or 2 roosters and sell the remainder to make ends meet. It helps them and we get our chick fix without increasing our flock size.

That is so sweet/kind of you! Not only do you get your chick fix, but us too! (when you share the pics)

 

[Ponypoor]

They're all for a friend whose husband had a stroke and are having a hard time. They will eat 1 or 2 roosters and sell the remainder to make ends meet. It helps them and we get our chick fix without increasing our flock size.

You're a wonderful friend

I live vicariously through you guys with the chicks, and to know it's also helping someone is just wonderful

 

[Ponypoor]

My eggs are halfway through incubation and last night I informed grandma I wanted to show her something. I inadvertently had her in tears when I showed her the little ones dancing in their shells. She really cannot wait until they begin hatching.

Oh so wonderful, thanks all for the heartfelt stories, you have all made my day!

 

[Ponypoor]

I would keep it for certain. Mine grew out of a stick like that.

They need a lot of water. I started watering mine and that's when it finally took off.

No shortage of water here ever! The water table is about 18" from the surface at the height of summer, our basement sump is normally going everyday. It great for keeping the well full of water, not so great for accessing the barn in the barn in the Spring!

Looks like a warm up for the next few days then way below norm again, sure hope this weather gets better soon

 

[GregnLety]

Our naked necks are getting big. I think we got lucky with having a hen and rooster.

 

[ChicoryBlue]

It's Sunday and Pony Pics Day (?) Has everyone seen the story about the goat that is friends with the horse in British Columbia and rides on top? For Mrs @BY Bob and @Kris5902 especially...Here's one story about them. I also read elsewhere the goat may be able to direct the horse where it wants to go. Also that the goat tried another horse on the farm but that horse wasn't having any of it!

 

[rural mouse]

Wow that's wonderful!

Need pics of those babies

Hard to come by. VERY hard to spot, even with parents there. The zoom on that pic is about the best I'm going to be able to get. I'll try though, provided they cooperate and nest near by.

 

[GregnLety]

Our apple trees are forming fruit now

 

[LozzyR]

Specially for @micstrachan - I have done this as a reply to my original post so the sources and my summary stay together.
A few caveats:

• I am not a vet or a poultry nutritional scientist. I do have some experience in reading scientific papers but it is all a long time ago!
• I did not pay for access to full tex t if it was not available for free (I also didn't sign up for anything in order to get access to full text). This means that in some cases I could not judge the scientific methods because only the abstracts were shared. This is important because not all methods are robust and many studies are based on quite small numbers of observations
• In reading any scientific paper on chicken health you need to look carefully at the end point measurements in terms of what they consider a good outcome. Many articles are aimed at the commercial chicken industry and so measure outcomes related to that - such as carcas weight or increased laying. Obviously I was not interested in that so I rejected a load of articles (mainly not included here) whose measurements I could not connect to health in the way we mean it for our beloved chickens

With all that said, here is some reading for anyone who wants to go down the same rabbit-hole that I did!

https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poultry/fatty-liver-hemorrhagic-syndrome/fatty-liver-hemorrhagic-syndrome-in-poultry?query=fatty liver in chickens
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032579119319856
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8378221/
https://www.dopharma.com/technical-support/fatty-liver-haemorrhagic-syndrome/ (this one is from a company selling choline supplements but it is a well written summary of FLHS and cites multiple academic sources)
http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/choline-deficiency (not really an academic source)
https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/pdf/10.4141/A06-043
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0300985813503569 (this is the California study - it is based on necropsies sent into the state system over a number of years)
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/03079457608418164?src=getftr (this is not a scientific paper but a published review - old but very helpful - it explains why higher fat and lower carbohydrate in the diet may be best for the chickens because the disease seems to be caused in part by pathology in the manufacture of lipids from carbohydrates in the liver - this is referrred to in the Merck Veterinary Manual and is what @bgmathteach spotted - higher dietary fat reduces the liver manufacturing fat)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032579119458914 (support for a diet with 4% fat)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032579119473720
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31565961/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12828209/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27143762/
https://poultry.extension.org/artic...ients-for-poultry/flax-seed-in-poultry-diets/ (this is the article that had me thinking long term use of flax seed increased FLHS - it does not cite any sources for the assertion and I have found no academic study to support it - most say flax is beneficial in reducing FLHS and some say it doesn't have any effect - shame on the USDA, university extension organization and the author!)

PHEW - that was a marathon.

And here is a small tax contribution for Bob as I may now have provided the longest post on this thread ever with no pictures!

View attachment 3057243

If there some abstracts where you would have liked to see the article, I have access to a lot of journals through a library so could see if I can access them if you like.

 

[RoyalChick]

If there some abstracts where you would have liked to see the article, I have access to a lot of journals through a library so could see if I can access them if you like.

I will remember that for future.
I think I am researched out on this. I feel I have enough of a sense to make some feed decisions. So next I am going to look at the feed labels again armed with my new knowledge.