Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[featherhead007]

Oh dear, I sure hope she is ok. How old is she?

She’s my oldest hen around six+ years old. And she’s my lovely lady.

 

[featherhead007]

It’s a bright sunny day and I won’t have her in the house for long. She hears Jaffar crowing for her.

 

[Kris5902]

All the time spent the last 8 weeks with Ezzie and her sisters is really paying off. It is more apparent now when they are allowed outside the coop for supervised free range time. They were frightened by a blue jay this morning. Instead of scattering and running everywhere, they ran/flew straight to me and ended up around my feet and on my head or lap. I'm also teaching them when I call for them and if they come they get a treat. Right now they love honey nut cheerio's. Having them come to me makes it easier to herd them back into the coop when their play time is up. If that recall only worked when they had something in their little beaks they want. This morning Ezzie found a rusted staple and the chase was on. I got it, but it took a while.

They are excellent at helping clean up the yard… if it’s toxic, dangerous, or could result in hardware disease they will find it!

 

[Sally PB]

My roo, Darl, died last night. I found him on the floor of the coop this morning. His comb was a bit purple-ish, so maybe he had a heart attack...? He head was at an odd angle, and it could be the he broke his neck when he fell off the roost.

He was a bit of a butthead to me; that was his nickname a lot of the time. But he was good with the girls. They are very subdued today. I took them bread for their snack this afternoon. They get that only very rarely, but I figured today the nutrition rules weren't important.

 

[Kris5902]

Hahaha they better not! I am planning a trip to France now! Need some Marans!

I would worry about the X-rays and airport security… I know you’re supposed to avoid them while pregnant, could an X-ray harm an egg?

 

[Kris5902]

@RebeccaBoyd you wouldn't be able to keep those healthy with restricted feed. Not long term. I raised them once...restricted access to feed for 12 hours a day from day 4 on. (I realize, that isn't strict feed control...but more than what is recommended for ones so young) and they were too heavy to act like chickens by 6-7 weeks of age. I will never raise them again. It was best you left them - they would have only brought you heartache...especially since they are quite docile, and you would have fallen in love. I call them Frankenchickens. It's shameful what we have done to them with breeding. Sometimes I'm very sad to say I'm a human.

100 percent couldn’t agree with this statement anymore. I had four, Goose, Gobbler, Shanti, and I don’t think I named the second to last. I kept them on strict diets, with high activity levels. They were the most active and chicken like if the 20 the other person ordered. Even with segregation, careful management, they didn’t live two years. I believe Shanti the tiny runt was 19 months or so when I had to cull her, Her remaining sibling died of a heart attack and she just never bonded to another chicken. She was so depressed and straining physically. I only took them on as I needed to attempt to breed some size/meat characteristics into my flock. I’m hoping for a moderate production home bred meat chicken. But I didn’t have any female Rangers, but for two that weren’t very healthy, in my own order. I’m a little worried about this years ranger meat chick order because it’s from the same local hatchery as that first one and they grew faster and larger than the CX from them did. I’ve much preferred the other hatcheries but as another farmer is doing the order I don’t have much choice in this batch…

 

[Kris5902]

I knew I could not do it. I do not know what is recommended for a restricted diet, but I thought of it this way. From the time they get off the roost until they get back on, if they are not laying or dust bathing mine are eating. They work for their food, will forage and dig for stuff and ignore the feeder's most times, but they are still eating. I would feel guilty of intentionally starving them, which I would never do to a animal to try to extend their lives. They have a purpose, I don't agree with how they were created and bred to serve that purpose, and I will never bash someone raising them to feed their family. There may come a day when I will have to start raising chickens for meat for my family, but it is not yet. For now they are pets and egg layers. I remember when I was little my grandparents raised everything, and told me to not make pets out of the livestock as they would eventually be food. I still did, cried many times when the day came. I also know that until that day came they were treated very well and had good lives. The way the economy is going, and inflation my area could see that time coming again very soon.

I still name and love the meat animals, except for the sheep… I’m not really a fan of sheep, but I also haven’t had much chance to work with them. Treat them the same as pets even if they are going to freezer camp… they deserve good lives. I would rather have a relationship with my food. I don’t think I could eat Arduinna, but Jimmy would have ended up in the freezer if I hadn’t needed him for breeding/goat friend to get Arduinna out of the trailer. And his last family loved him dearly, despite the hormones and the stink. every being deserves love and respect and to be treated with kindness. Even if they are meant to be eaten. But dear me the breeding and genetics of those poor meat production chickens… it breaks my heart as well. They should be banned and we should all have to wait an extra 4 weeks to grow out a slightly smaller bird, that is a real chicken, and pay more for it. I hate cheap meat. It didn’t get a good life, and that makes us further value the animals lives less.

 

[Kris5902]

My roo, Darl, died last night. I found him on the floor of the coop this morning. His comb was a bit purple-ish, so maybe he had a heart attack...? He head was at an odd angle, and it could be the he broke his neck when he fell off the roost.

He was a bit of a butthead to me; that was his nickname a lot of the time. But he was good with the girls. They are very subdued today. I took them bread for their snack this afternoon. They get that only very rarely, but I figured today the nutrition rules weren't important.

So sorry for your loss, do you have a junior Rooster to hopefully step up into his role? Losing a top rooster really messes with the tribe dynamics.

 

[Sally PB]

So sorry for your loss, do you have a junior Rooster to hopefully step up into his role? Losing a top rooster really messes with the tribe dynamics.

Nope, he was the only guy here. I have three 2yo hens and three 10-month old pullets. I don't plan to add to the flock this year, but hope to next year.

 

[ChicoryBlue]

My roo, Darl, died last night. I found him on the floor of the coop this morning. His comb was a bit purple-ish, so maybe he had a heart attack...? He head was at an odd angle, and it could be the he broke his neck when he fell off the roost.

He was a bit of a butthead to me; that was his nickname a lot of the time. But he was good with the girls. They are very subdued today. I took them bread for their snack this afternoon. They get that only very rarely, but I figured today the nutrition rules weren't important.

Very sorry for the loss of your roo, a part of your chicken family.