Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[BY Bob]

Maybe it's just chance but I find it odd there was Bernadette and now Gucci. Are they on medicate feed? Is there way too much medication in there these days?

Gucci could actually have hurt her leg as well. It may not be a vitamin deficiency.

 

[BY Bob]

Maybe it's just chance but I find it odd there was Bernadette and now Gucci. Are they on medicated feed? Is there way too much medication in there these days?

I do want to say how happy I am that you are caught up and observed what was happening. I really value your opinions and feel better knowing you are here.

 

[ChicoryBlue]

An Observation and an Opinion

Observation
Lady Featherington looks for a place to roost at night before cuddling. The big roost is too high and no one else is interested in doing so. Last night she tried to roost on their water dish and tonight she tried to roost on a camera.

I'm going to build them a roost and put it in the coop for them. They are not using the coop at all right now. I find that very strange. I've never had pullets not use the coop before.

Opinion
I hate the quarantine. I truly hate it. It is a huge pain in the butt going in and out of it and I cannot interact with them at all. I only saw them today to change out their water. I also feel like it delayed me picking up on things a d treating Gucci.

I hate it.

I will give it 3 weeks and they are moving to the Cluckle Hut and big run.

3 weeks.

At least a bar up on 2x4's somewhere will get them started. All the Buckeyes wanted up eventually, even on top of the heating pad, and when they had enough feathers to not get cold they stayed up on the 1x2 bars I had, going higher and higher as they got better skills managing it.

It's been noticeable and a little sad how you can't be with them that much. Is it because you have to change your clothes and shoes etc. to move in and out? The fence is cumbersome? The area too small for a chair? I sort of get it but not really. You need a hazmat suit to put on over your clothes?

 

[ChicoryBlue]

I do want to say how happy I am that you are caught up and observed what was happening. I really value your opinions and feel better knowing you are here.

I saw this oddness in her once before - but then in the next video she looked fine. I'd say whatever it is it is very early and not consistent so don't beat yourself up about it. Nobody thinks this is deadly, do they? The other two seem fine, so whatever it is they don't exhibit signs of it.

 

[bgmathteach]

I need some reassurance. Lulu is developing a comb and wattles more than Bernadette and much more than Bella who doesn’t seem to possess either.
She is more zippy than the other Hooligans but I have been putting that down to her being a Legbar - she definitely likes to fly.
She is chest bumping Bernadette but all three of them are chest bumping each other.
She is now 13 weeks old (@BY Bob I must have miscounted weeks previously - they are much older than yours).
Is there anything that says boy about Lulu?

View attachment 3166865View attachment 3166866View attachment 3166868

Nope, nothing says 'boy'. pullet hackles, pullet tail, pullet stance!

 

[BY Bob]

I saw this oddness in her once before - but then in the next video she looked fine. I'd say whatever it is it is very early and not consistent so don't beat yourself up about it. Nobody thinks this is deadly, do they? The other two seem fine, so whatever it is they don't exhibit signs of it.

It is one of the reasons I am also thinking it could be an injury. Either way treatment just makes sense.

 

[RoyalChick]

Maybe it's just chance but I find it odd there was Bernadette and now Gucci. Are they on medicated feed? Is there way too much medication in there these days?

I don't think it is about medicated feed - that is only inhibiting thiamine not B2.
I have kept researching the whole thing and also seeing a number of other possible cases here on BYC. One of the things I read suggested that vitamin B2, and possibly some of the other B complex vitamins, are one of the more common deficiencies. The reason they gave is that they are not very stable and degrade over time, in heat etc. So even if the feed is perfectly fine it may not have as much vitamin B as it should eg if it has been on the shelf a while or been in high temperatures in transit.
I have no idea if it is true and I am not sure the date on the feed my lot had early on, but it seemed a plausible underlying cause.

 

[RoyalChick]

An Observation and an Opinion

Observation
Lady Featherington looks for a place to roost at night before cuddling. The big roost is too high and no one else is interested in doing so. Last night she tried to roost on their water dish and tonight she tried to roost on a camera.

I'm going to build them a roost and put it in the coop for them. They are not using the coop at all right now. I find that very strange. I've never had pullets not use the coop before.

Opinion
I hate the quarantine. I truly hate it. It is a huge pain in the butt going in and out of it and I cannot interact with them at all. I only saw them today to change out their water. I also feel like it delayed me picking up on things and treating Gucci.

I hate it.

I will give it 3 weeks and they are moving to the Cluckle Hut and big run.

3 weeks.

Because I hate it.

I was going to ask you about quarantine. I thought you needed to quarantine in two situations: baby chicks until their Marek's vaccine has taken (that is what I had to do) and if you introduce older chickens from another flock who might bring in disease.
But your Rascals are neither of those - they will not have been with another flock at the hatchery, and presumably they were vaccinated day 1 - so weeks ago.
I may have that wrong, but that is what I understood.

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

Overnight Momma Hen went from "I will kill you if you look at my baby" to "I'm done with this thing". Last night she put Karen on the roost, stayed for a hour and then got down and roosted in her favorite place the tree. Today Karen spent most of her time by herself with Momma occasionally spending time with her. Tonight she did not even see that Karen got on the roost, she went straight for the tree. I feel bad for Karen, but I saw my opportunity.
The taming of the Karen has begun.

 

[BY Bob]

At least a bar up on 2x4's somewhere will get them started. All the Buckeyes wanted up eventually, even on top of the heating pad, and when they had enough feathers to not get cold they stayed up on the 1x2 bars I had, going higher and higher as they got better skills managing it.

It's been noticeable and a little sad how you can't be with them that much. Is it because you have to change your clothes and shoes etc. to move in and out? The fence is cumbersome? The area too small for a chair? I sort of get it but not really. You need a hazmat suit to put on over your clothes?

When i get new chickens, I love to sit in the run with them. Then I just become part of the environment. They can be chickens without being worried about me. They can come to me when curious if they want.

I cannot get in the prefab coop with them. There is no run for them and for me to just sit in. Every interaction is the big scary human coming at them. They can't choose to come to me. Frankly it's just too difficult and I can't figure out how to form a relationship with them this way.