Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[bgmathteach]

I will try digging around to see what I can find. @bgmathteach can you link to the article you read it in?
I probably won’t get to it until tomorrow. I am still clearing up after the shindig yesterday, and if I am completely honest I may still be just a teeny bit hungover.
I mean, I am just a little tired!
There were no fatalities from the yellow jackets but several folk (including me) got stung. One poor guy got stung three times. I felt so bad for him.

This is a link to the article.
https://grubblyfarms.com/blogs/the-flyer/what-is-bumblefoot-in-chickens-treatement

 

[RoyalChick]

Thank you. My hubby made it for me (the brooder itself). It is 4X3 feet, and expands to 4X6' this group is larger than I usually do at once...so I'm a bit nervous for when they get to around 4wks old....bigger, but not fully feathered enough to go outside in a coop & run without heat, especially this time of year.


Your's and others' comments are very reassuring. Thank you

Although, now I wonder what I'm doing wrong that I have cases of bumblefoot......

I did a little digging on the bumblefoot topic and have found nothing related to roosting as a chick. Found plenty related to chicks wanting to roost, or at least perch, as early as day two.
Mostly predisposition to it is environmental. Gravel, splinters etc.

 

[RoyalChick]

This is a link to the article.
https://grubblyfarms.com/blogs/the-flyer/what-is-bumblefoot-in-chickens-treatement

Thanks. I think it is badly written. It reads as if perching as a chick predisposes to bumblefoot later in life. But it is in a section headed ‘bumblefoot in chicks’ so I think it is talking about babies getting bumblefoot.
I didn’t see anything scientific about that, but I did see references to only letting chicks perch a few inches up for the first few days so they don’t injure their foot pads jumping down from a great height.
Do your chicks have bumblefoot?

 

[bgmathteach]

Yes, I live in northern Canada. Our climate is quite different. While many of the BYC group deal with very hot temperatures in the summer, that's not a concern for us. We do have quite harsh winter temperatures with very short daylight hours but we are used to it, so it is fine.
Weather tax:
View attachment 3256887

Be still my heart. I love full bodied chickens. What a lovely BO!!

 

[featherhead007]

I need to add this to my autobiography.
I’m very into biker chicks! But I don’t like tattoos on anyone.

 

[BY Bob]

Yes, I live in northern Canada. Our climate is quite different. While many of the BYC group deal with very hot temperatures in the summer, that's not a concern for us. We do have quite harsh winter temperatures with very short daylight hours but we are used to it, so it is fine.
Weather tax:
View attachment 3256887

What a great photo!

 

[BY Bob]

Oooo hey on that case wanna come over and help with my hay on Saturday? I got 300 in today, just need 200 more!

The chickies already christened the ones I left down to feed the horses - ewwww!

Mostly empty hay loft
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My dreaded hay elevator - very heavy hard to move and some of last years hay.
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My help for today bless them
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Loading the hay
View attachment 3256918View attachment 3256919

Looks like it went pretty well. Congrats!

 

[bgmathteach]

This is true, but thankfully we don't get long spells of -45C.

In December the sun rises after 11:00 am, but is so low in the sky that it never clears the trees on our forested property, so we don't get actual rays of sunshine until much later in the spring.

It sounds bad, but it is not. A crisp night sky filled with stars, Northern Lights, no crowds, lots of lovely snow to play in, it is really a great place to live.

Winter tax:
View attachment 3256973

I love that look! What do you mean 'No'? No one tells me 'no'.

 

[BY Bob]

I'm so sorry you and Mrs BYBob had this happen

Along with @bgmathteach suggestion of conditioning her, have you tried doing this like hairdressers do? Ask Phyllis' namesake! Hairdressers always use devices to section the hair and keep everything they aren't dealing with out of the way when they do even slightly complicated/layered cuts. This way you will be able to see her eyes, find the bases of the feathers and move higher up the shafts, and cut where you intend. Get soft cloth covered bands.
Like this, only you could do two or three tie-ups so you can at least see what you're dealing with. It's only a temporary "do"
View attachment 3256895

This is a clever idea. Maybe there is a way to use it.

 

[BY Bob]

Poor guy - as far as I could tell a couple got inside his shirt.
Looking at my leg (where I got stung) I think the one that got me actually got me twice.

I'm very sorry to hear that.