Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[featherhead007]

Can I conclude that Fluffy attached Marty's butt? Chickens can do some serious Kungfu moves.

KungFu? No, Jin Fowl moves! Thank you!

 

[bgmathteach]

I failed at the first hurdle.
I blocked off the ground level nest boxes which is where Maggie has been going. I was optimistic she would roost with everyone else if she couldn't get in there because she was quite active all day and had eaten a good load of corn before bed, and was generally behaving like a very slightly slower version of herself.

But never underestimate a chicken's ability to mess with your plans. When she couldn't get in to the ground floor she tried for the upper deck. She bounced up on the tree stump with no issue, but she failed the second leap up to the nest boxes and fell to the floor.
So of course I felt terrible and rushed to open up the lower box for her. So once again she is going to be soaking her butt in icky liquid poo all night.


I don't know if she is going into the nest box for warmth (logical but odd as it was 70F degrees today and hasn't been below the high 40s any night this week). Or whether she wants to sit rather than roost. If the latter then my Plan B will also fail. Plan B is to construct a tiny roost inside the nest box so I can elevate her butt so she doesn't bathe in all the ick.

Of course I am also worried about why she failed to get up to the upper nest box. It is a big leap, though roughly the same as the tree stump that she managed just fine. I think she doesn't have any flight feathers - but does she need that for jumping? Or is she really weak? Could molting make her really weak?

So many questions. Sorry. Just worried about my beloved Maggie.

They almost always use their wings some when they jump...unless it is a teeny tiny jump, which, if i remember correctly, it isn't. Even if they don't flap them a lot, they do also use them for balance when jumping
I think the small roost in the nest box is a good idea. She may want the nest box to be away from the others. My Rosie always - despite being top hen - 'hid out' when she was molting. She didn't like to have the others bump against her. And, Maggie is sort of a ?loner/introvert? not right wording - but fine with solo strolls and such, doesn't seem to NEED to be around others all the time. ( as well as being a very opinionated woman! )

 

[BY Bob]

Always chicken drama, isn't there. Why did Mr. Pompei not intervene?

Because he should not unless someone is actually being injured. He needs to court and protect them all. A rooster will generally stay out of hen disagreements.

 

[BY Bob]

I remember that. So disturbing.

It was very hard to stand by and let it happen without sticking my nose in. Very hard.

 

[BY Bob]

I took up Irish dancing in my 30s and really enjoyed it (apart from when I kicked myself in the ankle with my hard-shoes! ) I’m sad I can’t do it now because I’ve got limited mobility in my knees.

Riverdance tax:
View attachment 3292445

Any chance there is video of you river dancing? Please.....

Dance tax

 

[BY Bob]

THANK YOU FOR THE LAUGH!!!

The visual on that had me burst out laughing - scared my cat

Poor Dr Zoidberg. He just wanted to sniff her.

 

[BY Bob]

You are reading my mind.
I will leave it to daylight now as she has settled in.
I was thinking a 4x4 or maybe build up the front half of the nest box with bricks (covered in a layer of wood shavings of course) so she doesn't have to actually roost in case she prefers to sit for some reason. Either way she can then poop off from a higher point.

I would not use bricks as they can be quite chilly and sap the heat from her. A small wood box would be better.

 

[BY Bob]

She is a total Diva, and has my husband wrapped around her paw. Which is hilarious since he claims to hate cats. When she jumps on the foot of his recliner he moves his legs to make room without even noticing.

He found her at about six weeks old crossing seven lanes of traffic on a hot July day in Texas. He stopped to rescue her because he doesn’t like seeing anything die that way. He couldn’t find her at first because she ran under his service van and crawled in the spare tire. She rode on his chest purring all the way to the house, never even once tried to scratch him. That was six years ago.

The day he found her
View attachment 3292550

Showing off her ear tufts
View attachment 3292551

She is a real beauty. How wonderful that you all found each other.

 

[RoyalChick]

I would not use bricks as they can be quite chilly and sap the heat from her. A small wood box would be better.

Or they could be toasty warm if I put them in the oven first! They retain heat for a really long time.
Yes, I was seriously thinking about doing that. I need to do some baking anyway. Hmmm.

 

[BY Bob]

They almost always use their wings some when they jump...unless it is a teeny tiny jump, which, if i remember correctly, it isn't. Even if they don't flap them a lot, they do also use them for balance when jumping
I think the small roost in the nest box is a good idea. She may want the nest box to be away from the others. My Rosie always - despite being top hen - 'hid out' when she was molting. She didn't like to have the others bump against her. And, Maggie is sort of a ?loner/introvert? not right wording - but fine with solo strolls and such, doesn't seem to NEED to be around others all the time. ( as well as being a very opinionated woman! )

Hattie spent all of the early part of her molt this year alone. She would eat and then off to Hattie House and lay in the dirt. She did almost no scratching or socializing unless someone came to see her.

Once she had the majority of her new feathers in she started to be more active and hung out with the others again.