Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Ponypoor]

@ManueB There's been an article on British(?) houses and how they may not be ready to deal with the changing climate, did that prompt your question?

What a beautiful sheen on Theo's tail!

Our house is well insulated, we built with six-inch walls before it was in the regulations to do so, but I love the light and we also have a lot of (Low-E) windows, probably too many, there's not a lot of wall space! We heat with wood but with electric backup. Wood isn't too expensive in the rural area I live, and we buy green and DH stacks it which saves money. DH always asks for oak whenever possible and dries it for two years. If / when we get too decrepit to deal with wood the plan is to convert the stove to gas or buy a new one. Wood is now about US$750/year and our electric is maybe US$150/month, which includes the whole house (two radiant towel warmers upped it a lot but we love love love them. They heat the bathrooms to boot)

I love to sleep in the cold, as long as I have good blankets so I can adjust my warmth. It's best anywhere between 50F (10C) and 60F (15.6C). Windows open whenever possible. But I'm conditioned to it, I spent most of my youth sleeping in a large drafty uninsulated cabin in the woods from late Spring to late Fall, even during light snow, with just a stone fireplace open on two sides that really didn't do much. At best the house when all closed up in the daytime was ten degrees F warmer than the outside on a sunny day, if you really kept stoking the fireplace. Plus we went camping on occasion. There wasn't much difference except the "bed" was not as comfortable and there was dew (no tents). So I get almost claustrophobic in a too-warm sleeping situation.

I spend a lot of time outside if I can, and use different clothes for different temperatures, especially wind conditions. It's critical to be in layers as @RoyalChick said, especially to avoid any chilling from sweat when active. So when going inside and outside throughout the day, the routine is basically just stripping down or layering up. A lot of northern US households have traditionally had "winter wear" and "summer wear" and storage cabinets or cedar chests for storing different clothes. We just stuff everything in our working closets, as many things are used during the cooler summer days too anyway.

I'm not in the extreme cold like @Ponypoor now though. Wool and/or quilted cotton layers over a soft inner layer, then a hooded layer. Balaclavas for head and face, and/or headbands, sometimes caps. Eye protection most days. A hooded windbreaker if it's windy. Insulated gloves or wool mittens. I have a pair of Tough Duck leather mitten covers I love. Soft wool socks, in one or two layers, inside insulated boots. Different boots for different activities.

Made me think of an extreme picture to put in here - Here's me years ago near the very top of Whiteface Mountain in New York USA (above Lake Placid) on the icy path above the weather station, just before we turned back because it was getting too stupid dangerous to be hiking it in telemark ski boots without crampons. We had skied six miles up on the beautiful Veteran's Memorial Highway. The rock you can see is covered with glazed ice, the only place to get a grip was on the snow. It was a beautiful day and an incredible descent down the Highway on skis too! We have done this several times since then but never made it up that path again mostly because the conditions have never been as good. Snowing like crazy, howling strong wind, freezing fog making the path a giant icefall (yes, @Kris5902!).
View attachment 3340578

Weather tax. The Buckeye babies from 2020View attachment 3340580

Incredible view and lovely scenery!

Those chicks are just so darn cute! little fluff balls

 

[Ponypoor]

The car ride was fine. There were dogs everywhere when we got there. BIG dogs. Burmese for example. She was really on edge.

Awww poor gal - but it was worth it she was adorable I want to do that with my wee silkie Marty but I am afraid it would freak her out too much...

 

[Ponypoor]

Donkey Sunday View attachment 3340543
Jenny, mother, and Jerry, daughter.

Oh My Gooooooosh! hahaha so cute - I wanna donkey too! And a camel.... Oh look is that your wee black rooster running in the background donkeys and a chicken - wow tough act to follow

 

[Meri Maura]

Oh My Gooooooosh! hahaha so cute - I wanna donkey too! And a camel.... Oh look is that your wee black rooster running in the background donkeys and a chicken - wow tough act to follow

Yes that is him- I haven't come up with a name for him yet, but I don't want to copy any names from my old flock

 

[Ponypoor]

It was Caturday!

Oh brother - silly me duh hahahaha of course it was! But you always had your Hens with Santa

 

[Ponypoor]

It is good to be home. Today is sunny and calm and just above freezing so I can sit out and keep the Princesses company.
Per the winter layers discussion I really recommend silk as the first layer - it is warm and light and soft on the skin.
Diana is a mess and could do with some silk longjohns. I see new feathers at the back of her head just behind her comb but I don’t see any sign of a new tail and her body seems to be getting more naked by the day.
She is so funny - she often shakes her tail for some reason, and now without an actual tail she just shakes her whole back end!
I am filling up her feeder with 22% starter feed. I assume that is OK for an adult? She is eating fine but has a lot of feathers to grow.

View attachment 3340596View attachment 3340597View attachment 3340598View attachment 3340599

Oh so sweet seeing her sunning herself there - she looks so adorable even if she is missing a heck of a lot of feathers

 

[featherhead007]

Prrrrrr, prrrrrr, prrrrrrrrr. Seems that’s all my chooks want to say to me tonight.
All I do, is hold them softly, and pet them. They start making a prrrrr noise.
(Purring, it’s not just for kittens anymore!)

 

[Ponypoor]

Let me just say last nights hot flash was a blessing in disguise. I threw open the window and left it open. Thanks to that I was able to capture this this morning without him even knowing.

Twig says Rise and Shine.

hahaha awesome! I love when they start crowing as youngsters - he is looking very handsome!

 

[featherhead007]

“It’s my party, and I’ll purr if I want to. Purr if I want to, La la la la la!”

 

[Ponypoor]

Has anyone seen anything like this before?

This is Bernadette. She has these strange feathers. They are like long, fine, silky hairs - like an extended fluff feather but with only the shaft and a few feathery bits at the end.
This is not new - I have noticed them for a while now but hadn't got a good photo to share until today.
She is acting normally - and as you can see it is not all her fluff feathers, but it is not just a couple either.
Any ideas?
Is it worth posting on the illnesses and injuries forum? At this stage it is more a curiosity than a concern - but it would be good to know if someone else has seen it before.
WDYT?

View attachment 3340696View attachment 3340697View attachment 3340698

Yes I have seen them on my Dorothy when she moulted she dumped all her feathers but those that you see. There is a name for them and I read about them in an article (which I cant find darn it!) - but normally they are hidden under the fuzzy down and feathers - seems Bernadette is special!