Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Grandma The Chicken]

I loved your commentary it was very funny

And Grandma is a hoot! Love how she is so quiet and sits enjoying herself knitting and working on a puzzle

Tony and Parmesan are lovely - don’t worry about her tail feathers, I have 4 that are molting and have lost their tail feathers!!

I would submit Grandma knitting to the POW

Good idea. I'm on board with that idea.
There is one thing that Grandma is having issues with: her breathing. If you hold Grandma for a few seconds, you'll hear very loud breathing but mostly wheezing that sounds a bit like my dad's old Sprinter van and our old Subaru Outback but that's besides the point. I heard that cinnamon is good for chickens, especially those with heavy breathing. My mom is on board with that but my dad finds it ridiculous.

 

[bgmathteach]

Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas - I have been following along but haven't had time to post. Been a bit nuts here - I have a burst pipe in the ceiling from the cold so am kinda camping in my own home and trying to dry stuff out.
Hoping I can get a plumber here in the next day or so, but they are so busy it is hard. I guess my pipes are not the only ones that succumbed to the cold!

@RoyalChick , I hope you now have water (and heat, if indeed it was the heater pipe!)

It is no fun at all 'drying out' from a burst pipe, nor losing access to water - especially this time of year when you can't easily scoop some from a stream or something for at least flushing!

Hope you are somewhat back to normal (I know, won't all be back to normal without a fair amount of work - but hope no gaping holes and everything is at least working again!)

 

[ChicoryBlue]

Oh that makes sense. Someone grabbed the back of his comb. That does make more sense than frostbite in that position.
Daily photos so we can see how it develops!

But I also saw that white raised edge you mention. If that's frostbite that's a very strange place for the white edge to be. If it's a part of a wound, like the edge of a slice that's getting no blood, that might make sense. This part puzzles me.

Ask Aurora

This week's question comes from Muffless in Massachusetts.
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She asks........

Dear Aurora,

You have such legendary beard and muffs. How do I get them? People say ‘drink coffee, it puts hair on your chest”. Is there something I can eat or drink to grow myself a stylish beard & muffs?

Signed,

Muffless in Massachusetts



Dear Muffless,

You are of course correct. I have splendid beard and muffs. I have spent a lot of time growing and grooming them to be the truly spectacular display you see today.

View attachment 3360488

How can you grow them if you don’t already have them is quite a conundrum. But of course, I understand why you want such luscious facial feathers. What is a chicken that is not blessed with superior genetics like me to do? Time for some research. I grabbed my trusty bearded sidekick and we set off to solve the mystery.

View attachment 3360489

We asked every chicken we could find, performed exhaustive research on both Beakbook and the internet. These are all the things we could find that will supposedly put “Feathers on your Face”.

• Black Coffee
• Tabasco Sauce (or Anything Spicy)
• Bread Crust
• Hard Work Scratching and Digging
• Wheaties
• Whisky
• Spinach
• Horseradish Sauce
• Worcestershire Sauce
• Buttermilk
• Responsibility

There seem to be 2 categories of ways to get “Feathers on your Face”, eating certain foods and Working Hard. First, let’s look at all of those things you can eat to achieve a thick gorgeous set of facial feathers. We can rule out some of these immediately:

• Bread Crust
• Spinach
• Wheaties

All of these have been consumed here by many birds including hundreds of songbirds. Have you ever seen a songbird with muffs and/or a beard? Crazy. This is just patently false. Busted!

View attachment 3360486View attachment 3360487

• Black Coffee
• Whisky

These two are just flat out dangerous. These myths are put out there by chickens trying to get revenge on other chickens without being hen enough to do it themselves. Both of these will kill you if consumed in any quantity. Dare we call them busted? I say so, Busted!

• Tabasco Sauce (or Anything Spicy)
• Horseradish Sauce
• Worcestershire Sauce
• Buttermilk

These are your bitter and spicey foods. I can honestly say that Betty and I love spicey food. There may actually be something to these. Of course, Sydney also eats spicey foods and she has a clean face but maybe it just doesn’t work for everyone. These may be worth giving a try.


That leaves the activity-based means of growing facial feathers. Let’s address them individually.

• Hard Work Scratching and Digging

There is one hen here who never stops moving. She is always scratching and digging. To be frank, I find her exhausting. She is even difficult to peck when needed as she moves so much. That hen is Glynda. If scratching and digging was going to grow facial feathers, Glynda would have a beard down to her knees. She definitely does not. I call this busted!

What would Glynda look like if this were true?

View attachment 3360493

Our final way to grow facial feathers

• Responsibility

I’m pretty certain this one is busted as well. I have heard of no hen who carried more weight and responsibility than the queen who was before me, Queen Lilly. Her reign was peaceful and just. Even when injured and it was hard for her to move, she still made certain we were all protected as best she could. She oversaw multiple successful tribe expansions. Yet she never grew a beard. This photo alone says Busted!

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So, my best available advice is to eat as much spicey food as possible. You will need your human’s support as it is hard to find spicey plants. Perhaps one of your roosters might know where some are. Don’t be disappointed if it doesn’t happen for you. Not everyone can be blessed with beautiful facial feathers. That does not mean you are less of a chicken. Every chicken has value and purpose no matter what they look like………..

except maybe for Phyllis…………

Although I guess her purpose could be to just annoy the crap out of me.

Yours,
Aurora

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and and and and and
But especially

 

[bgmathteach]

Wow, he really has grown up to be a stunner!

 

[knoturavggrl]

Wow, he really has grown up to be a stunner!

He is a looker, thank you I am hoping to hatch from him and Brownie when someone goes broody someday!

 

[featherhead007]

Jaffar was the last one out of the coop this morning, and he was the last one out in the yard, when I went to lock up. So naturally he needs a talking to about his conduct. After some consideration, he’s inside with me, and we will be in conversation.

 

[bgmathteach]

My experience with Dotty and previously Maggie with frostbite is that I first noticed paleness and slight swelling. Then it went black.
My experience of sudden black spots over night was tiny blood spots from pecks from other chickens. I was way more upset than the chicken who got pecked.
I will look through my photos - pretty much every chicken I have had has had tiny black spots on comb and/or wattles from their sisters.
Here we go. Another Dotty photo showing the very early pale tips to her comb and two black spots further in and closer to her head. The black spots are just little pecks. Likely from Maggie.

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What a lovely photo of Dear Dotty (pecking rascal that she was, she was still quite beautiful!)

 

[featherhead007]

Jaffar was the last one out of the coop this morning, and he was the last one out in the yard, when I went to lock up. So naturally he needs a talking to about his conduct. After some consideration, he’s inside with me, and we will be in conversation.

Does he look convinced that I’m serious?

 

[bgmathteach]

That’s great information! Thanks for sharing! I only have the one hen with a comb and wattles (Sophia), might have rethink my adoration or wattles and combs

So what about wattles? Has anyone had issues with wattles getting frosted?

I have, from a rooster drinking from the duck water in the winter. He has a line of frost bitten comb down the front where the water dripped as he drank - on both wattles. When it happened, I didn't know whether to curse him out or cry. Silly boy - the chicken drinker was only 2 feet away!

His wattles healed. They look fine now, but they have a slight 'puckering/gathering' along the front of each comb. giving them an ever so lightly dished shape - otherwise, perfectly fine. Seemed to suffer no ill effects from it in the heat this summer.

 

[featherhead007]

I have, from a rooster drinking from the duck water in the winter. He has a line of frost bitten comb down the front where the water dripped as he drank - on both wattles. When it happened, I didn't know whether to curse him out or cry. Silly boy - the chicken drinker was only 2 feet away!

His wattles healed. They look fine now, but they have a slight 'puckering/gathering' along the front of each comb. giving them an ever so lightly dished shape - otherwise, perfectly fine. Seemed to suffer no ill effects from it in the heat this summer.

Is there much damage to his comb or waddles? I’ve never seen frostbite on a chook before.