Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[rural mouse]

Beautiful chicks. Hopefully our genetics guru's on here can comment about their head spots. I know the size and shape of the spot can indicate whether you have boys or girls.

The size can work when both parents are barred. When the mom is barred and the pop is not, the boys will hatch out barred and the girls will not. When the Pop is barred and the mom is not, all the chicks will be barred. Male birds are a ZZ chromosome while female are ZW. The barring does go closely with the Z which is why purebred males look white with black stripes while the females look black with white stripes.

 

[Ponypoor]

Also on the news here..
https://france3--regions-francetvin...l=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=fr&_x_tr_pto=wapp

I don't often buy things, so the price increases don't have a regular impact on me. The first shock I had was when we bought material for building a second coop in December. If I had realized I would just have bought a prefab however flimsy they are. Thursday I had a look at plants and saplings when we went down near Nice and I had my second shock . I think we are going to make a trip to Italy just to get plants because we won't be able to afford what we want here, even if it's slightly cheaper going further away from the coast.

We don't think of the increase in other food costs when egg prices increase.

Is it normal to sell eggs in a box of 6? Normal size here is 12 - we also have 18 packs. We do have boxes of 6 but they are not common. Except for Duck eggs - those are usually sold in a box of 6.

 

[Ponypoor]

Shoot, I just realized this didn’t post and now it’s past midnight. Let’s pretend of’s still Friday.

Happy Friday! These are photos I took after work today. I left a little early so the chickens could have a little bit of time to run around since it’s going to rain all weekend.

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very fluffy

Hope it doesn't rain too much for you.

 

[ManueB]

That is cold. Just saying. We got to about 0F and I do not need to experience that again thank you!

How are you and your chickens doing , was the night ok ? Although I suppose they are still in bed .

I have a question and I hope I'm not going to make a complete fool of myself . @ChicoryBlue is in Central New York, I thought this wasn't too far from where you live (US scale). How come there is such a difference in temps?

We don't think of the increase in other food costs when egg prices increase.

Is it normal to sell eggs in a box of 6? Normal size here is 12 - we also have 18 packs. We do have boxes of 6 but they are not common. Except for Duck eggs - those are usually sold in a box of 6.

Six is by far the most usual size but we have 4, 10, 12 and 24.
I'm not sure if we eat as much eggs as in english and derived cultures, since we never have them for breakfast.

 

[Ponypoor]

How are you and your chickens doing , was the night ok ? Although I suppose they are still in bed .

I have a question and I hope I'm not going to make a complete fool of myself . @ChicoryBlue is in Central New York, I thought this wasn't too far from where you live (US scale). How come there is such a difference in temps?

Six is by far the most usual size but we have 4, 10, 12 and 24.
I'm not sure if we eat as much eggs as in english and derived cultures, since we never have them for breakfast.

Central NY isn't that far from my home either - as the crow flies anyways. Yet we can be colder, warmer.... I think around NY and my home the Great Lakes have a lot of say in the weather.

I am hoping that the weather back there moderates fast and stays mild like it has been.

 

[Ponypoor]

@ValarieF

Just checking in to see if there is any news on those remaining eggs. What day would it be today for the eggs?

 

[ValarieF]

@ValarieF

Just checking in to see if there is any news on those remaining eggs. What day would it be today for the eggs?

Today is actually day 21 and one of the last 2 eggs has pipped.

 

[bgmathteach]

Well, my chooks survived the night - we got below -6 F and with the wind chill was -35 F. I do think there are a few that have some frosted tips of combs, but won't know for sure for a day....amazingly, given my set up and no heat/electricity out there, I am pretty happy with this.

( and, no @RoyalChick , we couldn't run an extension cord through the conduit...the plug part kept getting stuck at the bend to come up out of the ground )

On a brighter note, my neighbor gave me a belated B-day present:

They are pot holders - to pick up hot pots! SO cute - and she made them in my favorite color (Blue)

 

[RoyalChick]

How are you and your chickens doing , was the night ok ? Although I suppose they are still in bed .

I have a question and I hope I'm not going to make a complete fool of myself . @ChicoryBlue is in Central New York, I thought this wasn't too far from where you live (US scale). How come there is such a difference in temps?

Six is by far the most usual size but we have 4, 10, 12 and 24.
I'm not sure if we eat as much eggs as in english and derived cultures, since we never have them for breakfast.

We are all alive thank you for asking!
It is still too cold to check if any pipes burst but I think Bob's idea to push up the thermostats was a good one - the house is not as warm as it usually is, but it is way warmer than if I had let the heating go on and off as normal according to a lower thermostat setting. I have one more area to check this morning but even the mud room is above freezing.
The chickens too are alive although I think Babs felt the cold. When she came down this morning she huddled up to the flat panel and was all puffed up and not moving. But she seems to have perked up now. I gave them warm oatmeal (I assume that is OK to give chickens?!) and she joined in and even made off with an apple core all for herself. I think it is too soon to tell if there was any frostbite but so far I don't see anyone limping (will look out for that during the day) and they all have relatively small combs. Bernie's is the largest but she slept facing the flat panel so I am hoping is OK.

On your geography question, NY State is a very large state so central NY could be well over 200 miles from me and also inland relative to me. I think being further South, lower altitude, and nearer the sea gives me milder temperatures than the middle of NY state will have.

Regarding egg consumption - you do (not you specifically, but you in France) eat a fair bit of baked goods which have eggs, and of course are the creators of at least one of the greatest egg-derived desserts (I refer to crème brulée).

 

[RoyalChick]

Well, my chooks survived the night - we got below -6 F and with the wind chill was -35 F. I do think there are a few that have some frosted tips of combs, but won't know for sure for a day....amazingly, given my set up and no heat/electricity out there, I am pretty happy with this.

( and, no @RoyalChick , we couldn't run an extension cord through the conduit...the plug part kept getting stuck at the bend to come up out of the ground )

On a brighter note, my neighbor gave me a belated B-day present:
View attachment 3395223View attachment 3395224View attachment 3395225

They are pot holders - to pick up hot pots! SO cute - and she made them in my favorite color (Blue)

I love the pot holders!
And now I am kicking myself about the extension cord because I thought about the plug issue and nearly mentioned it.
You should cut the plug off, run the wire through the conduit and then rewire the plug. It is probably a sealed plug so you will need to buy one you can attach yourself but that is easy enough that even I can do it!