Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[micstrachan]

Free ranging always comes with risks. Today I had to finally give up and just take the goats for their walk. Not 1, not 2, not 3, but 5 eagles. 5!!! All sitting in the trees surrounding the chicken yard. I’m not sure what they were planning on eating, they didn’t take any chickens, but they made me mighty uncomfortable. I fully respect every person that doesn’t free range as much as those that do. It takes just as much if not more effort and dedication to ensure a safe coop and run as it does to free range

Five eagles!!! Wow!

 

[Kris5902]

Five eagles!!! Wow!

Two adults and three juveniles. Bad Big Birds. But it’s goat kidding season, the wild ducks are back in the pond, and with the recent Storms there have been several larger food deposits as well. The RedTail Hawks have been far less active. I think they are nested.

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

The problem being if he does suddenly get triggered by the kids, it could be a dangerous situation, depending on their age and awareness levels. The escalation after losing a hen and the hens more closely following him is very normal after they witness a predator attack. They are smart, and he’s taking his job seriously. It sounds like he could be growing into a superb rooster to me. You just need to get his trust and you should have an amazing guy. Sammy was actually taking full on runs across the yard at me. There were a few pecks and bites here and there at first, but now he’s the most delicate, gentle chicken to people in the yard. It took quite a while to develop my understanding with Sammy, but the work was 100% worth it, because he has made everything else much easier, and I haven’t had a single human aggressive rooter issue since in the free range flock.

I think, if I had to reduce my flock, if I was moving, or something like that… who would I keep? Out of the nearly 80 birds here if I were to keep only 20-25, I would keep Sammy, and two younger boys, because I think Sammy isn’t very fertile anymore, and a selection of hens that tend towards the crazy behaviors, like Rebecca’s crazy Old Bat, or my Grey Mama, Bully Girl, and Goldie, the ones that are borderline “is this crazy chicken worth the trouble?” Because those are the ones that truly are…

Oh yes, those crazy I want to throttle them hens in the long run are worth their weight in gold. I just have to remind myself that every time she attacks me over her chicks. She is smart, she did not get to be 9 being stupid. She has a lot to teach the flock, even those she has not raised. She taught the flock to fish. She has imparted the majority of her predatory savviness to them as well. I know in general I have broody breeds, but I wonder if they would be as broody without Momma Hens influence. She also has been known to do her part in whipping a young randy rooster into shape when the boys are not looking. If I need a young boy to learn respect towards a hen, let him set his sights on Momma. Instead of knocking him down a peg or to she'll throw him down the whole ladder. My new leghorns, if any chicken is going to tempt them to roost in the trees, it will be her. When she is not broody and rearing chicks, she has a favorite tree that she sleeps in every night. She is 30 foot off the ground and on the least stable part of a branch. If something tried to get her, their weight would dump her off the branch before they got within 5 feet of her. Again, smart hen.

 

[Marie2020]

DH corrects me this morning, there were apparently many different dog breeds involved in that, and it was a quite horrific process. But we do owe a lot of lifesaving medical procedures to beagles and many other animals as well. We can’t change the past, and hopefully we can develop better processes in the future.

I seriously hope so. It's like the wars, we should learn from the past and stop making our world suffer. After all forgotten history repeats it's mistakes!

They have learned, let's hope they keep using what has been learned and stop making animals and people suffer

 

[Ponypoor]

And then the chickens! Get those hay burners doing the chores for you…

Oh dreams... yep get them doing the chores hahaha!

 

[Ponypoor]

Mugs Monday (from the archives)

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And Mani Monday for Bob.
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Mani-Monday - love it!

You should put that first photo on POW - that is an awesome photo!

 

[Ponypoor]

Oh yes, those crazy I want to throttle them hens in the long run are worth their weight in gold. I just have to remind myself that every time she attacks me over her chicks. She is smart, she did not get to be 9 being stupid. She has a lot to teach the flock, even those she has not raised. She taught the flock to fish. She has imparted the majority of her predatory savviness to them as well. I know in general I have broody breeds, but I wonder if they would be as broody without Momma Hens influence. She also has been known to do her part in whipping a young randy rooster into shape when the boys are not looking. If I need a young boy to learn respect towards a hen, let him set his sights on Momma. Instead of knocking him down a peg or to she'll throw him down the whole ladder. My new leghorns, if any chicken is going to tempt them to roost in the trees, it will be her. When she is not broody and rearing chicks, she has a favorite tree that she sleeps in every night. She is 30 foot off the ground and on the least stable part of a branch. If something tried to get her, their weight would dump her off the branch before they got within 5 feet of her. Again, smart hen.

I Love Momma Hen

She is amazing!

 

[ValarieF]

 

[Marie2020]

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On the 2nd and third picture, looks like mites or is is soil and sand?

I use oil on the wattles and comb in the summer as they always get mites then.

 

[ValarieF]

On the 2nd and third picture, looks like mites or is is soil and sand?

I use oil on the wattles and comb in the summer as they always get mites then.

Just dirt