Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Chicken poppy]

Go ahead. Some other people do, and yes it’s annoying as H$@@.
Usually they don’t read all the posts anyway.

I definitely won’t.
I would surely be annoyed if i had over 3,000 notifications for posts made years ago

Plus i don’t think i would be able to commit.

 

[bgmathteach]

She sure is a beauty - love that dark head/pencilled body look (see I know pencilling now hahah).

Um, I hate to break this to you, but that isn't penciling. Not sure what it IS called, but not penciled.

 

[BY Bob]

Happy Hatch day in heaven my dear Ezzie.

I teared up watching that. God bless you my friend.

 

[bgmathteach]

I almost want to challenge myself and like everyones post on this thread but i think that would annoy people and be near impossible

Not annoying, but, yes, near impossible...unless you do nothing else but that.....

 

[ChicoryBlue]

Mystery solved, now…what to do about it?

Well it looks like the cause of my “naked butt” girls is from one of them “feather plucking/pecking”, and pretty sure the culprit is Scarlett.


I observed it happen several times this morning. It shouldn’t be dirt related, since they are on a food that is 18% protein. And it doesn’t appear overtly aggressive (although there is definitely some mild aggression to it). It is more like she sees a fluffy butt on a girl with her head down and can’t resist going over and grabbing a few of those fluffy little feathers. So now, what I do to stop it? Especially with my limited mobility right now?!

I wish I had some ideas. Other than the random peck at Phyllis's head that grabs a feather I've never had that problem here. You may need to go outside this thread for help.

I will say that most feather pecking comes from either boredom, overcrowding, or lack of protein in their diet.

Agree with Bob, and I’ll expand on it and suggest two things - if you can take some time and observe her, see what she’s doing. If it’s boredom or a sense of overcrowding you could experiment to see if she can be distracted with more interesting available activities, like a big pile of leaves or garden dirt to dig through, and more visual blocks so she can’t see everyone else all the time. I don’t know for sure but maybe some chickens need more protein than the breed guidelines, so supplying some salt-free sardines, or scrambled eggs, and see if that helps. I believe protein, at least for humans this is true, is not stored in the body to be called upon when needed, so every day the particular protein need must be met. Good luck!

 

[Ponypoor]

Goose did not lay yesterday but this morning laid egg #2 in her new spot. Another good size egg so I left it alone. I'm going to give her until next Friday to see if she is going to go full on broody. If she does not I will no longer leave a few of her eggs out to tempt her.

Do you keep the eggs and hold them so that they all are set under the hen at once so they hatch all together? Or do you do something different? When I put eggs under Henny I was very lucky that the gals I wanted eggs from laid them all together (1 on one day, and the other 3 the next day!). I plunked them all under Henny Penny at that point and they all hatched on day 19 overnight into day 20 It was so eggciting! I would do it again but for those dreaded Roos (poor wee fellas).

Yes, Airdrie Canvas was the company.

Oh but that netting is soooo nice - maybe I will think more about it.... it's really nice stuff! If I got the 50'x50' I can get 3 sections cut out of it to cover 150'

Sorry haven't been on much today not feeling well. Been dizzy all day and weak. I managed to get water and treats to the chooks. Man Cia is first one at that door and try's to leave with me lol. She is persistent and a sweetheart. Officially all 5 of my Ancona hens are laying. I collected a dozen eggs today and filled up my apron pockets. 5 white eggs and the rest colored. My hubby is making dinner and I am resting and hoping I feel better in the morning.

Yep my mum collected 6 eggs today! I really only have about 8 productive hens. My cousin's hens (Penelope - 7 yrs; Blanche and Sophia - 5yrs) hardly lay any eggs at all now. They are lawn ornaments

I am telling myself the new pullets I am getting are for succession planning! My other gals are turning 2. OK I hope you feel better soon.

Of course I would love to share photos of Little Mill! I’m having trouble finding my favorite photo of her right now, but here are some others.
View attachment 3408154
View attachment 3408150
View attachment 3408148

Oooooo - Hi Little Mill you are such a cutie pie!

 

[ChicoryBlue]

I am glad that you have a vet friend that could help. I will say that chickens are amazing healers, so as long as she doesn't get an infection, I believe she will be fine.

that said - do you sew at all? if you aren't squeamish about it, you can easily stitch up a hen yourself -just make SURE any wounds are very well cleaned first. I have had VERY good luck with stitching up chickens. The only one I lost (a duck, actually) was from a racoon attack and she had a deep puncture wound. She was progressing well until about day 4 then suddenly took a turn for the worse. I am positive that it was that the puncture wound was infected - they are notoriously hard to clean effectively - and I had no access to anti-biotics Otherwise, I have had very good luck stitching up my girls!
(Though I do wish I haven't had to put that to the test quite as many times as I have had to over the years!)

When one of our cats had a deep puncture wound from a bite or claw on her spine, the vet didn’t stitch it, instead had me daily squirt deeply into it a cleansing, (maybe antibiotic) blue clear liquid we mixed up each day from a concentrate. Then to jam a general antibiotic ointment in it. The idea was to keep it clean and moist and for it to heal from the inside out and that’s what it did, the “cone” shape of the wound became slowly more shallow. A “plug/core” came out after several days, and healing was more rapid after that. Could this work with poultry?

Not everyone is sleeping right now

 

[Ponypoor]

Jaffar must be aware of my emotional state today. I have just returned from a friend’s funeral. He’s such a good rooster!

Oh I am so sorry to hear about your friend; very difficult time. Yes animals are well aware of our emotions and I am so glad Jaffar knows that you needed some support

 

[ChicoryBlue]

Hmm, yes, but at 16' deep, it could still make it a bit dreary under there late spring through early Fall. Especially if she ends up roofing a large section.

That said, the metal will be much more durable long-term. Honestly, in my opinion, it is a 50/50 dilemma!

Is metal hotter in summer?

 

[Ponypoor]

When one of our cats had a deep puncture wound from a bite or claw on her spine, the vet didn’t stitch it, instead had me daily squirt deeply into it a cleansing, (maybe antibiotic) blue clear liquid we mixed up each day from a concentrate. Then to jam a general antibiotic ointment in it. The idea was to keep it clean and moist and for it to heal from the inside out and that’s what it did, the “cone” shape of the wound became slowly more shallow. A “plug/core” came out after several days, and healing was more rapid after that. Could this work with poultry?

Not everyone is sleeping right now
View attachment 3408405
View attachment 3408406

Awww - look she laid a golf ball for Peep