Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[RebeccaBoyd]

The Eli mystery is solved. She wanted company while she laid her egg. We all went in and hung out inside the Chicken Palace and she laid her egg and life was good!
There is a lot of snow forecast for tonight and the temperature just dropped a lot so I have brought everyone in.
Eli jumped up onto the countertop in the servant's quarters in search of sunflower seeds and I got her to step back and stand on my hand.


Bernie is big enough to cover a good dozen chicks if she ever went broody - she is a big gal! But it is a terrifying prospect - she might just eat them as little snacks.
She has decided not to use the regular nest boxes. I honestly don't blame her - they are a shade under 12" deep so it must feel very cramped to her. Fortunately I had already built some bigger and more open access ones under the main roost and for now she seems happy with those.

Eat them, nope more like eat you if you look at them the wrong way. Actually I would bet on Eli or Babs going broody first since they were broody raised. I'm glad the Eli mystery was solved and she just wanted company. Another reason why you need a boy, he would have known right away what the problem was.

 

[Pastel the Rooster]

Hmmm....think of chickens. They want to be 'free', too. but that means: no protection, no one buying and providing your food, no one doing your laundry (in the chicken case, cleaning out your coop), etc., etc. ,etc. There are pros and cons to both cases.

Chicken Pro: more moving around, variety of insects and seeds and grass. Healthier and happier
Cons: More likely to be killed by a predator, to go hungry at times, to be cold and wet at times, no comfy bedding - except what you might scratch together.

I'm sure you can relate this to your personal situation.

This:
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Versus this:
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Abandoned, starving hens rescued.

Hm, true. Its not that I don't want to move out and leave my family and home, it's just that I want to be able to rescue animals and get more chickens.

 

[Pastel the Rooster]

Ohhhh! Let's all start a ( I don't know what you would call it... not a pension, because you wouldn't sign it....) a... a thing where we just say "Get a rooster @RoyalChick! "

Eat them, nope more like eat you if you look at them the wrong way. Actually I would bet on Eli or Babs going broody first since they were broody raised. I'm glad the Eli mystery was solved and she just wanted company. Another reason why you need a boy, he would have known right away what the problem was.

 

[Grandma The Chicken]

Hi. I was wondering if I could use a couple pictures of your chickens fluffy behinds. It's for a project I am doing.

Yes, absolutely. I don't really post my chicken's behinds much but I'll definitely post more if necessary.

 

[featherhead007]

I'm jealous! I can't wait till I move out!! I will get to be a free human!!

Moving out doesn’t make you free dear, it only increases your responsibilities

 

[featherhead007]

I know that this is Dollar General, but why are the eggs so cheap! What happened to inflation? The 8 dollar eggs?
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But, buy, buy!

 

[Kris5902]

@ValarieF It also means they have access to the best food/first dibbs on treats, etc. even above other adults. (i.e. They have access at the same level their Mom has.)

That’s why Scarface is actually higher on my Rooster Order than everyone but Sammy and Dean! His Mom, my Bully Girl, is crazy and a Top Hen. She went after a Hawk that dared to swoop on her chicks and drove it through the forest. No one messes with her, and she does at least two batches every year. Little psycho. I love her.

 

[Kris5902]

Come on up here haha! No people.... just bear, moose, bison.....

I do believe @rural mouse is in one of the few places almost as sparsely populated as Northern BC/Alberta! Lol. Saw a video explaining how there’s this section of the USA east of the Rockies that is nearly uninhabited, and why? Weather! so I’m also betting she stands the best chance of actually making it up there as well. We have several inches of the dreaded white stuff happening. I can’t see the ground outside anymore. I’m half considering migrating south myself! I mean it’s like 0c out there…

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

That’s why Scarface is actually higher on my Rooster Order than everyone but Sammy and Dean! His Mom, my Bully Girl, is crazy and a Top Hen. She went after a Hawk that dared to swoop on her chicks and drove it through the forest. No one messes with her, and she does at least two batches every year. Little psycho. I love her.

Bully girl and Momma hen must be related. Momma is a top hen herself. When she was younger she was the top, time and age have slowed her down just a step and now Butter is #1. Actually I think if she was not broody the majority of the time she would still be #1. Momma's chicks are born with a silver spoon in their beak. They get the best dust bath spots, first at the food and treats and no one ever bullies them. They learn from her, see how she treats the other flock members and mimic it as early as a week old. I have had her chicks run up and chest bump other hens to get what they want. The hens back down, they know to, if not they have a angry ole bat bearing down on them.

 

[Kris5902]

Ohhh, but snakes are out during winter, theyare just slow moving!!

Depends on how cold/snowy you get… a lot of colubrids (like your rat snake) and vipers (like the timber and massasagua Rattlesnakes) go into a full torpor for winter. @ManueB is in a Mountainous area of France, at a pretty decent elevation.