Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[rural mouse]

Squirrel’s look similar. I think that is where I am heading.
Meanwhile, here are the two I can’t tell apart. Face on they are easy to tell. One has a sharp line to the root of her beak and the other has a broader brown band. But this is the first time I have caught them both head on so I think I will take @bgmathteach’s advice and put a dab of green food dye on one of them. It is one of them that is very assertive and one who has a bit of a poopy bum and has been a bit lethargic but I am not sure if it is the same one.

Oh, and I have a camera hog.

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Left is silver, right is gold, camera hog is opal. All are adorable.

 

[BY Bob]

When my lot wake up again I will have to tell them that they got outdone in the cuteness department!

They better get on that.

 

[RoyalChick]

Left is silver, right is gold, camera hog is opal. All are adorable.

Hmmm. I don’t think I have a gold!
And in person it is hard to tell. I think green would help at least until I am not worried about one of them.

 

[rural mouse]

Left is silver, right is gold, camera hog is opal. All are adorable.

Down color difference is like Marilyn Monroe vs Elizabeth Montgomery (bewitched) hair color.

 

[bgmathteach]

Well, I think I managed to create a broody/ really tiny chick area in my coop without building anything. I did have to take down one of the nest boxes but no one uses that one at the moment anyway.

My tent was far to large (7ftx7ft) and the shape a square dome wasn’t going to work. So off the walmart. For the princely sum of 26.00 plus tax I purchased a one person rectangular shaped tent. With a 4x7 base and its much shorter and narrower at the top.

After letting them explore it opened up I then sat in the coop for about hr with Brownie zipped up. I wanted to see what the other girls would do; if they would try and stand on it and get stuck or something else dangerous I hadn’t thought of. Most just looked some really tried every which way to get in but couldn’t. Brownie is not bothered at all with the changes.

Side note: Their is still a bunch of little spats going on with Brownie sitting and not leading. The pecking order is just in complete disarray.

Here are some photos of it in the coop tell me what you guys think good or bad.
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My only thought/concern is that someone might jump on the tent and make it collapse. Is there a way you could bungee/tie the pole/support closest to the roost to it so it couldn't completely collapse? Or, alternately, run a rope/baler twine/ something from the roost through both support poles to the wall, and screw an eye bolt into the wall at the appropriate height and tie the other end there?

I'm probably being overly cautious, so maybe someone will say I'm too much of a worry wart...

That said, it looks like a very cozy spot for her to incubate & brood chicks...and the mesh door/sides will allow both ventilation AND see/being part of the flock feeling.

Great find/buy!

 

[bgmathteach]

After an hour + of reading i am still 40 pages behind maybe i can catch up tonight, time to get moving. We are having a week of beautiful warm weather, lots to do! First bread though.

Escorting the ladies back home from their morning wander
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Looks like they had quite the excursion!

 

[ChicoryBlue]

Well, I think I managed to create a broody/ really tiny chick area in my coop without building anything. I did have to take down one of the nest boxes but no one uses that one at the moment anyway.

My tent was far to large (7ftx7ft) and the shape a square dome wasn’t going to work. So off the walmart. For the princely sum of 26.00 plus tax I purchased a one person rectangular shaped tent. With a 4x7 base and its much shorter and narrower at the top.

After letting them explore it opened up I then sat in the coop for about hr with Brownie zipped up. I wanted to see what the other girls would do; if they would try and stand on it and get stuck or something else dangerous I hadn’t thought of. Most just looked some really tried every which way to get in but couldn’t. Brownie is not bothered at all with the changes.

Side note: Their is still a bunch of little spats going on with Brownie sitting and not leading. The pecking order is just in complete disarray.

Here are some photos of it in the coop tell me what you guys think good or bad.
View attachment 3482717

View attachment 3482720
View attachment 3482724
View attachment 3482721

Looks like it fits perfectly! And she looks great in that bowl! The chicks are going to get in and out of the bowl by way of the brick once she lets them run around? I'd cover the brick holes with something, maybe a towel, as they can't navigate their jumps very exactly at first. Maybe add a second brick too, or a block of wood.

Make sure the waterer is high enough to just get their necks over, and/or put in some pebbles, so if one jumps up there the depth is shallow if they are standing in it.

As far as other chickens flying up and grabbing on to the poles, if that is a real danger for undoing the tent, maybe you can tie them together and then secure both to the ladder and the wall?

 

[knoturavggrl]

Set up the 7X7 I will bring my sleeping bag and move in there

Ha! I did have it set up in my LIVING ROOM of all places for my first batch of babies. Originally, I had them in a pack n play brooder set up and I naively thought it would be fine till they went outside @ 6 weeks. I think it was about the third week when I woke up to two babies with blood on them because they didn’t have enough room and had started pecking each other.

Now remember, when I started this chicken adventure I had a broken ankle that required surgery to fix and when the pecking injury occurred my husband was away at work on a train. I panicked for a while, then recovered my wits and thought and thought about what I could possibly do to fix the situation on one leg.

I did the only thing I could think of and ordered tent on Walmart's website and had it delivered that same day. Now me setting it up, driving to tractor supply, and getting wood chips on one leg with my ever so “helpful” 3 and 5 yr old kiddos was hilarious in hind sight. But we got it done!

All 13 of those babies made it through with no further issues till they finally left our living room at about 7 weeks of age when my husband finally finished the coop!

Turns out tents make excellent brooders with tons of room! Also, your welcome to use it anytime you fly to Ohio its been throughly washed I promise!

 

[notabitail]

I get a full spectrum of different looks from other people in town. But they are getting used to seeing me with a chook or two.

I would be terrified of one of them running away. I would suppose yours are trained not to.

 

[notabitail]

It is the best when they do that.

Agreed! I do not like how she made a pit stop to try to pull a button off my shirt. The thread must be tasty.