Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[BY Bob]

I can start seeing males in my lot at 3 weeks at the youngest. Up until this group of youngster's hatched it was pretty much a given that they were at least half Marans. The marans genetics led to early wattle and comb growth on the boys for the most part. This group I will have a little trouble on a lot of them. Twig has been busy, very busy. 3 out of 4 of Momma hen's are his. 5 out of Holly's 6 are now clearly his. I am dealing with something besides the marans straight comb on them. There goes one of my dead give-a-ways. I have not lost all hope on Gryffyns blue chick, but, that early wattle growth is hard to miss. Then we have the comb, it is still little but I see a color change starting. It is probably a boy. Why wouldn't it be though, my lot hatches boys, and I wanted to keep it so it HAS to be a boy.

 

[featherhead007]

You need a covered walkway! What has happened that they have exploded that much?

RC is raising deer in her attic (in secret)

 

[featherhead007]

But rocks still aren't chickens. Those chickens may look like rocks but rocks don't have combs, wattles, or feathers... They aren't living.

Cats are not chickens either, but…….

 

[ChicoryBlue]

Chick starter SHRA
Talk about fighting for a spot. That end of the nestbox is somehow so desirable. Or, she just wanted to keep her head warm? The other hen barely budged, did not want to accommodate the burrowing one at all!

Yet last night they were square dancing in the main area for roosting

 

[notabitail]

I'm sorry.

They do make great perches.

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I could guess. And great snacks. If I get the chance I may just plant a grape vine in the future. The chooks would love it and I would feel more at home if there was one. There was one here a long time ago but I remember that it disappeared one time. At least there are plum trees.
Now I have an image of Abigail flying like a overweight pigeon trying to perch on a grape vine and knocking all the grapes off in the process, letting all the other chooks eat them.

Tax: Agathae the BLUE EGG layer.

 

[Ponypoor]

Chick starter SHRA
Talk about fighting for a spot. That end of the nestbox is somehow so desirable. Or, she just wanted to keep her head warm? The other hen barely budged, did not want to accommodate the burrowing one at all!
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Yet last night they were square dancing in the main area for roosting
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Yep my ladies now think the small animal crate is a great nest box! Fickleness seems to run rampant with chickens.

Meanwhile - square dancing? Or tap dancing

 

[notabitail]

Through the careful application of various sized hammers I have a computer that sort of works. It's not a permanent solution and could crash any moment.
Just saying.
Lockdown fever has infected the powers that be again and everyone is trying to cram in various appointments at once in case nobody is allowed out soon.
I'm getting really tired of this I might add.
For me this means a couple of dental appointments so I can have a bottom set of teeth. Chewing with gums isn't all it's cracked up to be.
I also have two heart appointments, one appointment at the local health center (all the local surgeries are shut) and a couple of legal appointments.
When I die, I'm going to raise an army of the dead and eliminate all politicians from the face of the earth! I'll probably do all the lawyers etc while I'm at it.
The good news is I can do pictures again.
What I've lashed up is fast, but unstable. Very fitting some might say.
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Not quite sure why Tap is dancing. Could be the prospect of fame I suppose.
Unfortunately I can't seem to be able to resize the pictures so they are browser slowing monsters. I'm working on it.

@Ponypoor

 

[knoturavggrl]

Of course these days it’s more of a stagger drag of the feet but I’d like to be able to prance again.

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That is a gorgeous photo!

 

[ValarieF]

I love keeping an eye on the chooks. But last night there was a giant rat in the coop. Will the rooster kill it or should I

 

[knoturavggrl]

Spray permethrin on your clothes but not your skin. It's very effective against ticks. You can find spray cans of permethrin in the camping section at Walmart or most sporting stores. I used it when bow hunting in hot weather and it worked well for me.

We have ticks here like crazy, the big regular ones and the tiniest tiny deer ticks too. Permethrin is the only thing I have found to be effective. It works better then OFF and it doesn’t smell nearly as horrid.