Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[featherhead007]

Hen-Rietta is missing!

 

[featherhead007]

Hen-Rietta is missing!

 

[Ponypoor]

I am sorry I find this so funny. I am used now after years with my horses and chickens intermingling. You want to talk about panic, watch a momma hen bring her fresh off the nest chicks into a horses stall. You learn quickly to give up herding them out and just walk away.

I keep the stall doors locked if I have chicks running inside with the horses. Esp with Truly!

 

[Ponypoor]

Hen-Rietta is missing!

What!?

Do you think mama hen and her went off somewhere?

 

[featherhead007]

I wonder if the hole in the fence works both ways for chook entry and exit

 

[ChicoryBlue]

There are some upsetting pictures of BBQ...
I'll tell you if you don't want to see.
Her once fluffy bum is covered in dry droppings- I tried getting it off in her bath tonight but it wouldn't.
Her whole crop and stomach is bare. And her wing joint.
And her bumblefoot-foot compared to her normal foot...
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Poor BBQ! Maybe she’s plucking her feathers, to go broody? Her bumblefoot is probably treatable, with daily soaking to loosen the scab and equally importantly a special pressure - relieving foot cover you can make. Search BYC for @Shadrach ’ s tips, and here on FBA too, I think @Kris made one too. That’s what I would do. Surgery is a last resort with this approach, and seems pretty successful.

I think it’s not good to lay them on their back, it makes breathing difficult. Keep it very short if you must, in my opinion.

Here’s what I do to look at their feet soles: I sit them on my lap, because I’m right-handed, facing left. Say I want to first look at their left foot. I make sure that their right foot is well-planted on my leg, then gently grasp the left leg near the foot, and let them get used to how that feels, then gently pull it back while gently but firmly holding them by the wing/back on your lap with your other hand. This is like the ballet stretching move they already do.

Usually the hen will pull her leg back in once or twice, and I don’t fight against that very much, it’s her getting used to their other foot being their “ready” foot and shifting their weight there. But soon they’ll let me extend the leg I want and let it stay out for me. If I stroke the bottom of her foot with my thumb it sometimes helps relax it too. In this handy position the foot bottom is facing up already and easy to examine. I looked at Hazels feet recently, top and bottom, because the day before I accidentally stepped on something, a toe I presume, while she was underfoot. Luckily it was on litter, nothing really firm.

Edit @notabitail theres a lot of info on this special foot cover elsewhere on BYC too. The idea is to leave the spot where the bumble is without pressure.

 

[featherhead007]

That’s my worry! Then I have 10 little wild things running amok!

I have 11 little wild things and one broody mama bytch running around the yard

 

[Pastel the Rooster]

Hen-Rietta is missing!

What do you mean? Like, she is gone?
Where do you think she is?
Did she run off with that hen with chicks?

 

[Pastel the Rooster]

Poor BBQ! Maybe she’s plucking her feathers, to go broody? Her bumblefoot is probably treatable, with daily soaking to loosen the scab and equally importantly a special pressure - relieving foot cover you can make. Search BYC for @Shadrach ’ s tips, and here on FBA too, I think @Kris made one too. That’s what I would do. Surgery is a last resort with this approach, and seems pretty successful.

I think it’s not good to lay them on their back, it makes breathing difficult. Keep it very short if you must, in my opinion.

Here’s what I do to look at their feet soles: I sit them on my lap, because I’m right-handed, facing left. Say I want to first look at their left foot. I make sure that their right foot is well-planted on my leg, then gently grasp the left leg near the foot, and let them get used to how that feels, then gently pull it back while gently but firmly holding them by the wing/back on your lap with your other hand. This is like the ballet stretching move they already do.

Usually the hen will pull her leg back in once or twice, and I don’t fight against that very much, it’s her getting used to their other foot being their “ready” foot and shifting their weight there. But soon they’ll let me extend the leg I want and let it stay out for me. If I stroke the bottom of her foot with my thumb it sometimes helps relax it too. In this handy position the foot bottom is facing up already and easy to examine. I looked at Hazels feet recently, top and bottom, because the day before I accidentally stepped on something, a toe I presume, while she was underfoot. Luckily it was on litter, nothing really firm.

Edit @notabitail theres a lot of info on this special foot cover elsewhere on BYC too. The idea is to leave the spot where the bumble is without pressure.

Do RIR's normally go broody? I thought about that but she has had those bald spots for ages.
I do know that it is bad for them to have them on their back. I will use your tip next time. ☺
I do think that I need to do surgery when I get back in a few weeks, because this is her 4th time having it, and it's by far the worst.

 

[featherhead007]

I’m going next door to check the neighbors yard. Not a sign of her in my yard.