Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Ponypoor]

Kudos to you on the tube feeding. That is something I have not had to do and hope I never have to. Although Mrs BY Bob has trached many a human.

I keep hearing more stories of hens starving themselves while molting. What I don't get is how the hens would survive in the wild? How has it developed such that they would starve themselves while molting? There must be something else we are not providing that they want. Whatever could it be?

I think it’s our human interference causing them to do unnatural things. Poor pookies…

 

[BY Bob]

Crack up at this I really believed it was the chickens talking

There is a whole series of them. I will try to pm you the links.

 

[BY Bob]

I am not sure about the no need to be careful because they will be dinner anyway.
It is a lot of trouble to go to just to have the bird die of infection a few days later.
My understanding is that capon meat was quite prized so presumably commanded a higher price.

It surely did. My mom used to get one on rare occasions and it was a big todo.

 

[BY Bob]

There is a whole series of them. I will try to pm you the links.

@WhoDatChick never mind. I forgot I can't PM you. I'll try to pull them together this evening.

 

[BY Bob]

They also grew to young turkey sized. A young chicken weighing 20lbs would be worth more even at the same meat price. No idea if the flavor changes or not, but that's a lot of chicken.

If I remember right, and it's been a long time, the meat was way more tender than any we raised. But I also may have raised tough chickens.

 

[BY Bob]

I don’t believe in UFO’s Or any extratesticlles!

How did you ever get spell check to approve that word? Is that now added to your dictionary?

Spell check tax

 

[BY Bob]

View attachment 35733752 broodies

View attachment 3573376Hector and Havoc

View attachment 3573377Mera and 2 chicks (Havoc and Enigma)

View attachment 3573378Tuff and Havoc

View attachment 3573379Unusual friends: Lark and Nellie

Great 2fers!

 

[rural mouse]

How did you ever get spell check to approve that word? Is that now added to your dictionary?

Spell check tax
View attachment 3573435

Lovely pic

 

[Marie2020]

Kudos to you on the tube feeding. That is something I have not had to do and hope I never have to. Although Mrs BY Bob has trached many a human.

I keep hearing more stories of hens starving themselves while molting. What I don't get is how the hens would survive in the wild? How has it developed such that they would starve themselves while molting? There must be something else we are not providing that they want. Whatever could it be?

I don't know if I did right in the past but I finger fed my girls when they weren't eating. It's worked really well for flexi Tina and Agatha. They came back into eating again. However it failed with Amber

 

[micstrachan]

Thank you. I’ve read your post about your friends horse and am sending good thoughts of the best for him!

Thank you, BG, you have been a comfort and great help!

Spellcheck mixed up things but I think I get your sense. Thank you, Michelle! Yes, they knew she wasn’t feeling well before all this, and bringing everyone was the best with four birds. When we got home I put her in her favorite hole/depression in the run while I dug her grave. They all hung out there too, so were with her at home for awhile. Hazel came over and picked a bit of dust off her back. Butters, though, stepped on her beak at one point…

Butters meanwhile has really gone off eating, though she forages and hunts and finds things, just doesn’t actually eat them. She earned a 1.5 on the OCS (overall condition score) when she was seen on Wednesday. She is feathers and bones. That score’s between emaciated and under-conditioned. She got a tube feeding Sunday, and the vet explained and trained me while she did it, if I wanted to try, as the “flock check” I’ve scheduled isn’t until next week. This was interesting, as she did not want to train me on draining ascites when I asked her on the phone prior. I don’t know which is potentially riskier, they both are I think. The hoped-for result is that a few feedings will jump-start her eating again.

Important information was her tip of going from the birds left side to the right with the tube angle, and using a strong light to try to see the placement (she herself found that difficult), but more important was the physical training of feeling her trachea and the tube next to it when it’s placed correctly. I knew if I couldn’t replicate that when / if I tried I would not continue.

I want you to know I was remembering your video and tips too. Today I was successful in giving Butters 8 grams of Exact baby bird formula (one tablespoon of Exact mixed with five tablespoons of hot water, which became a (measured) 93 degrees or less when she got it, though I was shooting for 100 degrees. At least it wasn’t cold.

Thank you, Lozzy!

Thank you so much. Those things were blessings.

Thank you, Bob. It was so very, very sad, but felt like the right decision deep down.

I’m sorry you had to make that difficult decision, but I’m sure it was the right one. Great job with Butters. Does the vet have an idea why she is so thin?