Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[featherhead007]

I haven’t taken a single picture of my chooks today at all. It’s been a little crazy here.

 

[featherhead007]

It’s movie night tonight yay. Jaffar is ready for his movie and treats

 

[LhickenChicken]

People I am tired. I am tired of being the nice person and having it come back to bite me in the rear. I am tired of stray animals and the idiots who think it is ok to dump them in a neighborhood hoping someone takes them in. I am tired of idiot dog owners letting their animals run loose with no care in the world. I am tired of dogs in general, I really do not even want to look at my own 2 and it was not their fault and they are innocent. I can understand foxes, coyotes bobcats ect. predating on chickens even though I do not like it. They are doing it to survive. Dogs are downright murderers and do it for fun and sport. A stray or lost dog not sure which, and frankly I do not care showed up day before yesterday. Bleeding heart neighbors fed it and let their kids play with it so it did not move on. For the 1000th time from these people when any animal showed up I heard "oh, it has to be someones, we have to find it's owners." I wish I knew who its owners are, we would not be having nice words at the moment. It tried to come in my yard once and I sent CeeCee after it. She actually ran it out of the neighborhood only to be called back by kids. I am cooking dinner last night when all he** broke loose. The chickens were starting to put themselves to roost when it charged around the house and attacked. I was outside fast, not fast enough. It was not hungry this was fun and sport for that menace. I lost one of my black girls and when it met it's maker it had Chiquita in its mouth. There was another pile of brown feathers in the middle of the yard and I could not locate Momma Hen last night once things calmed down. I am tired of being nice. No longer will something be allowed to step foot in my yard while bleeding hearts try to find a owner. The SSS method will now be strictly followed I do not care who knows it.

Is Chiquita okay?

 

[LhickenChicken]

People I am tired. I am tired of being the nice person and having it come back to bite me in the rear. I am tired of stray animals and the idiots who think it is ok to dump them in a neighborhood hoping someone takes them in. I am tired of idiot dog owners letting their animals run loose with no care in the world. I am tired of dogs in general, I really do not even want to look at my own 2 and it was not their fault and they are innocent. I can understand foxes, coyotes bobcats ect. predating on chickens even though I do not like it. They are doing it to survive. Dogs are downright murderers and do it for fun and sport. A stray or lost dog not sure which, and frankly I do not care showed up day before yesterday. Bleeding heart neighbors fed it and let their kids play with it so it did not move on. For the 1000th time from these people when any animal showed up I heard "oh, it has to be someones, we have to find it's owners." I wish I knew who its owners are, we would not be having nice words at the moment. It tried to come in my yard once and I sent CeeCee after it. She actually ran it out of the neighborhood only to be called back by kids. I am cooking dinner last night when all he** broke loose. The chickens were starting to put themselves to roost when it charged around the house and attacked. I was outside fast, not fast enough. It was not hungry this was fun and sport for that menace. I lost one of my black girls and when it met it's maker it had Chiquita in its mouth. There was another pile of brown feathers in the middle of the yard and I could not locate Momma Hen last night once things calmed down. I am tired of being nice. No longer will something be allowed to step foot in my yard while bleeding hearts try to find a owner. The SSS method will now be strictly followed I do not care who knows it.

That fu &^%* dog! Poor Chiquita! Please tell me you'll find Momma Hen!

If that @#$% dog stepped one paw into my yard, out comes the '22 and pew pew pew! Tell me you'll shoot the damn thing!

 

[LhickenChicken]

I still have not located Momma hen but Chiquita is gone. I am still shaking from anger from last night. Everyone of my neighbors witnessed this so maybe they will stop feeding and baiting in strays. I will not post them but I also have pictures of the bodies if someone were to report what I did. I was in my legal right to shoot it in my yard. Frankly I would love for it to be some ones and it get back to them. I would like to meet them.

Oh no, not Chiquita! I really liked her. So many losses, and also my hen Ginger is not feeling well. She is in the "chicken hospital" my dog cage to keep sick/injured chickens in. But, she's feeling better, so I think she'll pull through. spicy little chicken, true to her name.

 

[GregnLety]

The BR girl is more alert and feisty. She seems to be slowly regaining strength and is moving her head a little more. After tonight's feeding when Lety put her in the box the girl was moving about and doing a little clucking. I think she understands we are helping her. When we speak to here she'll open her eyes and move around and sometimes make a little noise.

 

[micstrachan]

I am very impressed with the plumbing of your set-up. I think that might be a bit beyond me.
It has got cooler here now but I was thinking of semi-automating wetting the ground by drilling a small hole in a bucket and hanging it up to drip, drip. drip onto the ground.
Right now what I do is just spray everything down and empty the waterers on the ground.

RC, you have no idea how many times I have thought of this exact same method. I think if you get exactly the right size holes, you can put the little drippers into them. Or teeny tiny holes without Drippers?

 

[ManueB]

I found Momma Hen and she is accounted for. Her smarts saved her from harm. She was halfway up in the big pine tree where she apparently roosted last night. I had to bribe her down with corn. My flock is clearly still rattled though. The hens are nervous and the boys will not shut up crowing today. This is the most they have crowed past 8 am since I rehomed Twig and Madea.

So angry, sad for Chiquita, and also relieved Momma hen is still there.
You must be exhausted and devastated by grief and anger.
Keeping you, your family and your flock in my thoughts.

Louise, our loved Buff Orpington hen died on her own last week. She slept the last two nights in a nest box. The day before she died, she stayed in the nest until 1:30 pm, then got up and had a bite to eat and a sip of water and later had some scratch with the flock.

A few days before she died, she was still slowly walking through tall grass, stopping to peck every now and then and didn't seem to be in distress. I could tell by the way she looked at me, that we both knew she would not have long.

My husband and I went back and forth on what was the best thing to do. Was she suffering? Would we cause more suffering if we botched trying to euthanize her? She had a swollen abdomen and walked slowly, but didn't seem to struggle to breathe, so we just made sure she was not being harassed by any of the other birds and gave her special foods on her own so she didn't have to join the scrum. She died overnight in her nest box last Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. I had installed a camera so that I could keep an eye on her from work and I ended up with a bunch of still shots of each chicken paying their respects after she had died early in the morning.

I have questioned whether we did the right thing letting her pass on her own. I hope so.

I’m sorry for your loss. Louise was beautiful ! It seems like she had a peaceful passing, as peaceful as possible in fact : at home, with her flock, and mostly without pain, feeling safe and loved.

You and others who follow my thread know that I did exactly what you mentioned about six weeks ago, botch my first euthanasia at home. I wrote this about it ten days ago.

Last thing I wanted to note is that today a month has passed since I made a disaster at Brune's euthanasia. I've come to terms with it and making a thread about it made me realize it has happened to others, and not always the first time, so it's actually a real possibility. I don't know what I will do should similar circumstances arise. I think I would likely wait until the two of us can deal with it, or at least decide together. I know that even if she felt horrible pain for long minutes, to me, it feels not as bad as letting Caramel die alone without her flock after almost four days hospitalized in an unknown place. But of course, I can't pretend to know how it was for the chickens.

 

[Ponypoor]

Wednesday O’Dark-o’clock…

Actually 02:39am, and Mr P crowing up a storm, awakened me from sleep.

I check all the cameras couldn’t see anything threatening, horses all upright, and Chooks seem good - so I yelled at him over the camera ‘be quiet’.

Yep that worked - not ! Haha. Th disembodied voice never worked.

He finally quieted and I noted that Penne moved to the far corner so maybe That’s why he was crowing.

 

[ChicoryBlue]

If he were a she, I'd go for it in a heartbeat. I just can't picture it on a boy, though. He's got a white strip down his chest, a streak on his neck and the dollop on his chin.

Maybe the male version of Taffy is Toffee?