Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Ponypoor]

Sheesh - they were calling for extreme weather today so I closed up the hay mow in the barn on the west side of the barn, it rained for 15 min this morning then cleared up.

Anyways I went back up in the mow and opened the doors on the west side of the mow, now they are again calling for severe thunderstorm watch. Well I am NOT climbing up that ladder to the loft again, I am an old woman! I can't be climbing ladders and such!

It's not overly hot - only 27C (~80F), but really windy now. I had to laugh at Mr P the wind was blowing his tail feathers back up over his head, he was not happy about that, kept trying to get away from the wind but stay with his ladies. Must be tough being a macho macho man, trying to show off you plumage

EDIT - weather watch ended - sheesh!

 

[The Chick Addict]

I would like to make this Tribute for Frost only. Eclipse will have her's made soon. Tonight, tomorrow, the next day, not quite sure. I will need to try not to repeat stuff. They have pretty much the same story though. I apologize in advance.

Frost, you were such a good guinea hen.❤ You were the second out of the egg, and the only white guinea in your clutch. I was so happy when I came home from school, to see you in the incubator. You were such a sweet, important guinea to me.

View attachment 3606646
Here you were in the back with some of your siblings. Remember how before I knew that you were a girl, I would call you Jack Frost?

Awe, thirsty on the first day. You later learned how to drink from a nipple waterer. So smart.View attachment 3606647

Yum, you and your siblings eating yummy food. Eclipse is there!

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Look how tiny and cute you were! All eight of you ❤❤ there are still six living, don't worry Frost.
Knowing Eclipse, she was likely the one hiding under you and the brooder. She was so shy, remember, Frost? You two were inseparable.

Awe, you were getting your brooder cleaned out! You were still too tiny to fly out Frost, but once you got just a wee bit bigger, you were flying all over the place.

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Here I was holding you Frost. This was when you were outside, but still tiny and young. Remember how much you loved biting my bracelets and rings? You would peck them and peck them for as long as you could! And hard! Ohh, it hurt whenever you pecked me!

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Here you were just a few weeks ago pulling the strings of my pants. Your older brother from a different clutch was behind me, while I was holding your clutch mate Russell. He misses you. He has been calling for you and Eclipse a ton. Your other siblings who moved out don't know. I've not visited them since you died. I will tell them as soon as I see them.View attachment 3606654

You were closest to me. Your older brother Ditzy was up front with his head up. Eclipse was next to him, and next to you and Eclipse was Pie, both you and Eclipse's older half sister from Ditz's clutch. You guys were eating yummy food. Yes, I locked Russell up so that he didn't attack Ditzy.

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Here you were exactly a week before you died. I gave you a bath to see if it would help you. You just laid there.View attachment 3606656 You didn't deserve to suffer. I love you so much Frost. I am glad that you and Eclipse are at peace now. You never deserved to get sick. I am sorry that I couldn't save the two of you. Fly high Frost. ❤❤❤

I am so sorry you lost Frost and Eclipse, Pastel! Such a beautiful tribute!

 

[bgmathteach]

A few pics of our young naked necks.View attachment 3606785this guy sounds like his dad Big Boy when he crowsView attachment 3606794the Silkie cross has the same tail feather coloring as Big Boy.
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Not a naked neck but a silkie cross and she's a cutie.

I hope you and your wife's friend reported the chicken thefts! I loved your frizzle bantam cross boy - he was so handsome ( and looked like he would be soft to cuddle - even if he wasn't a snuggly boy) I am still so angry/upset about this - it isn't just 'livestock' they were pets/friends. I'm sorry if bringing it up again only opens the wounds - but It just makes my blood boil, and my heart ache for you and the boys.

 

[Lilion]

It's not hot here...but BOY is it humid. We keep having these little pop-up storms that last 30 minutes...then the whole day everything is just wet.

Made little tables for the chicks to hide under and made their little cage area smaller, but didn't take it out. It's the go-to place for food, water, and getting away from Manny. Really, everyone seems to be doing okay though.

 

[bgmathteach]

We can’t get that here either .

It’s either chick starter we can get medicated and non medicated from 3 different makers (the Sharps brand has large crumbles hard for little chicks to eat), Grower from the 3 different makers (Purinas is just dust!), and layer ration from the 3 makers. I haven’t tried Purina layer brands.

There is a serious lack of variety here, oh hey I haven’t looked at Peavey Mart to see if they have an all flock… they carry their own brand of feeds.

EDIT: nope Peavey Mart has just starter medicated, grower at 16% and layer.

can you order online with shipped to you? maybe order a gamebird and mix it with the local grower. 3 scoops 16%/grower + 2 scoops 30% game bird = 21.5%. You can slowly, as the chicks age, move to 4 and 1 which will be approx 19%. Again, slow transition. gradually cut back some on the 30% over a few weeks and increase to 16% (maybe 1/4 of a scoop per week/at a time)

so, given the number of birds you have, order 2 bags of the game bird?

I would love to do that, but no organic game bird to be had here.....got one bag early on - since then it has been 'out of stock' for 3 months. since I feed organic, it's a no go. There is regular game bird crumbles around - just not the organic. And, since I am (hopefully) done with NEW chicks for the season, I'm not going to worry about it anymore this year.

 

[featherhead007]

can you order online with shipped to you? maybe order a gamebird and mix it with the local grower. 3 scoops 16%/grower + 2 scoops 30% game bird = 21.5%. You can slowly, as the chicks age, move to 4 and 1 which will be approx 19%. Again, slow transition. gradually cut back some on the 30% over a few weeks and increase to 16% (maybe 1/4 of a scoop per week/at a time)

so, given the number of birds you have, order 2 bags of the game bird?

I would love to do that, but no organic game bird to be had here.....got one bag early on - since then it has been 'out of stock' for 3 months. since I feed organic, it's a no go. There is regular game bird crumbles around - just not the organic. And, since I am (hopefully) done with NEW chicks for the season, I'm not going to worry about it anymore this year.

Seems like you can’t get what you want from there?

 

[bgmathteach]

I suppose I should worry more about the calcium. Here's the all-flock labelView attachment 3607052
Here's the layer label
View attachment 3607055

I have just been feeding layer. It's practically all you can find around here.

The feeders are too high for the littles to get to for now.

Yes, the calcium is key. 4% is way too high for non-layers (littles and Roos) it will eventually harm their liver and kidneys and significantly shorten their lives. Around 1% is good for non-layers

 

[bgmathteach]

I pay $14.00 USD for a 50lb bag of scratch.
I pay $22.00 for 50lb bag. The mixture of milled feed the veterinarian suggested that I should use.
The chooks chose to eat the treats before they eat their feed.
Feed product prices tax:
View attachment 3607137

Of course they do - just like kids will eat candy or dessert first if given the opportunity. You, as the adult, need to ensure the healthy stuff gets consumed before the treats show up!

 

[Ponypoor]

It's not hot here...but BOY is it humid. We keep having these little pop-up storms that last 30 minutes...then the whole day everything is just wet.

Made little tables for the chicks to hide under and made their little cage area smaller, but didn't take it out. It's the go-to place for food, water, and getting away from Manny. Really, everyone seems to be doing okay though. View attachment 3607281View attachment 3607286View attachment 3607288

Glad everything is going well, I had a feeling it would all be ok.

I like that they have a place to hide and they will use it for playing also

 

[Ponypoor]

can you order online with shipped to you? maybe order a gamebird and mix it with the local grower. 3 scoops 16%/grower + 2 scoops 30% game bird = 21.5%. You can slowly, as the chicks age, move to 4 and 1 which will be approx 19%. Again, slow transition. gradually cut back some on the 30% over a few weeks and increase to 16% (maybe 1/4 of a scoop per week/at a time)

so, given the number of birds you have, order 2 bags of the game bird?

I would love to do that, but no organic game bird to be had here.....got one bag early on - since then it has been 'out of stock' for 3 months. since I feed organic, it's a no go. There is regular game bird crumbles around - just not the organic. And, since I am (hopefully) done with NEW chicks for the season, I'm not going to worry about it anymore this year.

Yea I could do that, would a game bird be ok to feed though? It says it’s for quail, peacocks, etc. I guess chickens would be fine with it.

I will have to look into this - I can get Sharps feed at one of the feed mills here no problem. And they do have a game bird feed. If I recall it is 36%.

Who knew feeding chickens was so complicated!