Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[rural mouse]

Baby mugs...

 

[BY Bob]

Thankfully my stomach was okay, it was a high fever, chills, and muscle aches that got me but only for about 24 hrs afterwards. Not fun but there is much worse when it comes to cancer treatments.

Since it is a trial there are no guarantees it will help but I hope it does. It takes quite a bit of proof to get to the human trial phase @ least that is my understanding of the process.

During the wide excision surgery they will remove several lymph nodes closest to the lesion, they call these sentinel lymph nodes and they find them by injecting dye. They will send them to be biopsied and it could take up to two weeks to get the results from that.

After that if they are clear I will just go back for frequent skin checks. If they are not clear then lots more scans will be ordered PET scans, MRIs, basically all hell will break loose. I try not to think about that to much.

Thank you for the support, its felt and it means more then you know.

Thank you so much its not over quite yet Monday will be the last injection of vaccine. The good thoughts are welcome and appreciated.

Best of luck today with the last injection.

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

Blue eggs are the best! Congratulations!

I tell my little Owly she does not have to follow the crowd and listen to my sister and Rosie. Who needs a blue egg, not me. She is more then welcome to lay a brown or pink egg when the time comes. The Great Queen Aurora does not even lay a blue or green egg.

 

[BY Bob]

Yes, that's what I told Goneril. Don't grow up too fast little one!

I have to say that it has been fascinating watching these chicks grow up and integrate with the flock. I took lots of time off from work, so that I could be present and it has been so great!

In this photo, Beatrice (the black pullet) is bathing with Penny and Rosa.
View attachment 3613057

These are some of the best moments. I love a successful integration.

 

[bgmathteach]

Meet and Greet

Had the chicks outside in the puppy pen again today, in the front of the house, in view of the Buckeye's run, and I let the ladies out. No one was terribly interested. Popcorn was the first to notice them peeping and she came over and bokked a warning sound I associate with seeing something new. She eyed them carefully then walked away. Butters saw them and seemed to not care. I gave her a piece of a corn on the cob near the pen. That's something she'll eat, and she and Popcorn were busy with that for awhile. Hazel noticed last because she was back in the run and didn't come out for a bit. I saw her approach cautiously, and then not do anything. She did get closer, DH said there was a small beak-off pointing at each other, a chick being still looking up at her and Hazel being still looking down, and that was that. The chicks explored the pen area and the hens foraged and went for the cob.

Two hours later I brought down the real chick feeder because they kept stepping on and tipping over a little plastic hummus container for the crumbles. I opened the pen and then the feeder top to grab some crumbles and top up the little slots and show it to them, and a chick jumped up onto the doorway jamb and hopped out right by me.

I shifted back without moving my feet to track and better help the chick if needed. Nobody cared. A second chick hopped out. Popcorn, ignoring the chicks, saw their old feeder and her opportunity to hop into the pen and go for the crumbles and she did, sticking her head right down into the open top (isn't that Aurora's or Hattie's thing?). I finally got my phone and took some pictures.
View attachment 3615501
She had a good feed then took a stroll around the pen, looked at the Brinsea plate, ate some more, had some of their water, then hopped out.

I moved the water dish outside out of the way and eventually helped the third chick out as she was desperate to join her sisters and wasn't figuring out the hopping up and over. They didn't go far, they really wanted to explore more of the deep vegetation (aka out of control garden spot) that the pen was next to. I don't know why but so far their presence is no big deal to the Buckeyes. Maybe because they aren't competing for the same spaces and resources yet?

After that it was chicks in and out, adults in and out. Popcorn did a real peck once but mostly scared a chick who screamed and ran. The chick had been interested and pecking around at her and annoyed her. Popcorn didn't pursue.

Butters also did a very slight peck after tolerating a whole lot of chick pecks to her beak and her side feathers, when one pecked her cheek she turned and pecked back. The chicks didn't go far away though and Butters seemed to tolerate them pretty well, she's always been pretty mellow. I saw her raise up a little and lean at a chick a couple of times but that's it. Here's Butters and the chicks drinking. The door happened to be between them.
View attachment 3615500

And here's two chicks going for the water drops from her beak. She let them, she stayed very still for them.
View attachment 3615498

So I put away the pen for today....
View attachment 3615499

That sounds like a wonderful meet and greet. Very tolerant/accepting, but setting of boundaries by the bigs - confident curiosity by the littles

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

Happy Mugs Monday everyone.

A whole lot of mugs

 

[BY Bob]

Fluffy butt Friday!

Honey and Poopy
View attachment 3613189

Wendy molting butt
View attachment 3613190

Meimei's feather lacking butt. She keeps having liquidy poop that she has adapted to lose some feather in one spot of her butt...
View attachment 3613191

Light
View attachment 3613192

Poopy and Inky
View attachment 3613193View attachment 3613194View attachment 3613195

Foxy butt
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Inky's molting butt
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Those are amazing! So much fluff!

 

[BY Bob]

Happy Mugs Monday everyone.
View attachment 3615646View attachment 3615647
A whole lot of mugs
View attachment 3615648View attachment 3615649View attachment 3615650

Those are very very good! You have been using the black box very well.

 

[Ponypoor]

Meet and Greet

Had the chicks outside in the puppy pen again today, in the front of the house, in view of the Buckeye's run, and I let the ladies out. No one was terribly interested. Popcorn was the first to notice them peeping and she came over and bokked a warning sound I associate with seeing something new. She eyed them carefully then walked away. Butters saw them and seemed to not care. I gave her a piece of a corn on the cob near the pen. That's something she'll eat, and she and Popcorn were busy with that for awhile. Hazel noticed last because she was back in the run and didn't come out for a bit. I saw her approach cautiously, and then not do anything. She did get closer, DH said there was a small beak-off pointing at each other, a chick being still looking up at her and Hazel being still looking down, and that was that. The chicks explored the pen area and the hens foraged and went for the cob.

Two hours later I brought down the real chick feeder because they kept stepping on and tipping over a little plastic hummus container for the crumbles. I opened the pen and then the feeder top to grab some crumbles and top up the little slots and show it to them, and a chick jumped up onto the doorway jamb and hopped out right by me.

I shifted back without moving my feet to track and better help the chick if needed. Nobody cared. A second chick hopped out. Popcorn, ignoring the chicks, saw their old feeder and her opportunity to hop into the pen and go for the crumbles and she did, sticking her head right down into the open top (isn't that Aurora's or Hattie's thing?). I finally got my phone and took some pictures.
View attachment 3615501
She had a good feed then took a stroll around the pen, looked at the Brinsea plate, ate some more, had some of their water, then hopped out.

I moved the water dish outside out of the way and eventually helped the third chick out as she was desperate to join her sisters and wasn't figuring out the hopping up and over. They didn't go far, they really wanted to explore more of the deep vegetation (aka out of control garden spot) that the pen was next to. I don't know why but so far their presence is no big deal to the Buckeyes. Maybe because they aren't competing for the same spaces and resources yet?

After that it was chicks in and out, adults in and out. Popcorn did a real peck once but mostly scared a chick who screamed and ran. The chick had been interested and pecking around at her and annoyed her. Popcorn didn't pursue.

Butters also did a very slight peck after tolerating a whole lot of chick pecks to her beak and her side feathers, when one pecked her cheek she turned and pecked back. The chicks didn't go far away though and Butters seemed to tolerate them pretty well, she's always been pretty mellow. I saw her raise up a little and lean at a chick a couple of times but that's it. Here's Butters and the chicks drinking. The door happened to be between them.
View attachment 3615500

And here's two chicks going for the water drops from her beak. She let them, she stayed very still for them.
View attachment 3615498

So I put away the pen for today....
View attachment 3615499

That’s what I call a success sounds like everyone had a good time, that is enrichment for you older ladies and a learning experience for the babies

 

[Sally PB]

A rare mugshot of Pip on my shoulder. Usually she's standing the other way.