Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[BY Bob]

This may be a odd question, but:
Those of you who have had chickens die:
Did any of your chickens try calling the dead one?
Felicitas did this for a few days after Abigail died and still does it occasionally.

I have seen that. It's heartbreaking.

 

[BY Bob]

@micstrachan How is Minnie Minnie doing? Hope her limping is moderated some. Maybe CBD will help like it did @BY Bob 's Lilly?

And I love seeing Bridgie!!!

@micstrachan has tried CBD before and I don't think it worked.

 

[ManueB]

This may be a odd question, but:
Those of you who have had chickens die:
Did any of your chickens try calling the dead one?
Felicitas did this for a few days after Abigail died and still does it occasionally.

When Vanille who was in some ways alpha hen died, Cannelle screamed the strangest sound for days. It was like the sound they all make when a hen lay, but with a Spanish rolling RR in the middle.
The only chicken I’ve heard since making this sound is my rooster Gaston, and i’m still not sure what it means. If she was calling the dead chicken or just crying that something was terribly wrong.
They had all seen Vanille’s body, though only for a few minutes, and I remember very well that Cannelle especially had made sad moans.

I do not. There is no scientific evidence to support any benefit from it. I know others do but I do not.

Actually there are a few articles on broiler chicks, like this one https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/vms3.408

I don't use it anymore for my chickens because I have read and seen that many don't like the taste and will actually drink less. And it is possibly a problem for production layer breeds, as it could interfere with proper calcium intake.
I believe it was one of you that told me the one thing it was actually proven to be useful for is coccidiosis.

I give some indirectly once in a while, as it is the support of many of the natural health supplements to be added to water here, like natural preventives for worms, coccidiosis, for gut health and so on.

I use it a lot for myself, when I bake a cake with baking soda to help it rise, to make salads dressings mixed with tahini, as a hair rinse, to make fire cider and all kind of fun things.

 

[BY Bob]

@bgmathteach Butters has gained weight to 3lbs, 5 oz and has held it for two days. So she's gained at least six ounces. Developments in the last few days are that she seemed to be favoring the bigger crumbles, so I'd try to gather them in my hand when offering her feed, and today I got into town and got a bag of Nutrena Feather Fixer pellets,18% protein which would be good for Hazel and Popcorn to be eating because of the calcium.
Oops accidentally hit the post button. Editing --
So they all loved it, fed them out of my hands which Butters seems to like, and she stuffed herself on it this evening. She still favors the smaller bits, but she'll take a bigger one and break it up. She stopped to do some crop adjusting, I am hoping it just feels funny to her because her crop has not been filled like that for so long. Later I felt her crop and there was a nice firm ball of feed in there, comparable to Hazel's but a little smaller. This is new and good I think.

This sounds wonderful! I'm so hopeful. Great job working with her.

 

[BY Bob]

The Spuds today
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They went back to the tote edge for a little rest before setting off on a further exploration
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They are so adorable!

 

[BY Bob]

Hmmm.
Doesn't Aurora chase them away?
The reason Babs gets to eat so much is that Bernie spends so much of her time ensuring that nobody can get anywhere close!
She operates a roughly 10' 'no chicken zone' when treats are on the cards.

2 feeding locations with the exact same food provides for space for everyone to snag some. They are far enough apart that Aurora can't stalk them both. There is this rotation that takes place as Aurora moves the others rotate. Glynda follows Aurora as she is allowed to eat with Aurora. With her long neck Sydney will snatch what she wants right from Aurora's beak if needed and then zip away. Hattie is so slow right now that I personally make certain she gets her share. Everyone except Phyllis steals from her.

I am very deliberate doing this. It can be frustrating but I try hard to make certain everyone get a share. The biggest problem is when there is not enough of the year for everyone or 2 locations. Then Aurora gets most of it.

 

[BY Bob]

What CBD does @BY Bob use?

I've purchased CBD for myself and got the biscuits for my cat and dog. I wouldn't know how much to use for my chickens. But I've been informed that it is an ongoing treatment

I use Endoblend. It's designed for dogs and available over the web without a prescription. I do not think it is working well enough for Hattie so I'm going to switch her to prescription metacam today.

 

[Sally PB]

Saybrook go, Butters! (Auto correct struck again: "way to") figured the funny is needed. Next question: what is "saybrook"?

Personally, I think it "the machines" taking over. They are going to invent a new language. We will be able to read it at first... but then there will be "typos" of typos that get so arcane and confusing that we will be lost.

That is why I disabled autocorrect on my phone. I will not submit to this.

Gonna have to find some tax....

 

[RoyalChick]

I found this article interesting on natural dewormers.
@bgmathteach - I think you will find this helpful.
What I didn’t realize until reading this is that the common mugwort that Babs has been pruning, and which all my Princesses chow down on is one of the natural dewormers. So maybe they are self medicating!
And both @GregnLety and I have been dewormed by eating the leaves with our beans.
I think I will plant/sow some of the other plants mentioned for the chickens in their yard.
It also sounds like letting the grass grow long is a good idea.
https://eap.mcgill.ca/agrobio/ab370-04e.htm

 

[Ponypoor]

Parmesan is reminding you all this fine Wednesday morning to not stuff you face and choke on your food.
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Hello Parmesan and GtC hope all is well with all of you