Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Ponypoor]

View attachment 3651309
This is Robin. She has the reddest comb and wattles of the 5 pullets. I'm hoping she is going to lay soon, as Stormy is going to stop any day now, and all the other hens are motling.

Since it's Tuesday, I have a second picture of Robin.
View attachment 3651312I guess my phone thought the subject to focus on was the sheet on the line.

And very white sheet it is !!

Can you take a side photo of your girl so I can compare it with Cash, I am almost certain she isn’t a Bielefelder, but I am very curious about what colour egg she lays. Actually all of them!

 

[notabitail]

Butters is failing today. I'm not sure she'll live through the night. Yesterday she was eating and drinking and fairly active, but today mostly resting, not wanting to move much. It seemed she wasn't steady on her feet, especially one side, and I wondered if she hurt something. Her comb and face is normal red. Later when I gave her some walnut bits, she wanted them, but it seemed her beak was pretty dry and ate some then stopped eating. She went over to the feeder and tried to eat but the crumbles were very dry in her beak too. So she got herself over to a sunny protected spot and rested. When the sun moved she moved too, but not very well. I felt her crop and decided to tube-feed her some baby bird mix thinking it would give her nutrition and fluid, and I syringe-fed her 3ml of water & electrolytes too, all right there in the sun. She stayed where she was for a couple of hours.

So at 6pm I got her and sat with her by the coop and said my goodbyes and just hung out with her on my lap for half an hour. She slept and looked around a bit. I put her in the nestbox, because that's where she puts herself to bed and it feels safe, and the others would soon be in, and she would have her usual company. I fluffed the hemp so it would be soft.

 

[Sally PB]

Can you take a side photo of your girl so I can compare it with Cash

I will try to get one in the next few days. (If I don't post one here, please remind me!)

Robin and Sunny have more red in their back feathers than Pip and Squeak, and Pip is the most blonde of the bunch. I can pick her out of the group visually at a glance.

 

[Ponypoor]

Butters is failing today. I'm not sure she'll live through the night. Yesterday she was eating and drinking and fairly active, but today mostly resting, not wanting to move much. It seemed she wasn't steady on her feet, especially one side, and I wondered if she hurt something. Her comb and face is normal red. Later when I gave her some walnut bits, she wanted them, but it seemed her beak was pretty dry and ate some then stopped eating. She went over to the feeder and tried to eat but the crumbles were very dry in her beak too. So she got herself over to a sunny protected spot and rested. When the sun moved she moved too, but not very well. I felt her crop and decided to tube-feed her some baby bird mix thinking it would give her nutrition and fluid, and I syringe-fed her 3ml of water & electrolytes too, all right there in the sun. She stayed where she was for a couple of hours.

So at 6pm I got her and sat with her by the coop and said my goodbyes and just hung out with her on my lap for half an hour. She slept and looked around a bit. I put her in the nestbox, because that's where she puts herself to bed and it feels safe, and the others would soon be in, and she would have her usual company. I fluffed the hemp so it would be soft.

Oh no very sorry to hear this, this seems really sudden, I wonder what happened

Hopefully she is just having an off day.

 

[notabitail]

Barbara van Beethov-hen thinks my phone is a beak wiping pad.

 

[SimpleJenn]

They aren't even using the brooder correctly anymore

Time to remove it I think. And put up the roost bars. Should I leave that lid in front of the nest boxes or let them sort themselves out?

 

[notabitail]

They aren't even using the brooder correctly anymore
View attachment 3651317
Time to remove it I think. And put up the roost bars. Should I leave that lid in front of the nest boxes or let them sort themselves out?

Maybe give them a bigger area? It looks very small. And I'm not sure about the brooder, but it can probably go.

 

[lightm]

Congratulations to @rural mouse for her new medal!!! So well deserved!!!

 

[Ponypoor]

Uh oh.

Uh huh, me too.

They rarely eat the pebbles. They do chow down on the crushed egg shells.

Yup, mine too.

I really don't want to get 50 lbs... but I'll do it for my chickens.

Dang. That's what I have.

A trip to TSC is in my near future. Thanks, @rural mouse, for the info. My chickens' eggshells are thin-ish. I wish they were thicker, and I'll see if I can get better OS for them to help with that.

This is what I found about Coastal brand

https://www.canadianpoultrymag.com/warehouse-shell-celebrates-75-years-14489/

 

[SimpleJenn]

Maybe give them a bigger area? It looks very small. And I'm not sure about the brooder, but it can probably go.

Oh that's the inside of their sleeping area. They have a whole run too. Angle is weird because I stuck my phone in the pop door and took the pic while locking up.