Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[featherhead007]

Well I'm taking after you, and been thinking of your setup quite a lot lately! I wishj I had a dedicated chicken's room! I love having the Spuds in with me. They've been roosting here at night. Right now the run is so exposed and the driest patch the Buckeyes have taken. I'm pretty sure they won't share it with the Spuds yet. So the Spuds are inside til I get it better covered and another spot dry. Integration got all sidetracked with Anna being ill and keeping the Spuds on Corid water and away from anywhere with a heavy load of coccidia, so when they were outside they had their own parts of the yard. I had just started putting them in with the Buckeyes in the good weather, lots of uncovered space to move in, and now most of the old litter has been removed. But I hesitate without more dry spots. Cold rain and wind here.

That whole statement said it was wet and rainy there. So sorry

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

I intend to breed these guys to sell locally so I have been researching the SOP I can speak to the Orps they are quite large and mine are no where near finished growing or feathering in. I read that they do not really finish until about a year - year and half. Everything about them is round to their shape to the tail feathers. The tail feathers on both the pullets and the roos curl under so you don’t see the praying hands look from behind, it should be rounded like the letter C turned sideways.

Here it maybe easier to see from this angle:
View attachment 3653938
And this shows the curls pretty well, the boys are more dramatic then the girls but both have or will have them. It gives them less of a pointy tail and more of the rounded C tail.
View attachment 3653945

I love the whole rounded shape of the English orpington. From my understanding there is supposed to be some weight to those birds as well and they are slow to mature. There is a thread dedicated to them on the breeds section here that I read a while back. I seem to remember that pullets took longer to lay, on average 25 weeks old or older. I forget exactly how old your jubilee's are but I know they are a few weeks older then my speckled sussex.
Here is a side shot of Dottie. She is 17 weeks old here, and if you compare their faces you would think they were of similar age with the color and size of their combs and wattles.

Side by side comparison and beside color including legs they really look nothing alike. Dottie is leggier with a sleek build. Feather's tighter to the body. From what I see in them Dottie and Spot are also going to be lighter hens. They will weigh more then the leghorns but I do not see them being heavy birds. They are actually the smallest in their clutch. Spooky who is a silkie x Marans cross weighs more then they do.

 

[rural mouse]

Nature of the feathers? Something difficult to see from pictures maybe?

Orpingtons have loose fluffy, somewhat Curly feathers similar to Cochins. Sussex have straighter feathers, laying closer to the body. Looking at cochins, orpingtons, sussex, wyandottes, and leghorns in profile. Cochins have short tails curving fairly closely around their backside. Orpingtons don't curl so closely, but they do in similar shape. Wyandotte tails almost curve up over the back. Leghorns stick out the back angling somewhat upward like the tail of a weather vane. Sussex tails are not as curved as a wyandotte but not as long as a leghorn.

Look at the way the feathers move when they get hit with a breeze. Orpingtons and cochins both get ruffled quickly. Leghorns, aside from the tail almost don't get ruffled. Wyandotte and Sussex fall in between the others.

Both of those things (along with body shape and size) are used to differentiate breeds of chicken.....even when comb, feather pattern and leg color are the same. Unless you're a serious breeder, glancing at different breeds of chicken that look similar (speckled sussex vs Jubilee orpington, Colombian wyandotte vs light Brahma, barred rock vs Cuckoo marans) the differences tend to be "spot the differences, hard mode" sorts of things.

 

[RoyalChick]

Well I'm taking after you, and been thinking of your setup quite a lot lately! I wishj I had a dedicated chicken's room! I love having the Spuds in with me. They've been roosting here at night. Right now the run is so exposed and the driest patch the Buckeyes have taken. I'm pretty sure they won't share it with the Spuds yet. So the Spuds are inside til I get it better covered and another spot dry. Integration got all sidetracked with Anna being ill and keeping the Spuds on Corid water and away from anywhere with a heavy load of coccidia, so when they were outside they had their own parts of the yard. I had just started putting them in with the Buckeyes in the good weather, lots of uncovered space to move in, and now most of the old litter has been removed. But I hesitate without more dry spots. Cold rain and wind here.

I can see where this is heading. Soon, the Spuds and the Buckeyes will discover that they share a taste in movies and they will all be lined up on the back of the sofa in your family room.
Keep us posted on that one!

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

Step 1. Acquire stick on googly eyes. Check.
Step 2. Attach them to a certain black rooster, coming soon.

 

[RoyalChick]

Orpingtons have loose fluffy, somewhat Curly feathers similar to Cochins. Sussex have straighter feathers, laying closer to the body. Looking at cochins, orpingtons, sussex, wyandottes, and leghorns in profile. Cochins have short tails curving fairly closely around their backside. Orpingtons don't curl so closely, but they do in similar shape. Wyandotte tails almost curve up over the back. Leghorns stick out the back angling somewhat upward like the tail of a weather vane. Sussex tails are not as curved as a wyandotte but not as long as a leghorn.

Look at the way the feathers move when they get hit with a breeze. Orpingtons and cochins both get ruffled quickly. Leghorns, aside from the tail almost don't get ruffled. Wyandotte and Sussex fall in between the others.

Both of those things (along with body shape and size) are used to differentiate breeds of chicken.....even when comb, feather pattern and leg color are the same. Unless you're a serious breeder, glancing at different breeds of chicken that look similar (speckled sussex vs Jubilee orpington, Colombian wyandotte vs light Brahma, barred rock vs Cuckoo marans) the differences tend to be "spot the differences, hard mode" sorts of things.

You never fail to blow me away with your knowledge of breeds. Thank you for sharing that knowledge with us.

 

[featherhead007]

I can see where this is heading. Soon, the Spuds and the Buckeyes will discover that they share a taste in movies and they will all be lined up on the back of the sofa in your family room.
Keep us posted on that one!

Just like my house! But Jaffar usually hogs the remote control, while I’m in the kitchen popping popcorn !

 

[featherhead007]

View attachment 3654179
Step 1. Acquire stick on googly eyes. Check.
Step 2. Attach them to a certain black rooster, coming soon.

Oh Gezz. Here we go.

 

[featherhead007]

Just like my house! But Jaffar usually hogs the remote control, while I’m in the kitchen popping popcorn !

RC, you think I’m making a joke of this, but actually yes my chooks come in on movie night, have snacks and water. And watch a movie with me. Sometimes they are right and the movie sucks! But I don’t want to see that “cry macho” movie ever again! We have a motto, “me casa es You coop , just stay out of the fridge!

 

[Ponypoor]

Anything that is clayey will hold water, if you want to drain water away you will need to slope any gravel towards the location you want to use for drainage away. ‘B’ gravel might be an option, but if you can get it, I would go with 3/4” crusher run, for used that to back grade the barn to help run water away from it.

Where it is graded down to, you will need to create a drainage ditch which needn’t be that deep, a couple inches and about a couple feet wide slopes away from the run would do fine.

Also if you have sufficient slope to you land you can put in tile drain, this is plastic tiles with hole in it, the hole downward BTW, back fill around the tile with your crusher run, you will need to run the tiles into a lower section or a metal mage ditch.

Many options, just need to figure out your budget, and manpower.

Metal mage ditch??? WTH is it with autocorrect?!

I meant drainage ditch, sheesh!

Tile drain drain a always run into a drainage ditch or catch basin or some sort.