Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[BY Bob]

Blue blue blue blue blue blue blue blue blue

I was surprised by Ruth’s egg I was eggspecting another olive or brown egg.

My thought is since Owly is an EE than she will lay blue or bluish eggs

Right now I am eggcited to see a brown egg as I get so many blue and green ones

 

[BY Bob]

Tassels laid beautiful dark khaki colored eggs for enough days for me to fall in love with the color. Then she stopped and is content with being big and fluffy and changing the color of her gowns.
Just look at those feathers!

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That is one well groomed lady.

 

[BY Bob]

Merry Christmas everyone.

My chickens are also getting a Christmas present. Hopefully to be completed by New Years if me and dad can get fully recovered from the crud. Free ranging days are limited for the flock 24/7 I hate to say. They are being lured down to the barn now that horses are down there 24/7. I cannot have that. I actually believe I have a few laying in the barn loft as I have been told a few hens go up there daily. I also have a new neighbor move in, with a very large dog that is contained in a very flimsy fence. The people that live down at the house with the barn have not complained about my chickens. Truth be told they are feeding them scraps which is encouraging the roaming. A run is being built and attached to the outside of Russ's stall to contain the flock. Actually my christmas present from dad, but calling it the chickens present. I figure I will have to leave them up for a good 3 weeks before I even attempt to let them out for supervised free range time. This is to ensure Momma hen, one of the leghorns and Squirrel are completely broken from roosting in the tree's at night. I know the flock will be upset for a few days maybe a week but it has to be done. Once it is built I will also permanently split up Branch and Bubba. Branch will stay in the smaller coop with Poppet and his 2 cochin ladies. Poppet and the Cochins have been tested and they get along ok as long as no other hens are thrown in the mix. Branch also adores the two cochin girls and as long as he has them he will be fine without the other hens. Bubba will get the rest of the ladies to himself. 1 way to look at it is if I want to this year, I can for sure advertise Marans hatching eggs without the chance Branch got lucky with one of the hens. It has happened before, that was how Twig came about. It needed to happen, this year sucked with both coyotes and stray dogs, enough is enough.

A tough decision but I see the wisdom. Their safety is paramount. My heart breaks for momma hen though. And how will the Marshmallows get their flying practice in?

 

[BY Bob]

I don't know if they like them, or are just interested in something "new that moves."

I have given them spadefuls of dirt that contain ants and ant eggs/larvae. They liked those too last summer.

I've been giving them some of the Japanese Beetles I froze last August, sprinkling them over their afternoon mash snack. Oh, they go for those! Even if they still have crystals of ice on them!

That's such a clever idea. Lucky ladies.

 

[BY Bob]

Merry Christmas Everyone

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

Oh I wish I could give you a big bear hug, so much stress for you this year. But I am glad that you will have one less stressor in your life with the new Hen Hotel - and I am looking forward to some lovely Cochin x Silkie babies and Poppet babies

Do you have calls for your Marans eggs ? That would be great if you can do that.

Hopefully Momma Hen settles ok along with Squirrel and the Leghorn - I hope you have netting over top so they don’t fly out like my brats - 6’ is not a problem for them to all! Yesterday Buttercup flew over the horse fence side which oils only 5’ high- she landed in the snow on the other side and was not impressed! Silly girl

Ok have a happy Christmas to you and your friends

I had a couple last year but did not offer them up, instead pointed them in other directions. Twig proved that Branch could breed with the big girls and that he was not missing all of the time. It will have to have a cover, Momma Hen and the leghorns would be able to fly right out of it if not. Actually, most of them could if they flew up to a roost and then over. They are smart, used to using stall boards to get up to the roosts, they would figure it out in a day. Eventually I want a tin roof and I will get one, maybe even when we build it this week depending on how things go. If not, I talked to dad and we agree for the time being a tarp will work for the moment to keep them in. Right now, keeping them in, and dry is the most important. We can fine tune it later and tweak it where needed. Maybe this summer also add a extension that would not need covered for Branch and his girls. I would love, love it if I could finally end up with 3 to 4 silkie hens one way or another. Luck just has it that I have not been able to have more then 1 at a time.

 

[Marie2020]

Merry Christmas Bob and Mrs @BY Bob

 

[Marie2020]

Please everyone. Have a lovely Christmas day

 

[Marie2020]

Princess loves Jaffar

 

[featherhead007]

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Princess loves Jaffar

She probably hears him crowing from across the pond. He can be pretty loud!