Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[ChicoryBlue]

We would love to have another golden retriever but the Vet costs are just too much. Vaccines alone are crazy expensive, I know my horse vet is more than willing to vax he does my cats, but my vet won’t be around forever - he is already semi retired. And the cost of feed is stupid expensive! The cat alone is about $30 for a small bag of dried food and those small cans are over $2. Thankfully she doesn’t eat too much.

Happily the chooks are paying for their keep, let’s not talk about the horses

If you take good care of your animals, it can cost a lot, both dogs and cats! We've had both very cheap to board cats and dogs and real high-end special health needs pets. It can go either way, you never know!

 

[ChicoryBlue]

If you take good care of your animals, it can cost a lot, both dogs and cats! We've had both very cheap to board cats and dogs and real high-end special health needs pets. It can go either way, you never know!

Tax
More pics from yesterday
Hazel

Spuds Tedi & Diane "The Bruiser" Ida, Anna's hidden behind

Popcorn "The Enforcer"

 

[ChicoryBlue]

This is a wretched cold that has got onto my chest. I've been drinking ginger cloves turmeric and pepper tea with honey and lemon. Herbal tea and honey and this morning I had black tea and honey. Plus a couple of teaspoons of honey in-between

I can smell and taste, so it's not covid.

Smell and taste loss is not a sign anymore of Covid, just so you know. It's a symptom one can have but is not universal.

 

[Ponypoor]

If you have never had a dog before you could always adopt a older to senior dog. You will get all the love with the added bonus of sparing yourself the puppy stage. Puppies are cute, puppy breath is great, puppies are also nightmares. It is starting to hit me now that my golden Gracie is a senior at 10. 20 years now I have had a golden retriever in my life. I really do not want to think of not having one, it is wrong on so many levels. The urge is starting to start looking at breeders again. I also keep telling myself I am crazy. Having raised 2 so far I know what I am in for, and while they are wonderful dogs, they do not come programmed to be the worlds perfect dog. I have gotten both of my girls at 9 weeks, both times in the winter months. These were family dogs, yet housebreaking and all the midnight, 2 am, 4 am walks, somehow, I was the one who froze. They are smart and easy to housebreak, still, lots of walks as they cannot hold it all night. Teething, teething is terrible for any puppy, but goldens who naturally want to have something in their mouth, landsharks. You survive the housebreaking, you survive the teething and they know several basic commands and at 6 months old you start gloating. Insert teenage phase. They become the equivalent to a hormonal teenage idiot roo, just bigger. They forget every single thing you have spent months teaching them and will instead give you the furry finger. You want to kill them, they try to kill you, they start thinking curse words are their names and you question your sanity and why did you need a dog. Finally something magical happens, they turn a year and a half old. If you have managed to stick it out they become overnight the smart, reliable, calm even tempered gentle dogs they are bred to be. You forget every single struggle, every sharp needle tooth nip, and have a best friend for the rest of their lives. Call me crazy, but yes, I am starting to look at golden pups again. Hopefully Gracie makes me wait a few more years, but, I am looking.

Newton our golden chewed the runner off the rocking chair one night and the window sills on our floor to ceiling windows….. one day he tried to eat an electric fence insulator - that was still attached to some electric fencing the horses knocked down (ok ya I laughed poor Newton).

Yep golden are wonderful.

Have you ever thought of getting a rescue? There is a golden rescue here should be same down there…

 

[BeastBaby]

Oh gosh I hope everything will be ok, do you have an evacuation plan for your chooks? I had one but now I have at least 10 chooks so not sure how I would clear them all and put in the truck!!

Lmao at least 10?! No more than 1

I had a vague plan using dog crates of various sizes. No plan as far as where to actually take them after that! I guess drive circles in the car until all seven chickens and two children fall asleep.

 

[BeastBaby]

Perry has a beautiful fade-to-black going on with her wing feathers! It's great you can give her that dust-bath time there.
Hope your neighborhood stays safe!

Yes! At first glance I found her plumage humdrum but the longer I look at it the more dynamic I find it. And her colorful legs

 

[BeastBaby]

She went for my hand right away, first off, today when I was doing chores but I said a strong No and picked her up near the litter, turning her a bit on her side, held her like that for 10 seconds and she didn't fight me. She behaved pretty well after that and I didn't offer her a chance at my hands for awhile, then later we foraged together a little in wet leaves and she didn't try for my hand. Late in the day she did attack my boots, I said No several times, she was growling and keening, then Popcorn trotted over ready to rumble and she ran away.

Woah, so much going on here. Your relationship with her is definitely evolving… seems like your more dominant moves worked.
When she came after your boots, did you move backwards at all? Or are you protected enough that you could hold your ground or even advance towards her?

 

[RoyalChick]

You are of course correct all my cats know how to sit, beg, high-five, jump through my arms, leap from chair to chair, talk (sometimes too much ha!); they can be quite food motivated

Now if only I can get them to clean the kitty litter

My cats are highly trained.
They can sleep, purr, destroy furniture, send e-mails, limit my screen time, tell me when it is time for me to go to bed to warm it up for them, confine me to the couch, and tell me when it is time to feed them.

 

[RoyalChick]

Tax
More pics from yesterday
Hazel
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Spuds Tedi & Diane "The Bruiser" Ida, Anna's hidden behind
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Popcorn "The Enforcer"
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Sooo fluffy!

 

[ChicoryBlue]

A Christmas Miracle

Because we are celebrating the holidays with are children I won't be on much. However I just had to share this Christmas miracle with everyone.

While I was prepping the coop for an extended lock up period, I found this!

Spoiler: What was the Miracle?

View attachment 3713191
And they are.....

 BLUE

Glynda started laying during the shortest days of the year and the blue spray paint dispenser is full again!

I had no idea. Why would I be checking for eggs at the winter solstice? What a wonderful surprise. She had a nice break in the fall so no worries despite the fact that it feels soon.

Tell Aurora the blue eggs nicely frame the pink egg there, let it really stand out! That's hers, right?