Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[rural mouse]

Well I was thinking of shoving them in a Kleenex box under the seat of my truck…. Less obvious than chucking them across I would say!

And meet at an empty field...

 

[bgmathteach]

Freedom

I opened the side door and they made their way across the frozen tundra to sit crowded into Hattie House.

View attachment 3748683View attachment 3748684

Never underestimate the lure of.......

Yes, just to have SELF IMPOSED restrictions in a smaller, more cramped place!

(ah, yes, BUT - though known to us - it is like visiting an old friend - very enjoyable for a short time as an 'outing' - it is the way of the chicken. self-imposed = okay. Human imposed= NOT okay!)

 

[bgmathteach]

Oh me too - but I am a bit embarrassed I don’t know who is laying what.
The egg I think is from Tassels is laid in Sylvie’s box - where she spends the night to avoid the bully Piglet.
How Piglet - who is tiny - gets to be the class bully I will never understand!

Same way a chihuahua thinks they can take you in a brawl! Same way short people learn early on to fight and stand up for themselves because they are always a target ---small and mighty rules the day!

 

[RoyalChick]

Same way a chihuahua thinks they can take you in a brawl! Same way short people learn early on to fight and stand up for themselves because they are always a target ---small and mighty rules the day!

Oh Piglet!
The same psychology in reverse seems at play with Tassels who is huge and very chill. I don’t think anyone but Bernie is even tall enough to take her on in a serious way!
I suppose Piglet could peck her toes. But then she might accidentally stomp on Piglet’s head.

 

[ChicoryBlue]

Be careful with those. If I am reading it right you do not get to choose the breeds in the assortment. I am not thinking uh oh roosters either. Look what is pictured underneath the silver seabrights. Those are Old English Game. Lovely hardy birds, if you want a Bat Crap Crazy Momma hen. Get you 1, the little demon will be up in the rafters and hiding her eggs in your barn loft by 6 months. If you try to break her up, you will invent new curse words for her. You will also call her every single name under the sun when she sneaks off and comes home with chicks in tow.

In other words, the OG of chickens!

 

[ChicoryBlue]

Fully place the blame on your girls, your boys are innocent. Gender is determined by the hens.

Is it possible that in classic backyard flocks where eggs are the prize/goal and is made up of mostly hens, they think there's not enough boys around and so put in the order for boys when they decide?

 

[bgmathteach]

Temperature dependent sex ratio is recognized in reptiles.
Here is a legit scientific study that demonstrated it happens in turkeys.
It seems quite likely that cold results in more males - the paper gives temperatures used in their study.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1629050/#:~:text=Temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD,eggs begins (Hardy 2002).

There was a study that I believe @BY Bob posted. If I remember correctly, it skewed towards female by about 10% for cooler temps.

 

[bgmathteach]

Hi, everyone. I just wanted to share what’s going on with my Bridge.

Post in thread 'Injury or Neurological Issue?'
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/injury-or-neurological-issue.1603977/post-27496333

to you and sweet Bridgie!

 

[ChicoryBlue]

They have the dark brahmas, and while they don't have the appenzeller spitzhaubens, they do have brabanters (spelling? Dunno, but they have a similar crest). They also have chanteclers and Russian orloffs (now I wish they could ship to the US).

This gets me - these guys in Bellingham Washington State have gotten some of their Spitzhauben lines from Canada !! They have some exotic breeds but I didn't see Russian Orloffs.
https://www.springcreekheritagefarms.com

 

[ChicoryBlue]

Couple years ago, I read an article (I think it was linked here) about a study on chick genders relating to temps. If I recall correctly, it said that eggs that got cold were more likely to hatch pullets. Of course it didn't say how "cold" cold was. My MIL and I were getting ready to load the incubator and battling getting eggs in from the coop before they froze. Out of 27 eggs in the incubator, 20 developed, 17 hatched (3 with developemental issues)and 14 lived at least long enough to determine gender (hawk got one half grown). I think we had 5 roos out of the 14....lending some credence to the cold. However, more investigation is needed on that point.

Definitely more investigation needed - will you be incubating this year?