Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[rural mouse]

Had all 5 chicks out exploring the kitchen floor (and pooping on it) with Sherlockthere. No pics as he qas being closely supervised. He got zapped a couple of times early on for that intense look, then started turning his own head away. He also walked through the flock outside (scattered so no closer than 5 feet) without paying close attention to them!!!! progress!!

 

[bgmathteach]

An unwelcome visitor for Pony Sunday
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I hate to say this - but s/he is looking very healthy. Either not the mange one, or else that one fought it off and pulled through the winter very well.

 

[Kris5902]

Oh dear... maybe the mustard rumor isn't true!

Mine had zero issues with mustard, or hot sauce… I tried all sorts of concoctions and the only real solution for me was roll away nest boxes for the egg eaters and getting them all in one coop.

 

[bgmathteach]

I’m needing to get some of those ceramic ones. Golfballs are not working anymore I guess.

Mine either kick gold balls out of the nest, or ignore them. The fake eggs, they leave alone and DO tend to be more likely to lay in a nest with them versus a nest with a gold ball! That said, I find with the young ones just coming into lay - golf balls help over nothing. Not so much with my older, more experienced girls.

 

[Kris5902]

Wonderful!

That worked pretty well getting them to go home. What is the blue herding stick you were using?

I like bright coloured aluminum walking canes for “chicken sticks”… you can herd, use the handle like a shepherd’s crook or behind the legs for the step up roosting in a tree retrieval, and it makes a great weapon for threatening and chasing off eagles, raccoons, mink, dogs, etc… helps we always had a few extras around, I should probably check the thrift stores for more

 

[bgmathteach]

Had all 5 chicks out exploring the kitchen floor (and pooping on it) with Sherlockthere. No pics as he qas being closely supervised. He got zapped a couple of times early on for that intense look, then started turning his own head away. He also walked through the flock outside (scattered so no closer than 5 feet) without paying close attention to them!!!! progress!!

Just so you know:

When a dog turns their head away from something interesting that you know they want to look at/investigate/etc, it is a sign of stress. So, good that he is behaving, but just a note to work with him to the point that he can meander through/around/be within a group of chicks or adults without the head turning away so 'I don't get tempted to be bad/play' point.

That said, as an impulsive puppy still - he is learning very quickly!! That is one thing about labs - they take forever to 'grow up/out of puppy-hood', but they have a very strong drive to please their owners, making them much easier to train than, say, a Husky who is much more independent minded (more like a cat - very trainable, and very intelligent - but that intelligence also brings more self determination.)

 

[rural mouse]

Just so you know:

When a dog turns their head away from something interesting that you know they want to look at/investigate/etc, it is a sign of stress. So, good that he is behaving, but just a note to work with him to the point that he can meander through/around/be within a group of chicks or adults without the head turning away so 'I don't get tempted to be bad/play' point.

That said, as an impulsive puppy still - he is learning very quickly!! That is one thing about labs - they take forever to 'grow up/out of puppy-hood', but they have a very strong drive to please their owners, making them much easier to train than, say, a Husky who is much more independent minded (more like a cat - very trainable, and very intelligent - but that intelligence also brings more self determination.)

He got some of the blue Buffalo treats (the extra good ones) when the chicks went back in the tote. The youngest kid was also sitting there helping, so loving on him, letting him snuggle, etc. to help with the whole thing. Sherlock's much more willing to go through the flock to go play with his ball. They aren't so willing to have him do that. All in all, a good step. And now we're going on another walk/ball play time.

 

[RoyalChick]

I hate to say this - but s/he is looking very healthy. Either not the mange one, or else that one fought it off and pulled through the winter very well.

I think it must be a different one - the ones with bad mange apparently don't usually survive a winter.
This one looks very healthy - and healthy is good because it means s/he is managing very nicely with a diet of squirrels and mice. The last thing I need is a starving and desperate fox who will risk the electric fence for a chicken dinner!
I probably should have flung the dead mice from the traps today out for the fox instead of leaving them in the chicken run. I will do that in the morning.

 

[RoyalChick]

Mine either kick gold balls out of the nest, or ignore them. The fake eggs, they leave alone and DO tend to be more likely to lay in a nest with them versus a nest with a gold ball! That said, I find with the young ones just coming into lay - golf balls help over nothing. Not so much with my older, more experienced girls.

I have yet to recover the golf ball that Babs kicked out of the nest. It must be there somewhere!

 

[RoyalChick]

I like bright coloured aluminum walking canes for “chicken sticks”… you can herd, use the handle like a shepherd’s crook or behind the legs for the step up roosting in a tree retrieval, and it makes a great weapon for threatening and chasing off eagles, raccoons, mink, dogs, etc… helps we always had a few extras around, I should probably check the thrift stores for more

Can you post a picture of one so I know what to look for. I badly need something!