Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Ponypoor]

A wire dog kennel is on my "to get" list, however, the lawnmower needs a new starter housing, and the weed wacker needs a new battery.

Came home yesterday to find DH and MS were working on clearing some of the mineral build up out of the water supply...and flooded my cold storage room. They were soaking it up with EVERY single one of my bath towels, so today's project has become LAUNDRY and finishing drying out the room. A shop vac is now on the "to get" list also...and above the kennel in priority.

My baby raising tote has broken, so replacing that is also on my list. The wire kennel could easily do double duty, but depends upon what/when I can find something with the budget.

Sounds like you and I are in similar situations regarding cash flow.

I have land tax due, hay to buy (if it ever stops raining and it can get harvested), and my monthly mortgage, utilities, etc.

Thankfully the chickens pay for their feed and most of the horses grain. But once they slow down laying or stop then I wi have to fork out for their feed. I don’t begrudge them that, they don’t owe me anything. Not the horses. They have done their work over the years.

I did sell my old car yesterday, so my hay for this year is covered.

Life Tax
Dreaming of winter snow (not!)
February 2024

Wimps! Don’t like the snow

 

[RoyalChick]

Ugh. Sylvie does not like the fan and has set up shouting so loud you could hear her in the next county.
It has made the others a bit uneasy.
I can’t tell what she has against it and am sitting here to see if she calms down.
It is a tiny fan on the lowest setting.
I have to go back indoors - the ‘feels like’ temperature is 97° and I am drenched.
At least the fan got her standing up so maybe it is doing its job.

 

[Ponypoor]

Your kiddos are such dolls! How old are they?

Silkies turned out our favorites from all the breeds we cycled thru in 13-yrs -- just as smart or dumb as any other breed and don't have to worry they'll fly away and they're just as industrious!

Coincidence or not? that of all the colors our black and dark black partridge hens turned out our smartest friendliest industrious girls. Our gold partridges were not so smart, more shy, not as friendly. However, they are all gorgeous!

My silkies are all 3 yrs old now.

I am sure hoping the two chicks I have are pullets - I have the gender dna test here ready to do - I was just looking at toe nails to see if I could nip one short without cutting off a toe

One needs a few drops of blood places on a special card, they do the test with blood. I think I can nip the nail on the middle toe with the help of BIL, and a pair of magnifying glasses.

Or maybe I will just wait to see what they are… ya I like that plan better and cheaper than spending money o don’t really have- ya that’s what I will do. Thanks guys for helping me make that decision ! As bob pointed out to Rebecca, I am just going to enjoy them and not worry about what they are

 

[Debbie292d]

One of those controversial pro/con benefits I read years ago re DE, honey, apple cider vinegar, tomato leaves, and the lists go on.

There is an article by a member I will not name that some people thought was good that said such things above, and garlic and a few other things were toxic to chickens that weren't. Sure, garlic is toxic if you fed them several cloves of it 3 meals a day. ACV is beneficial, but shouldn't be a daily thing. DE has kept our coop mite-free for 8 years, but not the regular stuff, the food grade that has a minuscule amount of silica in it. Look at your bag of feed, most contain DE. Mine's Kalmbach's and it does.

Hundreds of thousands of people use and swear by these things and more. I wouldn't debunk things just based on what you read somewhere. Most of the time, that craps on Facebook, and know-nothing people parrot it. I doubt half of those people even have chickens.

I'm old and learned a long time ago to take everything with a grain of salt, be sure to seek out several reputable sources before making decisions, and never tell anyone what they're doing is wrong unless you know indisputably it is.

Interestingly, our BYC project manager wrote an article that contains garlic and many other herbs and one on ACV. I wouldn't trust garlic to keep worms away, but I'll not ever tell anyone not to use it. Once chickens have worms, it's sort of like if we'd ever get a mite breakout, stronger stuff is definitely needed than our preventative products.

 

[featherhead007]

My all American Princesses would destroy a plate of fish and chips in a few minutes if I offered it to them!

Then offer it to them!

 

[featherhead007]

This lady says they are not even chickens. Call them what you want, just don't call them chickens.

View attachment 3870502

I’m in agreement with your royal majesty!

 

[Sylvester017]

I am so happy my horse vet is just 4km up the road, he has beeen my vet for about 40yrs, he is semi retired but still will treat my old gals. I am hoping he will be around when the time comes for them to be put down, he was there for their birth.

And he is really good about trying stuff with my chooks. I do have a small animal vet who will see my chooks but she is very expensive. I do have a ‘$700 chicken’ here who just looks pretty most of the time.

Oh well what can you do, you have the responsibility so you must follow through with whatever is required.

Just to euthanize my wee 1 week old spraddle leg chick was almost $200 - I cried for more than the chick that night. I cried because I need to get back to working in the oil patch we’re I can make better money. While I love my job here and love being home each night, I need more secure pay. Everything is so expensive and that one chick finally made me realize I needed to go back out west.

I imagine vets that come to your property cost more than our suburban vets. We felt if $$$ was an issue we would choose only ONE pet after we retired and firstly remodeled the cottage.

Dogs cost a lot yearly with required vaccinations, routine health visits like teeth-cleaning, local county/city licensing, housing, feed, medicines, etc. Cats require a little less $$$ maintenance but vet bills and medicines still add up plus DH already had dog and cat pets before and wanted to try chickens. I'm a farm kid so any pet he picked was fine w/me.

However, as w/ any pet there also comes the responsibility, caring, and commitment to the choice of animal that fit our budget. Small property, small fixed income, hence, very small backyard flock

 

[featherhead007]

There is an article by a member I will not name that some people thought was good that said such things above, and garlic and a few other things were toxic to chickens that weren't. Sure, garlic is toxic if you fed them several cloves of it 3 meals a day. ACV is beneficial, but shouldn't be a daily thing. DE has kept our coop mite-free for 8 years, but not the regular stuff, the food grade that has a minuscule amount of silica in it. Look at your bag of feed, most contain DE. Mine's Kalmbach's and it does.

Hundreds of thousands of people use and swear by these things and more. I wouldn't debunk things just based on what you read somewhere. Most of the time, that craps on Facebook, and know-nothing people parrot it. I doubt half of those people even have chickens.

I'm old and learned a long time ago to take everything with a grain of salt, be sure to seek out several reputable sources before making decisions, and never tell anyone what they're doing is wrong unless you know indisputably it is.

Interestingly, our BYC project manager wrote an article that contains garlic and many other herbs and one on ACV. I wouldn't trust garlic to keep worms away, but I'll not ever tell anyone not to use it. Once chickens have worms, it's sort of like if we'd ever get a mite breakout, stronger stuff is definitely needed than our preventative products.

Take everything with a grain of salt? You must be eating a lot of salt I imagine.

 

[Debbie292d]

I suspect they weren't broody, but trying to avoid the rooster. I have had that - but their behavior on the nest is different - not the broody 'buk-buk-buk'. More like 'resting after laying - but 'resting' all day.

These were good actors. When let out, they put their wings out, fluffed up, walked around slowly, and did the broody song.

 

[Debbie292d]

Take everything with a grain of salt? You must be eating a lot of salt I imagine.