Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[featherhead007]

Not a successful one at the moment.

In reply to this last post:
I took him outside to the coop, where the others were waiting. Then he started “crowing”? Sounds more like a rubber chicken squeak!

 

[lightm]

I love the patriotic names. I've not seen them used before.

I do too. @TX Chick Noob

Thanks for the info! I was thinking of using shelf brackets and a hinge to make it open-able on top, do you think it's possible with that coop? Otherwise I will sort something out I know. I currently use a dustpan to clean my coop, just reach in and scoop haha.
If I may pick your brain one more time...are the roosts good? I saw on amazon a lot of people have replaced them because they weren't holding their giant breed birds well...

The way the top is installed, I don't think you can modify it to an openable top.

Our chickens are happy with the roosts, but they haven't had another option. some are pretty heavy birds. In fact, I gave them a very nice roost outside, which is a huge tree branch that was cut and they didn't want it...

But I don't see it hurt to replace the roosts and make them wider.

 

[Sylvester017]

7 Minutes of Chicks and Mums

So one Sussex hen didnt hatch any chick so she's co-parenting w/ the white hen's chicks? Those chicks are adorable!

 

[BY Bob]

So one Sussex hen didnt hatch any chick so she's co-parenting w/ the white hen's chicks? Those chicks are adorable!

Lady Featherington is not a Sussex, she is a Jubilee Orpington. She hatched the Polish chick, multicolored. Glynda is a Frost Legbar and she hatched the Orpington chick which is yellow. They each have one of their own but are coparenting so far.

 

[knoturavggrl]

7 Minutes of Chicks and Mums

Awlll, they all just precious . What a lovely team they make! The chicks both look spry and curious. The top hat on the polish is already quite noticeable, I cant wait to see how it looks.

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

7 Minutes of Chicks and Mums

This is beautiful, thank you for posting it. I am jealous, you have something special happening. I can praise my girls, I have never had a bad momma. None of my girls will co-parent even if they hatch at the same time. They fight each other, run off chicks that are not theirs and stake out their own patch in the back yard as their own jurisdictions and woe to the one who crosses boundaries. Those 2 chicks will be spoiled with 2 momma's. 2 is a perfect number, there is competition to encourage them to eat well. I have had momma's raise single chicks and while they did good, without competition they grew slower. I look forward to watching them grow and learn their names.

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

Friends, I have a problem and I just cannot deal with it. I do not have it in me emotionally to handle the situation as I normally would and I fear in the next few days of making a rash decision.

They brought back the da** chicken chase at the horse show Saturday. The concession was swamped with a huge line when they did it. I did not see what happened but was informed by one of the kids who knows I have chickens afterwards. They turned 3 roosters loose for the kids to catch. That is right 3 ROOSTERS!!!!! They caught 1 of them, the other 2 got out of the ring and hit the hill. Insert a slew of curse words here, I said them all that night. I figured I would give it 48 hours and if they survived they would gravitate to my yard hearing my chickens. I was wrong, 24 hours. While putting my girls up last night at least 1 of them survived the night and was on the hill behind the house calling to my girls. No one wanted to go in the coop on their own they were being enticed to the hill. Trampy Judy the Barred Rock actually got in the creek on me and the devil ran down and bred her before I could get to her. Insert another string of curse words as I got my first look at him. It is a frigging game rooster, and a good sized one at that. He is beautiful, marked just like Bubba but I cant. I simply cannot deal with a stray rooster trying to join my flock. I cannot have him enticing my girls to join him on the hillside either. He ran back up the hill when I came in the creek to pick up Judy who wanted to follow him so he is skittish and young as well I think. If Bubba was 100% he would be able to trounce him, but Bubba is not. Bubba would be hurt in a fight. I have not saw him this morning, but I have heard him crowing higher up the hillside. I love roosters. I strongly feel all roosters deserve a chance to be good roosters. I cannot compromise the safety of my own rooster and flock for this interloper though. It is not his fault but he is going to have to be taken care of and the other 1 as well if it survived. In another week I will be possibly moving the chicks outside and introducing them to my flock will be stressful enough. The last thing I need is a strange boy attempting to hurt them.

Curse those idiots. Curse them for bringing back the chicken chase. Curse them some more for being stupid enough to turn loose 3. 3 roosters none the less.

 

[rural mouse]

So very sorry for your loss. That heat is brutal. When we had our 110+ days last year we turned on our big ice maker. I would take a 5 gallon bucket of ice out every day, put some in their water containers, and some in tubs of water for them to wade in. They loved eating the ice chips. I would also make a batch of electrolytes and freeze it in to ice cubes for them, sometimes with blueberries inside.

Bobbing for ice cubes
View attachment 3885268

Stealing ice before I get it in the water
View attachment 3885269



Oh Rebecca, I am so very sorry for your loss. He was a very special little rooster. Praying for a Branch cockerel to hatch and take after his daddy.


Sorry you lost one of the little ones. It seems it can be such a crap shoot hatching chicks, both in incubators and under hens. Fingers crossed you get another one or two tonight.



I recently started a container garden. One of the main things I watch for on any type of pest control I buy is that it doesn’t say it can be harmful to bees. I am trying to primarily use neem oil or soap water.

On a happier note.
Trying to start thinking of names for the new puffballs. Here are some of my ideas.

Based on color:
Stormy
Misty
Gray (or maybe Pearl)

Or a slight variation with a Marvel twist:
Storm
Mystique
Jean Grey

Based on the time of year I got them:
Glory
Liberty
Star (spangled banner), or maybe Sparkler

Thoughts?

View attachment 3885271

I love the idea of Sparkler. (Glory and Liberty are fantastic names, too)

 

[BY Bob]

Friends, I have a problem and I just cannot deal with it. I do not have it in me emotionally to handle the situation as I normally would and I fear in the next few days of making a rash decision.

They brought back the da** chicken chase at the horse show Saturday. The concession was swamped with a huge line when they did it. I did not see what happened but was informed by one of the kids who knows I have chickens afterwards. They turned 3 roosters loose for the kids to catch. That is right 3 ROOSTERS!!!!! They caught 1 of them, the other 2 got out of the ring and hit the hill. Insert a slew of curse words here, I said them all that night. I figured I would give it 48 hours and if they survived they would gravitate to my yard hearing my chickens. I was wrong, 24 hours. While putting my girls up last night at least 1 of them survived the night and was on the hill behind the house calling to my girls. No one wanted to go in the coop on their own they were being enticed to the hill. Trampy Judy the Barred Rock actually got in the creek on me and the devil ran down and bred her before I could get to her. Insert another string of curse words as I got my first look at him. It is a frigging game rooster, and a good sized one at that. He is beautiful, marked just like Bubba but I cant. I simply cannot deal with a stray rooster trying to join my flock. I cannot have him enticing my girls to join him on the hillside either. He ran back up the hill when I came in the creek to pick up Judy who wanted to follow him so he is skittish and young as well I think. If Bubba was 100% he would be able to trounce him, but Bubba is not. Bubba would be hurt in a fight. I have not saw him this morning, but I have heard him crowing higher up the hillside. I love roosters. I strongly feel all roosters deserve a chance to be good roosters. I cannot compromise the safety of my own rooster and flock for this interloper though. It is not his fault but he is going to have to be taken care of and the other 1 as well if it survived. In another week I will be possibly moving the chicks outside and introducing them to my flock will be stressful enough. The last thing I need is a strange boy attempting to hurt them.

Curse those idiots. Curse them for bringing back the chicken chase. Curse them some more for being stupid enough to turn loose 3. 3 roosters none the less.

This is so awful. Those poor birds.

Have you considered telling the organizers ask the trouble this is causing you? Perhaps if they know the trouble this is causing you they might not do it again.

 

[BY Bob]

This is beautiful, thank you for posting it. I am jealous, you have something special happening. I can praise my girls, I have never had a bad momma. None of my girls will co-parent even if they hatch at the same time. They fight each other, run off chicks that are not theirs and stake out their own patch in the back yard as their own jurisdictions and woe to the one who crosses boundaries. Those 2 chicks will be spoiled with 2 momma's. 2 is a perfect number, there is competition to encourage them to eat well. I have had momma's raise single chicks and while they did good, without competition they grew slower. I look forward to watching them grow and learn their names.

Glynda and Lady Featherington joined the tribe together and have remained buddies. I'm both surprised and not surprised that this is working out.