Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Sally PB]

They are physically gone. But they live in your heart forever.

Sadly, that is no consolation when you need a hug.

So here are some for anyone who needs one.

 

[Marie2020]

Okay. CeeCee is wide awake now. Looking at me as if to ask WHERE IS MY BREAKFAST?! I’m already working on it. Chick feed and water is on the menu, but I added some canned corn too

What about the additives and salt

 

[Marie2020]

Two for Tuesday.
I am reposting this picture. It is one of the last I took of my dear boy.
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I miss my monkey man. I had my coffee on the back steps this morning. I was armed with a loaf of french bread that was going bad. I was immediately surrounded by the flock. I have the usual suspects waiting for pieces to be tossed. The normal bossy impatient hens beside me tearing off their own pieces so theirs never touch the ground. It was one of those quiet summer mornings I love before the heat of the day hits. It was also incomplete. My Branch should be here to either stand beside me talking or climbing in my lap for a morning nap. Even this mornings Bubba and Randy drama did not distract from his absence. I am thankful I was finally able to do right by my boy. Finding him a hen his size that he could call his own has been a chore. He did ok with the big girls, well he had several he claimed as his own but with Poppet it was different. Poppet had eyes only for him. She only responded to his escort call and if he tidbitted she was right there beside him. The 6 little Branchlet's personalities are starting to emerge. They have the art of being judgmental down pat. I am winning them over slowly. They are making me work to earn their love and trust unlike Adele. I do not think I have ever had to work this hard to win over a silkie chick. I am breaking through to two of them though. Like their daddy they have came to love the shoulder and neck massage and after a few seconds fully relax and pass out for a few minutes.

 

[SimpleJenn]

Contrast+shadows turned up

Unedited.

Putting these here so when I candle at the end of the week I'll know if anything has changed. There were 4 candled, all 4 had this veiny circle.

I will try to candle one of the broody eggs later but I doubt it'll go over well.

 

[SimpleJenn]

Twofers



Their placeholder names are "peepy" and "cheepy" according to kiddo. Hubby thinks the barred one is a boy because it pecks fingers when held.

 

[Sylvester017]

Honestly, I tried eating a bucket of fried chicken, a nd could not do it. I hold a piece in my hand and think “I wonder what kind of chook this was? Friendly and trusting, maybe someone’s unwanted pet, or worse, one of those unfortunate caged ones that were specifically hatched to be food?” No I can’t eat chicken.

There's likelihood that the fast food and commercial restaurants and super markets have used the fast-growing Cornish Cross chickens since the 1950's. Those poor human-engineered monster chickens that grow so fast in 6 weeks that their bodies and internal organs cause horrid physical disabilities and early death if not slaughtered by 2 months! How healthy is that to eat deformed birds? Feeding them organic feed doesn't make them any safer to eat.

The info is tragic enough to make one go vegetarian! Plus, (not all but a lot of) USA meats are "imported" and mixed together at meat packing plants and those birds are mostly CC's also.

DH & I think twice before purchasing super market or restaurant meats!

In the same vein (as personal choice only) we have avoided backyard chicken breeds of human hybrid engineering that are bred to be bigger backyard meat birds or bred to be non-broody to develop more prolific egg layers which shorten a bird's natural lifespan. Many hatcheries are adding to this problem.

Look at the hardiness of Hawaii's feral chicken population. Hawaiian hurricanes have tossed domestic farm birds into the island forests where for decades they have lived survival of the fittest -- birds that retained broodiness to reproduce naturally/seasonally, slimmer bodies, and developed great foraging skills. No heavy, or prolific egg-laying ferals are seen on those islands!

On my folks' farm many small Leghorns whether roo's or old hens made many a dinner meal. They were tastier than any CC's today. Cornish Cross meat today is so tasteless you have to brine it, marinade it, BBQ it, coat it in heavy spices or herbs to mask the fact that it is flavorless.

From the time my city born DH chose chickens as our choice of pets he refused to use any of our birds as dinner. Even two of our accidental cockerels were placed in rescue sanctuaries.

Ok, rant over!

 

[Ponypoor]

You are very pushy for a joke theif.

SHRA

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And a two for to boot - nice

 

[SimpleJenn]

And here my husband is super excited to eat home-grown chicken, he's only ever had the kind you get from the store. We're sending them to be processed though, my dad does know how to do it but we're just going to skip the mess and pay for someone else to.
I raised meat birds as a kid so I remember how delicious they are, the great lives they had (I would catch them bugs, read to them, cuddle em, everything!) And thank them for the nutrition they provide.

 

[Sylvester017]

And here my husband is super excited to eat home-grown chicken, he's only ever had the kind you get from the store. We're sending them to be processed though, my dad does know how to do it but we're just going to skip the mess and pay for someone else to.
I raised meat birds as a kid so I remember how delicious they are, the great lives they had (I would catch them bugs, read to them, cuddle em, everything!) And thank them for the nutrition they provide.

Yep, that's farm life! The closest kids get to farm life in the city these days is to have a dog, cat, or parakeet! Great that your kids will experience some poultry

 

[SimpleJenn]

Yep, that's farm life! The closest kids get to farm life in the city these days is to have a dog, cat, or parakeet! Great that your kids will experience some poultry

Yep! We were raised very differently, hubby had proximity to friends, I had a farm life haha. We did discuss great grampas rabbits being turned into meat, and the guts being in the coop for the chickens to eat. We didn't let her see it though, it was pretty gruesome!