Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[RebeccaBoyd]

Gah, I am fighting a loosing battle. She will have hatching eggs next spring. She is also due to have blacks and partridges hatch out the 4th. If Poppet is not broken up by then I HAVE to do something to snap her out of it right. The 4th is also darn close to my birthday. Everyone needs a birthday and or Christmas chicken.

 

[SimpleJenn]

My silkie hens (mixed breed) are not super nice to the other birds. They are cool with me, but they were not raised with handling so I generally only get to snuggle them when broody or during bath/trims for Samara. They're still cool with me with their babies though! Even the hassle last night I didn't get attacked, just Samara got me with her wings trying to fly back to her babies.
I hope at least one pure cochin is a girl so I can have a big poofball. They are good broodies as well, but might smoosh chicks because they're feathered bowling balls.

The older chicks have graduated from their box and brooder plate to a roost!

Market is tomorrow, dad is coming with me so we'll have some woodworking to sell too.

 

[featherhead007]

Everything up here is expensive!

A couple yrs ago I switched feed stores due to expensive horse feed costs. I now get feed at Peavey Mart. And thus now chicks hahahahaha.

Fluffy Butt Friday

A mix of BFTP photos

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And a handsome roo

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It is true that I would have paid $1000 for Sir Jaffar if I was asked to. But I was very fortunate to have known him for the time together. Best $25 bucks I have ever spent!

 

[featherhead007]

I’m so sorry, but I have nothing in my pockets to give fuentemoon for being able to catch up with the thread.
Oh wait… how’s about a lollipop I got from Disneyland years ago?
I only licked part of it, and I can clean off the feathers that are stuck to it! ?

 

[SimpleJenn]

I’m so sorry, but I have nothing in my pockets to give fuentemoon for being able to catch up with the thread.
Oh wait… how’s about a lollipop I got from Disneyland years ago?
I only licked part of it, and I can clean off the feathers that are stuck to it! ?

I saw a video yesterday where a guy bought a giant lollipop and it had ants inside!!! And it wasn't one of those ant sucker prank ones, it was just nasty!
Lollipop tax
Big and little fluffy butts

 

[rural mouse]

Gah, I am fighting a loosing battle. She will have hatching eggs next spring. She is also due to have blacks and partridges hatch out the 4th. If Poppet is not broken up by then I HAVE to do something to snap her out of it right. The 4th is also darn close to my birthday. Everyone needs a birthday and or Christmas chicken.

One named Present, Gift, Christmas, Birthday, and Party.

 

[Ponypoor]

Excuse me. I think I have the broody that is winning the broody competition this season.
Tassels is a big chicken. Big and fluffy and broody all the time.
She has been broody 5 times this summer.
I have left her for 21 days. I have put her in jail the minute I see her on the nest. It makes no difference.
I have just let her out after her third spell in broody jail this time. We will see if she stays out. Right now she is rushing around yelling at everyone.

I commiserate with you, having dealt with Whiskers for 6 weeks and Dorothy the big lard butt for 4 weeks. Oh and Curly - though she doesn’t count as I have her chicks. She still has them with her!

 

[Sylvester017]

Bab has been sleeping in odd places. I wonder if I need to trim her feathers more so she can see to get in the brooder coop when dusk hits.
Last night the broodies raised such a fuss at bedtime, and tried to sleep on the log outside. I got them all corraled inside, they quieted and I shut everyone in for the night.
This morning, mega commotion from the broody coop. Everyone FLEW out when I opened the door.
Samara started alert calling at the coop door so I checked inside...there's poor Bab trying to sleep. She let me carry her to the proper home. Poor girl, two nights now she's slept away from her friends. I know at some point the older chicks will have to sleep in the coops with the rest and it'll be a horror show at bedtime...

Some owners have suggested leaving chickens closed up in their coop/run for several days to get used to coop/nestbox use. It becomes a habit to them to use the coop.

We sectioned off a small area in our 4'x4' coop for the 3 newest Silkie pullets to get used to sleeping in a safe coop & they liked the brooder wall panels half hiding them from the older Silkie hens that sleep in the nestboxes on an opposite wall.

Our coop perch is too high for Silkies to reach and only our one Dominique uses the perch so setting up a wall for the new pullets was a safe place for them. The older girls didn't bother the pullets cuz the older girls slept using the actual nestboxes.

In the morning the new Silkie pullets came out from behind their panel wall & went down the coop ramp w/ the older hens. When we saw a pullet anxious to lay an egg DH lifted the pullet thru the coop's back door & set her in the segregated area to lay her egg. Some were confused where/what to do but after a couple times being lifted into the coop they went into the coop on their own to lay their egg ~ sometimes in the segregated area & sometimes chose an actual nestbox! A couple times a pullet was too timid to walk past an older hen occupying a nestbox, but they aren't timid any more and use the actual nestboxes too.

Patience & repetitive training gets the problem solved. Problem is we get impatient when the chicken doesn't learn as fast as we like.

 

[Sylvester017]

@RoyalChick ~ teehee!
Yes, there are standard size hens that go broody but w/Silkies it's pretty much guaranteed if that's what a breeder is relying on ~ consistent broodies & good mommas that will hatch an ostrich egg if possible . Shoot! Our Violet tried to hatch a cucumber slice!

 

[featherhead007]

I saw a video yesterday where a guy bought a giant lollipop and it had ants inside!!! And it wasn't one of those ant sucker prank ones, it was just nasty!
Lollipop tax
Big and little fluffy butts
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It’s not the ants that I worry about so much. It’s the spiders that get into everything.