Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Ponypoor]

Huh?
I thought they served very different functions.
- Limestone, oyster shell, egg shells all dissolve in the digestive system to provide calcium.
- Granite stays for some time in the gizzard and acts instead of teeth to grind up food.
Is limestone granite a mix of limestone and granite? They are very different rocks!
Yours also go outside so they may pick up granite for themselves.

Yes the granite will dissolve over time and release calcium citrate. I couldn’t figure out why the food bowl was so gritty when I made their morning porridge - then I was going through the ingredients, it’s a very fine sandy grit.

And yes my gang has ready access to limestone screenings which I use for setting my paver bricks. The beasts are good at digging out the screenings from between the bricks - I am constantly having to fix the bricks, replace the screenings between them.

Brats I tell you brats!

 

[RoyalChick]

Yes the granite will dissolve over time and release calcium citrate. I couldn’t figure out why the food bowl was so gritty when I made their morning porridge - then I was going through the ingredients, it’s a very fine sandy grit.

And yes my gang has ready access to limestone screenings which I use for setting my paver bricks. The beasts are good at digging out the screenings from between the bricks - I am constantly having to fix the bricks, replace the screenings between them.

Brats I tell you brats!

Interesting. I have never seen both added to feed.
I think though that you mean it is the limestone (not the granite) that dissolves to release calcium.
Limestone is calcium carbonate and soft (as rocks go).
Granite is quartz and feldspar and one of the hardest rocks on earth (won’t dissolve).
Calcium citrate is absorbed from the gut better than calcium carbonate, but is mostly man made as it is not generally found in nature.

 

[Ponypoor]

Interesting. I have never seen both added to feed.
I think though that you mean it is the limestone (not the granite) that dissolves to release calcium.
Limestone is calcium carbonate and soft (as rocks go).
Granite is quartz and feldspar and one of the hardest rocks on earth (won’t dissolve).
Calcium citrate is absorbed from the gut better than calcium carbonate, but is mostly man made as it is not generally found in nature.

I’ll post ingredients later.

But I was initially freaked out about it. Then a feed advisor I talked to explained the ingredients. Seems they even add it to livestock feed

 

[rural mouse]

Lots of owls here, but they are not a likely predator for the chooks here as they are nocturnal hunters. Except for Snowy Owls which seem to appear here from the north country about every few years. They are daylight hunters. Very beautiful birds.

Shortly after moving here, went for a walk with then 12 year old YS. Heard rustling sounds so kept looking in the dry grasses along the road for rabbits. Suddenly a HUGE, white, barred bird swooped out of the trees on one side (less than 10 feet in front of us), skimmed no more than 12 inches (30cm) above the road, across the road, into the trees there, and was gone. Not a sound to be heard. He turned to me with eyes the size of dinner plates, "Was that a hawk?" "No, that was an owl."

Got home and started looking it up: youngish female snowy owl. It was a warm February day and we haven't seen or heard one since.

Have seen a long eared owl getting hassled by hawks while sitting in a tree farther out in the same area latter in the early summer.

Tax

Late afternoon pullet adventure to eat some pea tree seeds supervised by a slightly older Nimbus.

 

[RoyalChick]

Shortly after moving here, went for a walk with then 12 year old YS. Heard rustling sounds so kept looking in the dry grasses along the road for rabbits. Suddenly a HUGE, white, barred bird swooped out of the trees on one side (less than 10 feet in front of us), skimmed no more than 12 inches (30cm) above the road, across the road, into the trees there, and was gone. Not a sound to be heard. He turned to me with eyes the size of dinner plates, "Was that a hawk?" "No, that was an owl."

Got home and started looking it up: youngish female snowy owl. It was a warm February day and we haven't seen or heard one since.

Have seen a long eared owl getting hassled by hawks while sitting in a tree farther out in the same area latter in the early summer.

Tax
View attachment 3965546Late afternoon pullet adventure to eat some pea tree seeds supervised by a slightly older Nimbus.

Much as we all fear them because of our chickens, both owls and hawks are magnificent birds.
I have owls here - I need to look up what kind. I hear them hooting at night.
But I assume I am too far south for snowy owls.
My cameras picked up a disturbing new potential threat.
Any of you knowledgeable folk know what kind it is?

 

[rural mouse]

Much as we all fear them because of our chickens, both owls and hawks are magnificent birds.
I have owls here - I need to look up what kind. I hear them hooting at night.
But I assume I am too far south for snowy owls.
My cameras picked up a disturbing new potential threat.
Any of you knowledgeable folk know what kind it is?

That initially looks like a deer (not much of a tail, light rump), but doesn't move like one. Not fox, coyote, wolf, racoon, opossum, mountain lion, lynx, deer, elk, moose, antelope, skunk, wolverine....doesn't move like a bear (black or grizzly), doesn't really move like a bobcat either...hmmm. keep watching, post more video as you're able to get it. Currently I'm stumped also.

Anyone have any experience with wild pigs?

 

[Grandma The Chicken]

And what am I doing? Watch Chicken People

I'll be sure to watch that later when I have time.

 

[RoyalChick]

That initially looks like a deer (not much of a tail, light rump), but doesn't move like one. Not fox, coyote, wolf, racoon, opossum, mountain lion, lynx, deer, elk, moose, antelope, skunk, wolverine....doesn't move like a bear (black or grizzly), doesn't really move like a bobcat either...hmmm. keep watching, post more video as you're able to get it. Currently I'm stumped also.

Anyone have any experience with wild pigs?

Oh. I thought it was a dog and assumed one of the dog people on here would immediately know the breed.
Here it is on the other side of the house. Video less clear but really looks like a dig to me.

 

[rural mouse]

Oh. I thought it was a dog and assumed one of the dog people on here would immediately know the breed.
Here it is on the other side of the house. Video less clear but really looks like a dig to me.

You're right. It does. Docked tail, so rottie, Dobie (too sturdy), one of the spaniels (likely due to the wavy fur), ummm what other breeds have longish fur and a docked tail? (Weimaraner has a short coat)

With your proximity to wild life, I went straight there (obviously).

 

[TOMTE]

Oh. I thought it was a dog and assumed one of the dog people on here would immediately know the breed.
Here it is on the other side of the house. Video less clear but really looks like a dig to me.

For sure a dog, but the video isn't clear enough for me to tell any specific breed. It looks like it has a dark face/muzzle, like a mastiff, but doesn't look big enough to be a mastiff. Probably a mutt