Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[BY Bob]

I am near a military base so we get all sorts of aircraft flying over at times. It’s fun seeing them.

One day when I was working in a very remote area in Alberta I experienced a true sonic boom when a jet flew over head. It had our crew running for cover as they said they know what it was. It was something let me tell you!

Tax

My sonic boom
Hahaha I love this photo.
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That is a great photo.

 

[rural mouse]

Is that frost on the grass there? Where the chooks are grazing?

No....that's the gravel of the driveway. Or the sunlight reflecting off the grass. Took that late afternoon and it was really warm yesterday (75F, @23C).

 

[SimpleJenn]

Versace saw the girls eating some mash and decided to tidbit at it. they were very amused

 

[BY Bob]

Long Pony Sunday post !

I was bitten by a great pyreneese, two years ago, that is kept as a house dog by a young couple. Gus was always sitting on the path in front of his home, I saw him since he was a puppy as I ran by, and he was barking every time I passed him. We told his owners there would be a problem but he was very sweet with them. One day he didn't only bark but came over and bit my butt. His owners came out of the house, apologised and were clearly sorry and overwhelmed. I was bleeding a bit but not hurt, so I went on for my run. When I came home and looked at the bite I was close to going to the ER - you could see three huge dark bruises where his teeths had broken the skin. I let it go, though my partner wanted to call the mayor, just had a rabbi shot and tetanos booster. They were so sorry I thought they would try to have some reaction. Unfortunately Gus bit an older man a few months after.

I was told two things I thought interesting but not being a dog person, I can't vouch that they are true. The first thing is that great pyreneese are among those dogs who don't just nip, but twist once they have the teeth in. Indeed I have been bitten before by other dogs including an Anatolian/Kangall and I never had such bad bruises. And the second thing I discussed with the young farmer who has sheeps here. The chamber of agriculture has a dog educator who advises them with the LGD, because there are so many attacks on hikers. He told them to be extremely careful on what space the dog would consider his territory because that is what they would defend. That would not only include the sheep's enclosure and the owner's home, but also the place where the dog is fed, and where he is allowed to stay during the day. So if an LGD is let to sit on the path in front of his home or in front of the sheep's corral he will consider that bit of path as his to defend.
Unfortunately with those breeds of dogs I believe good intentions are not sufficient to be a good owner. There are things to learn about how to raise them.

I am going to cheat and post pony Sunday pictures from the last two weeks.

One of the donkey herd in the mountains.
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My neighbour's cows and the old horse Gribouille a few days ago when they had all broken out of their enclosure to go to the greener grass.
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Another neighbour 's highland cows. Like @Sylvester017 this man grew up on a subsistence farm, but finds it hard to accept the killing of livestock now. His children wanted to raise cows again on their land, and he is the one who cares for them at the age of 70, but he hates so much sending the calves he helped birth to the slaughterhouse that he called it quit and now he just keeps the adult females for leisure.
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If you zoom in you can see Typhon on the left and Ratatouille his daughter both Great Pyreneese. These are very well educated and sweethearts.for cuddles.
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About Great Pyreneese, I also have to share this cute video from a rescue I support, Emilie at Beazy farms. One of her blind hen, Mary Poppins, has become best friend with one of her great pyreneese .

No pony on this one but just a nice view this morning
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Great post. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Sylvester017]

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

Saw this film before but nice to see again.

Great quote from the film is "Animals enrich peoples' lives ~ Period!"

Another quote is "There are 1000's of people who know more about chickens than me! But millions more who don't!"

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

Ugh, here we go again. Rosie has to be at the dr at 2 this afternoon. She went to school yesterday morning with her ear "itching" inside. She came home in tears with a full blown ear ache, sore throat, coughing her head off and within a hour of being home spiked a fever of 101. Rosie does not ever get a fever when sick, and her normal temp is always around 97.6ish. For her, if I see 99 something I call it a low-grade fever and that happens once every few years.

I hate this time of year. It seems between October through January lately if she looks at someone sideways she gets sick. Every year I threaten yanking her out and home schooling her. At least today they were not doing anything in school, seniors were taking the ACT. I know she cannot go back tomorrow, and will probably be out the rest of the week. The 2nd 9 weeks just started last week. Thanks to her tooth incident and then getting Rhino not long after she had to play catch-up the first half of the grading period with 2 AP classes. She did it, but, it was not fun. Thank goodness that child is gifted in math, catching up in AP Pre-Cal was easy. AP Language was a bit of a struggle. Here we go again.

 

[featherhead007]

Thank you, Manue! She was a longtime favorite, a reliable chicken friend!
Yes, her quick death is a comfort. I don't know what else could have been done for her, though I could have taken her to the vets, but frankly whether what was wrong was something treatable is doubtful, I think. I also agree although respiratory disease could cause death, she did not exhibit any distress in that way. It would be a much slower decline. She really had no "decline" except in weight, and she wasn't starving skinny. Her body still surprises me, how heavy she was.

I've decided on no necrospy. After speaking with one of the vet's helpers and going over her symptoms it's not likely there's any reason to do one except to know the cause (if that can be found). They can return the body, and it would cost US$155 or so. For some people it is helpful for "closure" to know the cause but I don't need that. If someone else here comes down with similar symptoms that's another issue, I might bring them to the vets. If they also die unexpectedly I would be more inclined to do a necrospy, if, as is likely, the previous vet visit had shown nothing.

Yes, these ladies came from My Pet Chicken. Hazel is the last survivor of them. It may be that all of these are destined to not make it to 6 or 7. Buckeyes are a Heritage breed, but the conservation efforts done on the breed in the 80's to the present include "improving" the breed so more people would want to keep them. That means (I think) the "desirable" qualities for dual-purpose breeds: meat production and higher egg-laying rates. Not long healthy lives. It's terrible, they've just bred early deaths into them. I do love their personalities, so will be looking for more, from somewhere.

Fact is, I have such terrible respiratory problems , COPD and heart problems that I won’t be around much longer either.
The medical staff is not too concerned with my health,
Maybe I could meet up with them someday.

 

[Ponypoor]

Thank you, RC

Thank you. Now I am wondering about putting off changing out the Omlet coop to the larger version, which I was about to do, in order to not add any more stress to things. Maybe I'll wait until next week or later, or just store it for the winter. I was thinking of a few more chickens next year and the regular one holds 5-6 chickens, this one probably 8-10. It's similar in design, mostly just bigger, though the nestboxes each have their own space instead of one long rectangle. It looks much the same. Funny thing - it's assembled in the garage barn. The Spuds were walking through there (a home away from home - a safe preening / resting spot when I let them out to forage the yard) and Diane happened to go around to the front and stood there looking up at the pop door quizzically, tilting her head one way then the other!

I'm sure the dynamics will change some so there's got to be some stress. The Spuds had taken to following Popcorn's lead in foraging; Hazel is quite timid, always waits awhile before going out to join everyone, whereas Popcorn was always first to hop out totally gung-ho for exploring.

Thank you rm!

Thank you very much too!

@notabitail and @Ponypoor - Thank you, Pony! -- I understand & of course feel the desire to know, I am a high-information type person, yet it's the same with human health, for me that question is always weighed against what one loses for the test (money, time, a comfortable day with no pain, etc. - and here, whether you'll get the body back) - versus what can be done with or about the information gained. It's not clear that I'm going to get actionable information that will help the other four hens.

No one else appears affected with the same symptoms as Popcorn - loose stools, not eating feed and wanting instead to only forage, the urgency to sit in the nest box without laying. All the other chickens have normal poo, are eating well and are doing what's normal for them.

I never saw any worms in Popcorn's poo (I was fixing to do a fecal float test just for the heck of it but then she died). I was suspecting cancer. Possibly an infection somewhere, yet her poo looked normal: urates / solids proportions, no blood or mucus / cheesy stuff, good color though maybe consistently a bit darker (not black), which I expect given she wasn't eating feed but was eating worms/frogs etc. Just loose to very wet.

Hemorrhagic liver disease maybe? Would that cause these behaviour changes, increased water intake so loose-but-regular looking stools? She was hefty previous to this current weight loss, and always ate well and with gusto. Not clear what I would change for the flock, except ban treats, or try to further limit the treats a particular hen gets? (good luck with that!).

I have a call out to the vet near here that does necropsies for their information & thoughts. But I'm inclined to bury her with her sisters Peanut and Butters. Peanut I knew had cancer from the ascites and then vet xrays showing tumour; Butters it was never clear what was wrong except a digestive infection/trauma, either the main cause or concurrent with something else.

Thank you, Featherhead Yes I miss her terribly. She was not a lap chicken, but a wonderful companion, friend & defender, & always up for an adventure. She didn't appear very uncomfortable and went about her day with energy & enthusiasm, so I am glad she seemed to be living the fullest life, right up until the end.
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Yes I know what you mean, most times nothing definitive shows up, I personally would bury her with her sisters.

It’s sounds just like Sharpie, she lost a lot of weight fast and I suspect cancer. She passed away very fast thankfully.

 

[Ponypoor]

Ugh, here we go again. Rosie has to be at the dr at 2 this afternoon. She went to school yesterday morning with her ear "itching" inside. She came home in tears with a full blown ear ache, sore throat, coughing her head off and within a hour of being home spiked a fever of 101. Rosie does not ever get a fever when sick, and her normal temp is always around 97.6ish. For her, if I see 99 something I call it a low-grade fever and that happens once every few years.

I hate this time of year. It seems between October through January lately if she looks at someone sideways she gets sick. Every year I threaten yanking her out and home schooling her. At least today they were not doing anything in school, seniors were taking the ACT. I know she cannot go back tomorrow, and will probably be out the rest of the week. The 2nd 9 weeks just started last week. Thanks to her tooth incident and then getting Rhino not long after she had to play catch-up the first half of the grading period with 2 AP classes. She did it, but, it was not fun. Thank goodness that child is gifted in math, catching up in AP Pre-Cal was easy. AP Language was a bit of a struggle. Here we go again.

Gosh I hope she feels better soon. This time of year always the same with kids.

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

Gosh I hope she feels better soon. This time of year always the same with kids.

I blame part of the problem on the schools and their attendance policies. They allow 3 parent notes before you get a letter from a Truancy officer. That means every time they come down with something as simple as a cold you pretty much have to take them to a dr. If they are not really sick before, you can bet they are picking something else up on top of it. Common sense is if you child is sick keep them home. A simple cold, no doctor needed just a few days home with over the counter medicine and rest. Instead the school board has us either running to a dr every time we turn around or sending them to school sort of sick. 3 years ago when Rosie kept coming down with everything under the sun, and having dr's excuses I still got a letter from the truancy officer threatening a visit.