Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[RoyalChick]

My Wyandottey is a feathered and painted basketball.
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Gorgeous!

 

[Marie2020]

My Wyandottey is a feathered and painted basketball.
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Wow. I love his colours and their pattern

 

[Marie2020]

Cream is FLOOFY
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I wouldn't pick a fight with her

 

[Logar]

Have I already posted this picture? I feel like I am going crazy

 

[notabitail]

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Have I already posted this picture? I feel like I am going crazy

I can't remember. Nice chook though.

 

[Logar]

I’ve been mortally injured. please help me!

 

[Sylvester017]

But if your pastor kindly gives you six straight run chicks, then you’re kinda stuck with two roosters like I am.

My Wyandottey is a feathered and painted basketball.
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Your roo's are show-stoppers!
What's nice about 2 roos is you have plenty of girls for them! Not to mention if one roo is lost there's still one left. Just thinking out loud...

 

[Sylvester017]

I agree. The problem there is getting a Marek's vaccination. I'm on old farmland, likely Marek's here. The Buckeyes I've had (only these four) have had great personalities & kpersonable with humans, real smarts, and they actually seemed to overall do better in the heat this year than the Buff Orpingtons - the BO's have more and fluffier fluff? Though maybe the Buckeyes are / were "old & cold", being three years older? I can see with both breeds that the larger hens had a tougher time in the heat.

Yes I believe in getting Mareks vaccinated chicks too. My Pet Chicken offers Marecks & gets their chicks shipped from private breeders but that still doesn't tell you who the breeders are or where the breeder stock originated. Sometimes it's just a matter of luck getting a hardy breedline from a hatchery or private breeder. W/ chickens I've had hardy birds & not so hardy from the same breeder so it's a cr*p shoot how long any chicken survives. I've had Silkies from the same breeder where one died a pullet while the other two are still around 4 yrs later .

Bigger birds, chickens in general, do better in moderate climates but w/proper insulation can fare better in cold rather than hot weather. Heatwaves are a real killer of chickens. I lost two Dominiques to heatstroke while both were laying an egg in severe temps over 100 degrees! My uncle in the 1950's lost some Leghorns to an extreme heatwave on his egg farm & refused to sell his dead birds to the Campbell's Soup company that came around to buy dead birds cheap from all the farms! To this day I refuse to eat a Campbell's Soup!

I was a kid then but I remember how all the relatives (lots of relatives in our surrounding farms then) pulled together to roll out sprinklers & hoses to spray the chickens to save them which did save most of them. Even us kids were running w/hoses & turning on spigots. I remember my uncle turning away the Soup representative that day. Some images in life stick w/me.

Soup Tax ~ our 1st backyard Leghorn pullet ~ a real sweetie (2011)

 

[Sylvester017]

I wouldn't have a problem eating fertilized eggs, as long as I take them early enough that they don't develop. I've eaten a couple before, when visiting my maternal grandparents who had hens and a roo

As for noise complaints... That's something to definitely think more about. The neighbors on either side of us won't mind, we're friends with one and the other has had chickens before. If I feel it's necessary I'll ask around to make sure everyone directly around us will be okay with it

I wish everyone who wants chickens (or any pet) does as thorough research as you & your parents have! Kudos!

 

[notabitail]

Two-fer Tuesday.
Not Actually Tuesday.

@BY Bob, you know what these are.