Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[featherhead007]

Yeah. I always think that about the black bears that come by.
Best not to check it out!

It’s not the black bears that we have to worry about, it’s the drop bears that are the problem. Falling out of eucalyptus trees onto unsuspecting tourists.

 

[TOMTE]

We're finishing the run today, finally! It's supposed to be another beautiful day

Then we can make some modifications to the coop and move it! YAAAAY!

After that we just need to winterify the run and we're solid for this year.

Then comes the serious planning for a bigger coop...

 

[RoyalChick]

It’s not the black bears that we have to worry about, it’s the drop bears that are the problem. Falling out of eucalyptus trees onto unsuspecting tourists.

Those are indeed a worry.
But so are these when they hang out this close to the Chicken Palace.

This was a couple of years ago.

 

[RoyalChick]

We're finishing the run today, finally! It's supposed to be another beautiful day

Then we can make some modifications to the coop and move it! YAAAAY!

After that we just need to winterify the run and we're solid for this year.

Then comes the serious planning for a bigger coop...

You guys are on a roll!

 

[Sylvester017]

Pavers are a great way to cover something and look nice too.

Good job it looks great!

TY ~ Yes 100's of uses! The patio pavers pay for themselves in the $$$ saved on gardeners at $50+/month & the gardeners only mow 2x/month at that price ~ more $$$ if they come every week. Plus I'm not wasting time pulling weeds trying to get them at the roots so my time is spent on other projects.

My pavers are the cheapest sold & not top quality which means they contract & expand & crumble in severe cold climates especially snow (at least that's what review customers rated.). For our milder area these paver stones are fairly sturdy ~ they've been pulled up by workers & I reused them again no problem. Very few breakages occur but are usable to saw down for smaller sizes to fit in tight spaces.

I prefer working outdoors way more than indoors! Housework Blah! Yardwork YAY!

 

[TOMTE]

We're finishing the run today, finally!

Well... When I say finishing the run I mean mostly finishing it. We're still going to need to replace the chicken wire with hardware cloth when we're able to, but today we're making the base sturdy, and adding the hardware cloth that we have left around the remaining 2 sides that we haven't done yet.

Hopefully winterifying it adds even a tiny bit of extra protection against predators. Make it harder for them to get to the chicken wire to tear through it. So far we haven't had any issues with predators in the run, even with one side's bottom completely exposed 4-5 inches off the ground. Would be easy to squeeze or dig under!

We're solving that problem today, at least

 

[Sylvester017]

Doesn’t the paving make it very hot?

Just the opposite ~ the pavers trap moisture underneath. However, in 100+F degree heatwaves everything is boiling ~ driveways, sidewalks, asphalt, stucco, streets, open cement patio floors (we put roofed patio so cooler). Bonus: No warm lawn means no pesky fleas to track into house, rugs & carpets.

 

[Grandma The Chicken]

We are currently at Little Buffalo State Park for the Apple Festival. Here are some photos so far.

 

[ChicoryBlue]

TV Tax

Jaffarra - 3 times I tried to take a pic, each time she would move hahaha.

View attachment 3965020

I was searching what breed Jaffara is. Do you know? One post you state she is Americana. But she looks like a cross between a Rhode Island or Hampshire Red and a Buckeye....The comb, and to a lesser extent the back/wing feathers are wrong for Buckeye....She has a beard? This picture isn't great for seeing that but without one how can she be Americana?

 

[Sylvester017]

@SimpleJenn or @Ponypoor or @BY Bob or anyone else w/Polish ~ take this w/a grain of salt if not interested.

Just read BYC article Chicken bully/chicken victim - a two-sided issue & @Jsnick has Polish where her Polish got woefully scalped so rehomed the offenders & replaced w/ 2 EE's who she thought were gentle but the EEs are now the bullies to her 2 Polish (laying hens are real meanies! chickens in general can be very hostile as we all know). I keep sharing w/ owners about the tendency of gentle Silkies & Polish being easy potential targets by the full-size chickens but no one listens .

Silkies/Polish have varying shapes of open skull bone where the brain is covered only by skin ~ a perfect peck on the soft spot skull can injure, nerve-damage, cripple, seizure, or cause death eventually.

The Silkies/Polish learn to move fast from bullies but it's still a risk mixing open-skull birds w/ bigger full-size breeds. Must be why Europeans mostly keep their Polish a Polish-only flock & Silkie owners keep Silkies separate. If there are not a sizeable number of Polish or Silkies to form their own sizable flock the single 1 or 2 littles then hang out around the bigger birds & risk getting targeted.

Just my 2 cents from having Silkies & dialoging w/ breeders & other open-skull owners so don't be offended. If you've been lucky so far, fine. This is just potential info to be aware of.