Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Ponypoor]

Son of Big Boy is doing well. View attachment 3987080

Oooo he is looking fine! So glad you have such a gorgeous son from Big Boy.

 

[Ponypoor]

I changed doctors and he changed my meds. My glucose level is spot on now and I feel much better. Going to do some minor coop repairs today. Got a beef belly on the smoker that should be ready by dinner time.

I’ll be right down to help

So glad you’re feeling better!

 

[TOMTE]

What cheap ones have you tried? Trying to figure that out, as for instance an old ThermoPro model might be just fine for my purposes, nothing fancy, and they are pretty inexpensive now.

I have 2 of this thing. Seriously low budget

They "work" but they're not good. I'd only use them for something where the margin of error wouldn't potentially cause catostrophic consequences (ideally not for my gecko, in other words. Can't wait to replace them). Maybe for a greenhouse or something.

 

[Ponypoor]

@Sylvester017 My Marans was the sweetest baby. She was a Midnight Majesty, half marans half barred rock.
And my two silkie cross hens ran the whole show for a long time! Stern but kind leaders they are. Liara the prarie bluebell is also a natural leader.

The farm lady I got the hens and butcher boys from and I talked for a bit last night. She loves the names we gave the hens and is happy Nocturne seems to have healed up. She told me next year I should let Nocturne and Cookie brood some chicks because they are both excellent mamas. And I'll be able to give them more eggs each!
So the "plan" is let Samara and Morinth hatch in spring, then let Cookie and Nocturne hatch in summer if they go broody.

Jenn - here is another Midnight Majesty Marans - he’s a BIG boy!

Needs a new home….. he’s actually fairly good not at all a real door-knob. He is no where near as bad a Rosario or Clyde even.

You can see his Barred Rock heritage

I could cry he is such a gorgeous boy, if I didn’t have my other boys I’d keep him

 

[TOMTE]

Jenn - here is another Midnight Majesty Marans - he’s a BIG boy!

Needs a new home….. he’s actually fairly good not at all a real door-knob. He is no where near as bad a Rosario or Clyde even.

View attachment 3987113View attachment 3987115

You can see his Barred Rock heritage

I could cry he is such a gorgeous boy, if I didn’t have my other boys I’d keep him

Gimme gimme gimme

 

[ILoveDaffy]

Look what my friend gave me the other day.
Does anyone crochet?
View attachment 3985785

Adorable! I do, but not amigurumi. I've done hats, head warmers, and shawls since getting back into it last year. I would love to make a chicken! I'll have to find a pattern. One of my chicken obsessed friends would love that!

 

[GregnLety]

I’ll be right down to help

So glad you’re feeling better!

Thanks

Dinner is on the smoker and the tepache should almost be ready when we get done working

 

[GregnLety]

Some waddles for ya, Cholo showing his stuff

 

[GregnLety]

Some pups playing. Coco and Estrella. I love that Estrella is sweetly and gentle with Coco.

 

[TOMTE]

I wonder, is there any use in me trying to figure out the pecking order before they mature? I know they start to establish a pecking order amongst themselves even as chicks as young as day olds, but do they challenge each other more often as pullets and settle once they mature (as long as nothing shifts the balance, such as adding more chickens to the flock)?

I am completely at a loss for who's the "boss" at this point, though I also haven't had much time to study chicken behavior yet so I'm not even sure where to start looking for clues.

All I know is that Sybil is left behind a lot, and she sometimes even seems reluctant to go with them. I'm guessing she's at the bottom rung. She isn't bullied but she's almost always last to anything; last in and last out of the coop, last to start eating, last to follow when they move to another foraging spot. She gets pecked on the head or back a lot.

Yesterday I picked Sybil up and she absolutely lost her mind. She was okay for a minute and then was flapping and clawing at me to get away. Aliss was watching this happen, and when I put Sybil down, Aliss went after her and pecked at her head and back a few times... It was almost like she was saying "calm down, don't treat our weird looking tall flock member like that!"

Or, knowing that some chickens think being picked up is mating (though Sybil didn't shake herself when I put her down), maybe Aliss (if she sees herself as a top "hen") got angry that a low ranking flock member "mated"? They're not even laying eggs or crouching yet but I wonder if that's a possibility.

They all have their moments where they fly/jump at each other with legs forward, hackles raised... It's so funny to watch

Also, with Aliss, she usually is the first in the coop in the evening. She likes to inspect it, it seems like. She'll walk and look around for a few minutes before she starts making what I call her "bedtime whine". The majority of the time, if another of the girls hops up before Aliss has deemed the coop safe for roosting, that girl will get a hard peck on the head and be chased out of the coop.

That seems like top hen behavior to me, but sometimes when challenged to a staring contest by Gytha or Magrat for example (they're the "bratty" ones ), Aliss will be the one to back down first.

...I should start a logbook of their interactions. YAY STATISTICS!