Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Sylvester017]

Tomte is the name I go by online Anyone familiar with Norway/Sweden history/mythology might know what it means

Were you born during Christmas season?

 

[RoyalChick]

I was wondering yesterday how she was getting on.

Only another week and half to go!

Meanwhile Mrs LC is either not laying, or hiding her eggs. I will have to haul all the lumber out of there anyways next weekend so I will find them if she is still laying.

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

I was wondering yesterday how she was getting on.

Only another week and half to go!

Meanwhile Mrs LC is either not laying, or hiding her eggs. I will have to haul all the lumber out of there anyways next weekend so I will find them if she is still laying.

I told you, I told you, I told you.

She is a mini Momma Hen. 2 weeks laying in plain sight if your lucky and then she'll start hiding them.

At least Mrs. Little chicken is nice and a love bug. Momma Hen was anything but that.

 

[RoyalChick]

I told you, I told you, I told you.

She is a mini Momma Hen. 2 weeks laying in plain sight if your lucky and then she'll start hiding them.

At least Mrs. Little chicken is nice and a love bug. Momma Hen was anything but that.

We haven’t seen Mrs. Little Chicken with chicks yet.
She may channel her inner demon (Momma Hen).

 

[Ponypoor]

We haven’t seen Mrs. Little Chicken with chicks yet.
She may channel her inner demon (Momma Hen).

I was just about to say that

 

[TOMTE]

Were you born during Christmas season?

Nope! Honestly I really just liked the sound of the name. Way back before Christians, a tomte or nisse (tomte is used mainly in Sweden while nisse is more Norwegian) was simply a spirit of the earth, or a house/homestead spirit. They were said to watch over the land and livestock, but would play tricks if they weren't respected and honored

One example is, if you spill something on the floor and don't call out to the tomte to warn him, he might slip in the puddle, get angry, and tie all of your cattles' tails together

But if you treat the tomte well, he'll help you care for your home and livestock!

 

[Ponypoor]

I told you, I told you, I told you.

She is a mini Momma Hen. 2 weeks laying in plain sight if your lucky and then she'll start hiding them.

At least Mrs. Little chicken is nice and a love bug. Momma Hen was anything but that.

There she is by that pumpkin.

And that grey is Laverne the lavender Orp pullet. She looks way bigger than Flopsy but they weigh about the same - Laverne is just really fluffy.

 

[Sylvester017]

My favorite pullet when I first got chickens was a very small Buff Orpington, and because of her golden color, she got the name Daffodil. Her much larger sister got a coordinating name, Dandelion, and they were shortened to Daffy and Dandy. A few weeks after I got them, Daffy passed away, and I was still grieving at the time when I made my account, so I picked ILoveDaffy. For anyone who wants to know, I have no idea what Daddy passed from, I just woke up and went to go feed the chickens one day and from the looks of it, she had just dropped off the roost that night dead. No sickness or marks on her and the others were just fine. Looking back it may have been a Failure to Thrive type thing since she was so small compared to the others.

So sad to lose birds. Excluding external causes like avian diseases or predators/injuries ~ sometimes internal organs or digestive tracts don't form right in chicks & they die sooner than their hatchmates. When you think about how tiny a fertilized egg is to contain all the needed nutrients for an embryo to develop we or the bird has no control over their adult hardiness if they had a shaky start at conception in the mother hen.

Chickens are one of the most satisfying poultry to raise that it angers me they have so many health issues that shorten their lifespan. We need thick skin as owners to face the reality of poultry loss if we raise chickens ~ or even dogs w/ average lifespans of 10 years after we get so attached to them ~ some live longer & then we're faced w/their lingering age-related health issues. Not fair, but that's the truth of keeping animals.

Some of our first departed friends
Violet & Trumpet 2011

Bela (Bay'lah) 2011

Tish (Cuckoo Marans) 2011

Mini 2012

Danni 2013

Taffy 2013

Shellby 2013

Xena 2013

 

[rural mouse]

I was wondering if you had a frizzle hidden away!

No frizzle...unless the wind assists with the temporary look

 

[ManueB]

Nope! Honestly I really just liked the sound of the name. Way back before Christians, a tomte or nisse (tomte is used mainly in Sweden while nisse is more Norwegian) was simply a spirit of the earth, or a house/homestead spirit. They were said to watch over the land and livestock, but would play tricks if they weren't respected and honored

One example is, if you spill something on the floor and don't call out to the tomte to warn him, he might slip in the puddle, get angry, and tie all of your cattles' tails together

But if you treat the tomte well, he'll help you care for your home and livestock!

Sounds very much like the slavic domovoi including the tendancy to be grumpy and play tricks. Maybe it's a common figure in various lore ? Or it made it's way through Finland.

I have learned one thing. As soon as Poppet is done sitting, before spring I am putting up a board on the bottom of the hay stack. No more hidden nests for any of the girls.

I'm not sure that's a good idea... Momma hen's spirit will just make them find another hidden spot. Better a hidden spot that you know, than a spot you have no clue about.

When Merle last came out of broodiness five weeks ago and started looking for a place to lay on top of our 8 feet high wooddtack, at the very bottom that's utterly unreachable, my partner had the excellent idea of making a nest on an intermediate platform.
He knew what would happen.
It just took longer than we expected - five weeks not sitting is her record in more than a year.