Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Ponypoor]

Ideal Hatchery has Spangled Orloff & Meyer Hatchery has White Chantecler & Tolbundt Polish ~ looks like they'll be available Spring.

Oh how I envy the variety down there - I was very happy when Peavey started bringing up chicks from Hoovers - I just wish they would open it up to their whole catalogue of birds

Esp now they have rare breeds!!!!

 

[Ponypoor]

Well, it's said the smaller the comb the cold-hardier the birds are ~ pea, walnut, rose, V-shaped, cushion, strawberry, no comb/crested, bearded varieties usually.

Feather-footed not a good idea for snow/mud.

& larger straight-combs/wattles are better for moderate to hot climate zones.

TRIVIA:
I love the fluffy very cold-hardy Scandinavian Hedemora breed. Sweet calm birds that forage well in snow w/roos at 5 lbs & hens weighing 4 lbs. It has a smaller straight comb & a double coat of Silkie-like hair ~ but it would die in our brutal climate's heatstroke weather.

HEDEMORA

Hedemora feathers look more like clusters of hair than bird feathers.

There are private NPIP Hedemora breeders in USA that ship hatching eggs if anyone is interested in snow-hardy birds that are calm, medium-size, Silkie-soft chickens. Surprise! ~ Featherhead007 thought the only feather dusters were Silkies!

When Greenfire Farms 1st imported the Hedemora into the USA they took the flock to a Montana snow country reserve to provide the birds a suitable climate.

There used to be a breeder of Hedemora here in Manitoba but I think they have gone out of business.

 

[Sylvester017]

I have no issues with my silkies feathered feet and mud or snow, seems feathers are far less likely than fur to mat and to stay water logged.

I have had them out in all sorts and then when they get back inside digging in the straw and shavings they clean up nicely. Don’t ask me how they stay so white and clean! Bob says they are magical - white chickens.

Last December 2023
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Mud and snow… no problem!

Yep, but if there's no grass or straw the mud dries hard on feathered toes. In wet snow icy weather the retained wet can freeze feet. Of course most owners of feathered feet birds are on top of things like that but all it takes is one time to delay bringing the birds in or forgetting till too late & the bird is a goner. Hinotori specializing in Partridge Silkies in the northeast USA keeps her Silkies out of the snow ~ I think it's mostly cuz of very low freezing temps rather than the snow on the ground.

We have no grass lawn or straw coop so if it rains (we have no snow) & the Silkies slosh about in the mud we have to check them frequently after they have their fun. A good paper towel dry on feet & body does the cleanup job.

 

[RoyalChick]

I deal with floppy combs also - just this weekend I was telling Flopsy I was going to make her a ‘splint’ to hold her comb upright.

I tried to think how I could stand it upright…..

Flopsy and Topsy

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Actual it’s Topsy and Flopsy.

Did someone mention floppy combs?

Actually, she sees quite well in spite of her comb.

 

[Ponypoor]

Did someone mention floppy combs?
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Actually, she sees quite well in spite of her comb.
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I love her jaunty topknot

 

[Ponypoor]

Yep, but if there's no grass or straw the mud dries hard on feathered toes. In wet snow icy weather the retained wet can freeze feet. Of course most owners of feathered feet birds are on top of things like that but all it takes is one time to delay bringing the birds in or forgetting till too late & the bird is a goner. Hinotori specializing in Partridge Silkies in the northeast USA keeps her Silkies out of the snow ~ I think it's mostly cuz of very low freezing temps rather than the snow on the ground.

We have no grass lawn or straw coop so if it rains (we have no snow) & the Silkies slosh about in the mud we have to check them frequently after they have their fun. A good paper towel dry on feet & body does the cleanup job.

You need a pile of soft wood shavings for them to dig around in

Mine also love to fluff around in it

 

[Sylvester017]

Did someone mention floppy combs?
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Actually, she sees quite well in spite of her comb.
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That there is the ideal floppy comb! This comb is a very good shape. Is she a Legbar? Really pretty hen!

Hens don't/sometimes can't look forward & your lady's comb is forward facing out of the way of side vision. A hen's right eye focuses things on the ground & the left eye focuses on things in the sky. I've noted how our hens tilt their head to look either up at the sky or focus intently on something on the ground.

A tilted head on a pullet. Is She looking up or down? Dunno but she'll always have peripheral vision w/ her rose comb after it fully forms.

 

[notabitail]

Did someone mention floppy combs?
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Actually, she sees quite well in spite of her comb.
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Agathae has a huge floppy comb and sees very well as well, especially when it comes to food.

 

[rural mouse]

Rainy day again so I got these photos
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That first pic .... put it in POW and the calendar contest when that starts again

 

[Sylvester017]

You need a pile of soft wood shavings for them to dig around in

Mine also love to fluff around in it

I would love shavings or straw for them. Our problem is Santa Ana Winds & nightly westerly breezes that blow debris, leaves, street trash, redwood bark, straw, grass clippings, etc, all over the yard. The only thing that doesn't blow all over the yard is the chicken's sunken sand dustbath box.

We live in a daily wind tunnel ~ some days gentle, sometimes whirlwinds. In any event the wind picks up for a while every day. It's no wonder I paver-stoned front & backyards to keep dirt, grass, flowers, decorative bark, & debris from blowing around the yards.

Straw? Shavings? The wind would blow it all away. The only place we can keep straw or shavings is inside the protected nestboxes, that's it. The coop floor is wire so shavings/straw won't work there. We're a mild climate so even in winter the floor stays wire. Only a really cold frost do we put down the solid floor tray. But the hens never use the coop all day except to lay an egg.

The chicken run even has paver stones so during rain both the chicken & we walk on pavers instead of mud when it rains. The little buggers love the pavers!

At least they have our two raised garden beds to dig around in & every night DH moves the trash bins & dog houses around to stir up a cricket chase for them!

We're pretty limited being a backyard rather than a farm but we do what we can to give them an open-air chicken life in the 'burbs.