Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Ponypoor]

Ahh, but that is your problem. If you added a pair or trio of youngsters each spring (say, late march). THEY WOULD BE LAYING late fall and through the winter when everyone else is molting/taking a break. See, I have done the research on that...and have empirical proof of this fact!

(Actually, those are the ONLY ones laying at my place now. 77 birds, 10-15 eggs a day...all from my youngsters.)

So: solution to your problem:
Add 2-3 pullets each spring and each winter you will have eggs! simple & easy fix!

48-12=36 slackers er sorry lawn ornaments.

That’s if I average 12 eggs a day…..

 

[Ponypoor]

The little chick on its back with its legs in the air while dust bathing... The rooster's little crow... HOW CUTE!

Yea like it just gave up hahaha I want to help it!

Ok and SHRA tax owed

BFTP

Sleeping chickies

Just look how the Little Chickens crammed themselves between the bigger chicks hahaha

 

[Ponypoor]

Hen saves her chick's from a hawk

Nancy Rose loves her travel crate. It is her privacy den and her relaxing sun spot

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Sure hope that chick was ok!

Hey Nancy

 

[Ponypoor]

Sort-of enabling here:

1. That log is much lighter now, it likely was not totally dry when you hauled it out? I thought @bgmathteach was suggesting a new roost lower down, not moving the big one though. So you would have a nice ladder situation. However, you may be worrying, as I would, that like humans, chickens tend to prefer the "this is what we've always done and it's been fine!" line of thinking. Any big ol' ladies that maybe ought not to would continue to try to use it, and get themselves hurt anyway. So I would lower the options by lowering the log if this is a worry.

2. If the log is indeed very heavy I would strategically place sawhorses and any needed lumber under it to support it. Also strap the log to a couple of places, like good screw-hooks into studs. Then you can remove and reattach the brackets. Finally, each log end could be lowered gently via the straps to the new height.

Eggs -
Probably @bgmathteach is right, we'd have to have new littles every year and time it so they're coming into lay during the Winter. My plan is to stagger a group of 3-4 every other year. But that won't avoid eggless winters. Of the Buff Orpingtons here, July 31 2023 was their hatch-day (late) and only Annie has started back up laying, just last week. So we're getting one egg every three days it seems. She was pinking up for a few weeks before that and got even more talkative and kept visiting me to chat, which I loved - though it was more like a vigorous speech or lecture close to the big day - as I cleaned the coop and nestboxes. She had very important news!

Yes that always have important News don’t they feed me, pick me up, Dorothy is picking on me… make the bad boys go away….

 

[RoyalChick]

Hen saves her chick's from a hawk

Nancy Rose loves her travel crate. It is her privacy den and her relaxing sun spot

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That is what Bernie did when the hawk had Pooh pinned to the ground.

 

[Ponypoor]

Hmmm.
How high off the ground are everyone else’s roosts? With the ‘big girl’ nest box cabinet under the downhill end the jump up is only about 2’ (maybe less).
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24” in the Hen House B and Summer House, 29” in Hen House A.

I have the steps in HH-A and a step stool in HH-B and the Summer House.
The silkies and most of the older chooks use the stairs/stool to get up and down. The youngsters fly up and down.

A few wait for me to lift them down: Penelope esp, and usually Shirley. Marty I try to get to fast before she launches herself into the abyss.

But I have found that if they are given a way to jump/climb up and down they use it.

 

[Ponypoor]

That is what Bernie did when the hawk had Pooh pinned to the ground.

Good Bern She sure was a good leader there.

 

[Ponypoor]

Hi all.

I got a few pictures a few minutes ago. I am going to have to order a replacement battery for my camera this year. The cold zapped a fully charged battery in all of 6 minutes. To be fair though, the camera is 14 years old with the same battery.

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George, He is so handsome. I did not know I needed a punk rock rooster, but I do. Mr. P's mini me has earned a middle name. He is now George "Phinieous" Jones. He is adapting to his role as flock rooster. Goose has accepted him now that she is back to laying. The rest of the girls will follow suit as soon as they start back up soon. George has a real lady now he no longer dances for me. I am back to being momma.
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The rest are of Poppet and Turkey who is 7 weeks old today. Such a pretty little pullet. If she does not hit a major growth spurt soon I think as a adult she will be Mrs Little Chicken size. She also has a wonky feather on her head that is standing straight up. Until now I did not think she was going to have any type of crest. Now....well, is this the start of a tiny crest?
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Poppet by the way has earned her right to hatch chicks in the future. I never had any doubts she would be a good momma seeing as how she is a silkie. It takes a great momma to keep her chick thriving in the temperatures we have had the last 2 and a half weeks.

OMG he is so handsome! Just like his Dada

And yes I bet Turkey has a wee little crest there and look at her funky double toes! I love them! Penelope has those exact same ‘y’ shaped double toes

Mr P

 

[Ponypoor]

We don't have a hen house, just a Barn Coop. & we never used all 5 pre-fabricated roost slots. We used only the lowest roost pole about 20+ inches above the floor of the coop. We averaged 4 to 5 hens at a time & never needed more than one roost.
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During Barn Coop assembly there were 5 optional roosting bar slots ~ we only used the lowest middle slot for one roosting bar positioned over the pop door entrance.
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That’s a really lovely coop, fits in nicely with your beautiful garden

 

[Ponypoor]

Turkey's growth is on track with Poppets full silkie chicks I hatched this past spring. 4 out of the 6 as still proportionate yet tiny. To be honest Poppet herself who came to me at 5 1/2 month was so little herself I really questioned her age and pegged her at around 4 months old. Seeing her daughters growth I will stand corrected and say yes she came at a 5 1/2 month old chick. Poppet grew substantially, for herself between 6 and 10 months of age. Her smaller daughters are doing the same, they are still growing. Even though Turkey's daddy was larger, I doubt Turkey will be any bigger then her mother when she is done.

Same with Georgie Girl, she is one tiny silkie. She is even smaller than Marty.

Oh and Georgie has taken to attacking me, like really seriously attacking me!

She is absolutely done with being ‘my baby’, she is all ‘grumpy mama hen’ now, I sure hope isn’t thinking of dumping her chicks though….. I would like her to hold onto them for at least another month.

So far she had done an awesome job. Brat that she is for being broody in the first place