Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[RebeccaBoyd]

Before I head off to bed I want to give a little Davy and Bosa update.

Freedom is what the boys needed to overcome their fear of me. I now have 3 roosters running up to me wanting my attention. George demands to be carried. Davy dances away around my feet and Bosa likes to peck my shoes so I will bend over and pet him. The boys follow me everywhere.

This song sums up my boys. I'm loving every second of it.

After the first day of asserting his dominance George has also befriended Davy and Bosa. They have now joined him and the other silkie girls in their sleeping pile at night. 3 roosters in the past did not work out. It is a new dynamic now and they have clicked. It really helped that the 2 new boys are only about a month or so younger then George. This time around, I really feel 3 will be the magic number.

 

[GaryDean26]

….I always tried to order rare breeds here to keep them from going extinct but unfortunately my beloved Breda Fowl just didn't have enough customer interest…https://www.startpage.com/privacy-please/

My last Blue Breda hen died in 2020. She was five years old. She was about the best quality Breda hen I ever had (didn’t have any of the common defects most of our birds had). I was going to source a cockerel for her and hatch more if she made it one more year. It was sad to lose her, but work ended up moving me in 2021 anyways and we couldn’t keep poultry where we moved to. My wife wants blue Breda again (now we are back to poultry permitted locations).

 

[micstrachan]

@micstrachan has one as the beginnings of her coop. They expanded over the years.

It’s true! I think the one being considered looks perfect. I’ve wished ours was raised. This pic is from 2021, but it looks the same. Tarps on the sides are only up in winter. There us more ventilation than appears from here. There are three “floors,” but the highest one above the main coop is just used for storage and not accessible to the birds. I can stand up in the main coop. I have to bend over a little in the second level, which is where we walled in the deck of the play structure.

 

[Sylvester017]

My last Blue Breda hen died in 2020. She was five years old. She was about the best quality Breda hen I ever had (didn’t have any of the common defects most of our birds had). I was going to source a cockerel for her and hatch more if she made it one more year. It was sad to lose her, but work ended up moving me in 2021 anyways and we couldn’t keep poultry where we moved to. My wife wants blue Breda again (now we are back to poultry permitted locations).

Hi GaryDean26 ~ long time has passed. I loved sharing in the past w/ you about our Bredas. Missed our conversations!

None of my BBS Blue Breda lived long. The 1st Blue hen from a Calif breeder died suddenly at 1-1/2 yrs no symptoms ~ just died in a snooze in the middle of the day when my DH found her & said her body was still warm.
1st Blue Breda hen

Next we ordered a Blue Breda & a pure Blue Ameraucana from a Colorado breeder but both birds were shipped to us so sick that the vet put down the Blue Ameraucana right away but we managed to save the Blue Breda which turned out to be a cockerel that we had to re-home cuz we aren't zoned for roos. Sweet boy ~ our rescue farm friend said he had a short less than 2-yr life. We thought how coincidental that both our very 1st BBS Breda hen & the BBS cockerel both had such short lives but didn't think any more about it till much later.
Blue Breda cockerel

We couldn't locate any breeders w/ BBS Breda but we located & ordered a Cuckoo Breda pullet from a Calif breeder but this Breda variety was a 2-1/2 lb heavier bird than the smaller BBS Blue Bredas. The Cuckoo Breda was hardy w/no health issues but she did not have the nicer temperament of the BBS variety & after 4-1/2 yrs we re-homed her to our rescue farm friend who appreciated how rare a breed she was.
Cuckoo Breda hen

Our last attempt to have sweet temperament Blue Breda hens led us to a Kansas breeder that specialized in raising rare poultry/livestock. They shipped us two sweet Blue juveniles of which one died suddenly the 1st week. The 2nd juvenile lingered very ill till she passed at 6-months old. The breeder was naturally concerned & discovered that the BBS line were infected w/ avian leukosis, a cancer virus that is passed on to chick embryos from infected parents & there's no cure or vaccine for it ~ it only passes on from parents to chick embryo & not from contact w/other birds in a flock. Chicks usually die before egg-laying age & most birds die before 2-yrs old.
Blue Breda juvenile pullets

Since my Cuckoo Breda lived a long life we determined it was just the BBS Bredas that were carrying the virus throughout the USA private breeder projects which virtually caused all my known Breda contacts to shut down their Breda projects. Greenfire Farms were the original importers of BBS Breda but after importing the BBS, Cuckoo, & Mottled Bredas GF never imported new lines & now I find no one who has Breda in USA any more. So sad cuz the BBS Breda hens were gorgeous, statuesque, unique, & had great mellow temperaments.

If you find anyone breeding BBS Blue Breda in the USA I'll be amazed! My Kansas breeder got some La Fleche stock to cross-breed w/ their BBS Breda flock to infuse hardiness to cross back to BBS but their website has been inactive so I suspect they no longer are in business due to illness according to another breeder.

 

[Sylvester017]

Don’t feel too badly for her, it didn’t stop her from digging through the straw in the horses’ stalls.

Now she has her nice blue vet-wrap bandage on she can really dig.

Hurray

 

[Sylvester017]

Design Flaw

There always seems to be something I have overlooked in my coop design.

Check out the icicles on the coop roof.
View attachment 4052552View attachment 4052554

In this instance the metal roof seems to have exacerbated the bad placement of the latch on the nestbox of the main coop. It should not be on the roof but rather on the side. Otherwise you need a hammer to dig out the latch so you can collect eggs.

View attachment 4052553

I need to move the latch when it warms back up. Oh well.

I feel for you ~ coop design/location always comes up afterwards ~ no coop is ever 100% perfect we found out. We got tired of an open air coop/run battling winds, rains, & torn tarps for 5 yrs. The new coop/run we positioned inside a roofed cement patio. Little things here & there we don't like but the main thing of having the coop protected from the elements is our main problem solved

Old little coop/run

 

[Sylvester017]

Excellent work! I'm sure she will do better now that you removed it.

Have you considered something like this for her?

https://www.amazon.com/Birdy-Bootie-Protective-Standard-Breed/dp/B0841KHSBW/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_sspa?crid=2RL8L4N6KQ184&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.uB8me_akVOjs6-9Jey7cdWRPAzJ6iCed0a3T1tN3jROb2X3XxvAhL8gSoT2FDtk9dJfz4x0e3kCPigpJEhpUZkVgqccf7RUQPLEyNvZ16DI7rWruDSgWt9uhk9BbqIqiJrV7onnPq8lKMrPNNPZc9kq2uMen91iqMIcYTzWEXd6_2iOk-rO0PZKfsl1xjZNQuSdA3uberBajM3lDdbRO2uNS4D0wb7ltz5ZvOhB8_ZuOiet1MkL4ylHtaWsFphouwatXpP9wI-CjEDKldapaDF13t5Rtx_lSu-MKhJR2oPo.meS9PAPIQo1BeiIv4RYS8SiRkWCToblKyvnVlIJi_U8&dib_tag=se&keywords=chicken+boot&qid=1739847177&sprefix=chicken+boot,aps,126&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9zZWFyY2hfYXRm&psc=1

Doesn't look like there's any size for 5-toed Silkies

 

[Ponypoor]

Excellent work! I'm sure she will do better now that you removed it.

Have you considered something like this for her?

https://www.amazon.com/Birdy-Bootie-Protective-Standard-Breed/dp/B0841KHSBW/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_sspa?crid=2RL8L4N6KQ184&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.uB8me_akVOjs6-9Jey7cdWRPAzJ6iCed0a3T1tN3jROb2X3XxvAhL8gSoT2FDtk9dJfz4x0e3kCPigpJEhpUZkVgqccf7RUQPLEyNvZ16DI7rWruDSgWt9uhk9BbqIqiJrV7onnPq8lKMrPNNPZc9kq2uMen91iqMIcYTzWEXd6_2iOk-rO0PZKfsl1xjZNQuSdA3uberBajM3lDdbRO2uNS4D0wb7ltz5ZvOhB8_ZuOiet1MkL4ylHtaWsFphouwatXpP9wI-CjEDKldapaDF13t5Rtx_lSu-MKhJR2oPo.meS9PAPIQo1BeiIv4RYS8SiRkWCToblKyvnVlIJi_U8&dib_tag=se&keywords=chicken+boot&qid=1739847177&sprefix=chicken+boot,aps,126&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9zZWFyY2hfYXRm&psc=1

They have them for ducks too

 

[Ponypoor]

Two for Tuesday

And I missed mugs Monday - GAAAAH

 

[featherhead007]

Two for Tuesday
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And I missed mugs Monday - GAAAAH
View attachment 4052678