Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[notabitail]

Pony Sunday.
Not a pony disclaimer.

CC has three doves. Pichon, Alexander, and Smartie. This story involves Pichon and Smartie.

One morning I walk back to my desk to find Pichon sitting on my chair, with a bunch of objects thrown on the floor. That bird gave me a smug look as I walked in and left a crowning jewel to his mess, a piece of poop, on the back of my chair. He looked very happy watching me clean it, and as soon as I was done he took off. That monster KNEW what he did.

It was really cold a couple days ago, and windy, so the chickens were in and so was I with a cold and my door closed. Smartie ended up over at my desk, and sat with me. For a long time. Bird and man, peacefully coexisting. And then...

Pichon, bold and brazen, flew over to my desk, landed, and started throwing my stuff. In front of my face. How DARE he. Smartie thought otherwise.

Smartie had since decided my desk would be one of his territories. Smartie jumped up, flew to PIchon, and tried to land on him (doves to this to kick the others out. Birds are savage). I ended up having to move both of them, as they were blowing my stuff off the shelf with their wings, and Pichon learned not to do that ever again.

Late last night Smartie got mad at me for moving him off my head and yelled at me about it. Sigh.

Smartie. You can see the intelligence radiating from his brain.

Pichon. Note the smug look on his face.

 

[Sylvester017]

Agree with all of these!
I did more searching and came up with this from Eggcessive, which makes clear you really need to know the density of what you bought
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/tylosin-per-gallon-dose-rate.1507498/post-25291370 Here's one of their posts --

"Most people use 1 tsp per gallon of water if you have the full strength powder. Give it for 3-5 days. Do you have a picture of the product? Some pigeon suppliers sell some less strong powders. I use recommend Jedds.com, since theirs is full strength. This is the picture of the full strength:
https://jedds.com/products/tylosin-powder
Be sure to mix is by adding water to the powder, or it won’t mix very well. Change it every 3 days. Do not treat birds who do not have symptoms. You can separate the birds who need it in a dog crate with food and medicated water for treatment. Tylosin treats mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG,) but does not treat diseases causes by viruses or mold fungus."

It's strange how many powder & liquid meds are available. Even my vet has to carefully peruse mfr measurements/instructions before he advises dosages. He doesn't have the time to calculate by 2 lbs of one Silkie's weight!) He tells me per gallon & then I figure it down to 2 cups. What a pain cuz each dose is made fresh daily when in powder form.

I remember the good old days when Dr's & Vet's just gave a shot or handed you a med he had on hand but nowadays we have to go to a pharmacy while we're sick to pickup a prescription or order an animal med online, wait for it, then puzzle the instruction doses which are seldom in teaspoon or cup measurements but instead all this kilo milli micro cr*p! Why bother w/a Dr or Vet when we practically have to do all the work ourselves ?

Rant tx

...just for fun...

 

[knoturavggrl]

Pony (puppy) Sunday:
Before I threw the towel in and decided to leave dog grooming to the professionals…. Poor pup!

First snow with kitty supervisor

Ah, yes the groomer is worth every penny! They even managed to find her eyes .

 

[Ponypoor]

It's strange how many powder & liquid meds are available. Even my vet has to carefully peruse mfr measurements/instructions before he advises dosages. He doesn't have the time to calculate by 2 lbs of one Silkie's weight!) He tells me per gallon & then I figure it down to 2 cups. What a pain cuz each dose is made fresh daily when in powder form.

I remember the good old days when Dr's & Vet's just gave a shot or handed you a med he had on hand but nowadays we have to go to a pharmacy while we're sick to pickup a prescription or order an animal med online, wait for it, then puzzle the instruction doses which are seldom in teaspoon or cup measurements but instead all this kilo milli micro cr*p! Why bother w/a Dr or Vet when we practically have to do all the work ourselves ?

Rant tx

...just for fun...
View attachment 4074160

I am using my scale and wish I had bought one yrs ago! So much easier!

And I have learnt that Tylosin doesn’t dissolve very well, unless the water is warm that is! So if you need to use it, mix with warm water. And always mix the water with the dry med.

Happy dosing!

 

[Ponypoor]

Pony Sunday.
Not a pony disclaimer.

CC has three doves. Pichon, Alexander, and Smartie. This story involves Pichon and Smartie.

One morning I walk back to my desk to find Pichon sitting on my chair, with a bunch of objects thrown on the floor. That bird gave me a smug look as I walked in and left a crowning jewel to his mess, a piece of poop, on the back of my chair. He looked very happy watching me clean it, and as soon as I was done he took off. That monster KNEW what he did.

It was really cold a couple days ago, and windy, so the chickens were in and so was I with a cold and my door closed. Smartie ended up over at my desk, and sat with me. For a long time. Bird and man, peacefully coexisting. And then...

Pichon, bold and brazen, flew over to my desk, landed, and started throwing my stuff. In front of my face. How DARE he. Smartie thought otherwise.

Smartie had since decided my desk would be one of his territories. Smartie jumped up, flew to PIchon, and tried to land on him (doves to this to kick the others out. Birds are savage). I ended up having to move both of them, as they were blowing my stuff off the shelf with their wings, and Pichon learned not to do that ever again.

Late last night Smartie got mad at me for moving him off my head and yelled at me about it. Sigh.

Smartie. You can see the intelligence radiating from his brain.
View attachment 4074157

Pichon. Note the smug look on his face.
View attachment 4074158

Birds are very smart and have a sense of humour

 

[notabitail]

Birds are very smart and have a sense of humour

They sure do. And revenge.

 

[Sylvester017]

Was watching the News and an Advert popped up for "protect your flock"
View attachment 4073072

So I clicked on the link which brought me to the CFIA site on biosecurity. There is a nifty video to watch also, and poster I will print off at work and post in my barn.

https://inspection.canada.ca/en/ani...nimals/diseases/backyard-flocks-and-pet-birds

I have been seeing lots of birds starting to migrate here, and lots of song birds now going about with their Spring time rituals. Time for me to start worrying about A. Flu I guess. Always something to worry about isn't there?

Oh really? They suggest no exposure to wild birds to prevent AI...we'd have to live in a BioDome to do that!

Wild birds are the scourge here ~ House Sparrows in particular

 

[featherhead007]

That concerned me in the beginning cuz I researched & the most noted comments about vertical nipples was leakage ~ especially from DIY projects. So I bought ready-made waterers w/extra attachments, nipples, & jugs in case that happened to us...but in 10 yrs it never did. Were our chickens more gentle using them? Was it cuz we had a very small flock & therefore less wear-&-tear? Were the brands we bought better quality? Maybe following strict mfr suggestions did the trick?

But we never replaced any water attachment except to tryout Brite Tap's newest model horizontal nipples which the chickens use but the Silkies still prefer using the vertical nipples better for their "showers".

Old style Brite Tap waterer w/vertical nipples
View attachment 4074085


Newest Brite Tap w/ horizontal nipples.
View attachment 4074080

And we keep out 3 locations for water & feed in case one area runs out.

Well, wow. You really know your nipples.
I’ll have to start all over again with different equipment.

 

[notabitail]

Well, wow. You really know your nipples.
I’ll have to start all over again with different equipment.

 

[Sylvester017]

@Ponypoor ~ TY for the synop...! Fun to revisit the week