Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Ponypoor]

Pretty feathers! Moults can really change a chicken's appearance & surprise us! I love new moults to see pretty feathers before they get worn & tatty & discolored especially from sun bleaching, dustbaths & muddy weather.

This was our Silver Partridge (Gray) Silkie chick who after 5 years of moults doesn't look the same any more. She's more of a dark gray all over now w/a stained silver belly. Her underdown is light but outer feathering darker & rust-stained from damp dustbaths

2020 ~ Silver Partridge/Gray chick "Suzu"
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2021 ~ Silver Partridge is SuzuView attachment 4080854
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Once we let the chicks go outside Suzu started staining her feathers ~ late 2021
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Damp garden soil dustbathing 2022
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Damp dirt bathing really discolored her feathers
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2024 ~ Suzu doesn't look the same w/ all her Silver markings stained from her garden bed dustbaths and darkening moult feathers ~ at 1st we thought it was gold leakage but she loves being a chicken & loves her damp dustbaths. I'll have to get more pictures of her or have DH take some current pics. The Dominique gets a bit dingy rust too before moult.
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We had a Black Silkie "Mini" whose black feathers would fade rusty from sun bleaching & dustbaths but the next moult they would come in shiny black again.

Black Silkie ~ Mini w/faded rusty feathers 2015
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New Moult ~ Mini 2017
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W/ our Silkies I never knew they were moulting cuz their moults weren't obvious like smooth-feathered breeds... until one day I notice new crest pin feathers & cleaner colors w/ no stains!

Our golden feathered breeds didn't show as much obvious rust discoloration & was dusty gold & not as noticeable, they just lost shine till the next year's new shiny moult came in.

There must be a lot of iron in our soil cuz our White Leghorn would get dingy stained feathers too until her moult when pretty white feathers came in again.
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Henny Penny always looks so nice and white and clean, even her feathers on her feet! Not sure how she does it!

 

[Sylvester017]

That bird looks to me like an Indigo Bunting, not technically what is a Bluebird, though maybe you all call these birds bluebirds? The all-blue breast, and the hard-to-see but possibly chunky beak and the flatter head all point to a bird here in the East that would be an Indigo Bunting. Are you in Montana? That does appear to be somewhat out of range, but you could have one passing through or blown off course.
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Indigo_Bunting/photo-gallery/297333661

Tiny truck!

That truck is cute!

Indigo Bunting is a bird card in our Wingspan birds of the world game! There's even Prairie Chicken & Red Jungle Fowl cards!

 

[Sylvester017]

She’s beautiful, but she doesn’t show enough gams for a calendar girl picture

You obviously are a leg man! The rest of us see pretty feathers

 

[ILoveDaffy]

They are home! 12 of them! 2 extras, one Buff and an EE, both pullets!

 

[ValerieJ]

A jacuzzi does sound nice. Decades ago I had one but when you're younger it's not appreciated. Now I'm too old to crawl into one .

Exercises are tough/painful... but if no pain, there's no gain. Therapist has extended another 4 weeks of appts.

BTW ~ the chickens in bed are not mine... it's an internet pic

We have a jacuzzi we have never used. It was here when we bought this place 12 years ago. We looked at it and it looks brand new, it it’s in a small pool house and that didn’t appeal to us. Talked often about moving it. Never did.

 

[ValerieJ]

This guy?

Takeo Ischi The Japanese Yodeler - Chicken Attack​

Yes he is great.

 

[ValerieJ]

They are home! 12 of them! 2 extras, one Buff and an EE, both pullets! View attachment 4080973View attachment 4080974

So sweet!

 

[BY Bob]

Mugs Monday

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That one feather was out of place all weekend. It's back in place now.

 

[rural mouse]

Ah, thank you! The size difference is significant.

I'd love to see the Indigo Bunting just to enjoy the bird. Everywhere I go, I look for birds. There are sooooooo many different yet similar ones....maybe that's why I enjoy my chickens so much...birds...

 

[BY Bob]

I love that you care so much! She is definitely misunderstood by me; if there is a way to deal with her I don't know it. I'm afraid I have not unlocked the secret with this one. I'd say with the onset of regular laying she is pretty intense now. She is very high-strung, or something. Is there such as thing as a calming pill for a hen?

She is not squatting for me but when she gets a gleam in her eye, all growly, looking for a fight, I have taken to pressing down on her, hand on her back until she sits on the litter, and gently but firmly holding her there for 10 seconds or so. Hazel will sometimes come over and give her a couple of pecks. I release her and that seems to break it temporarily and she walks away. But she will come back again aggressively, sooner rather than later. I don't know if this is reinforcing a sense that she has to dominate me, as if I am a competing roo?

I have also tried ignoring her, or moving into her a little with my elbow or body so that she is not in a position to peck a hand while I do something like pet somebody else or lay down some pellets on their treat block. If she sees that I have pellets to eat she'll eat from my hands with the others, but pauses to glance up at me in between bites. Whereas everyone else just chows down.

It's very hard to do the normal things I do with the chickens if she is looking for a fight. (Tedi wants to stand and lean against a leg, or have my one hand a little under her, while being pet with the other; so then Diane comes over to bite any exposed hand. What do I do?) I sometimes pet Diane too as she passes by, I'm trying to normalize being touched, but she appears to not like it and takes it as an aggressive move by me.

Sometimes when I have to get something done and she wants to get all up in my business and bite me I pick her up and hold her with one hand against my side while I move about, either her head facing backwards or forwards. She might be quiet for a bit, or not, all growly and keening, but if quiet soon she complains and I let her down.

If I carry a stick around with me she generally keeps clear once she sees it, but sometimes charges to peck as I walk away unless it is behind me right in her line of sight. She wants to silently run at my legs and boots when I am moving away from her.

She is getting good at grabbing skin and twisting, if she catches me unawares. I had so many bites on my hands a couple of weeks ago before I realized how ramped up she's become that DH noticed. I also got a couple of marks on my forearm, and these were bites through exercise shirts plus a sweatshirt.

When I pick her up she is strangely compliant, though she might be growling. But if a hand is available in front of her she will likely try to peck it while held. She won't or can't bite very well unless her feet are on something solid. So I have held her on my lap for a minute or two, her feet off but her keel resting on my hand or leg. Only once last Fall did she relax enough to take even a one-eyed nap.

A hen on my lap brings Tedi around gently bokking, asking to get on too, because she loves lap time. Annie likes it too, but is asking less these days. Having another hen there and loving it, all happy, doesn't change anything for Diane though. She's usually just as upset or fearful or high-strung no matter who is with her.

Hazel will let her forage next to her. She will rest near Hazel. Tedi and Annie don't let her forage next to them for very long. Rest and preening times she's with anybody. But she's not that polite with Hazel either. Last week when Hazel was bathing, Diane decided to get up on the edge of the dustbath pool and step in - but decided to step right on to Hazel's back. Hazel was not impressed!

Wow. She really is a tough one. You seem to be doing the right things to me. Maybe she needs to be dealt with more like a rooster. Any thoughts from the rooster owners out there?