Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[rural mouse]

Actually, I used to love eggs. But lately since I’ve been cooking every egg dishes known to mankind, even scrambled for the chooks, I find that eggs don’t hold the same attraction that they use to. I’m selling some, giving away some, and while the laying season is here, I’m collecting eggs every day. Both my refrigerators are full of eggs, steaks, tofu . Never mind just maybe I need more friends to share with. Sorry for the rant.

I know the feeling. I currently have 12.5 DOZEN eggs on my counter with at least 3 dozen more in the egg collecting basket and more in the coop (from yesterday). And I am selling them...

 

[rural mouse]

I just got a huge haul of eggshells from a lady I give eggs to.
I ask anyone who gets eggs from me to save shells and of course they save shells from all the eggs they buy too.
Mine also massively prefer eggshells to oyster shell.

Ditto.

Re: oyster shell, I've found there's 2 types of oyster shell. 1 is roundish pebbles and the other is flakes. The pebbles seem to be limestone while the flakes are from sea shells. They like the pebbles least and the returned egg shells most.

 

[Sylvester017]

Ok so there are 2 possibilities in play here on "Splashy".

#1, she is the result of Poppet and Davy and is actually splash. That also means Poppet is a blue partridge. It could be possible as Poppet was snapping out of her broody spell around the last day or so I collected eggs. I could have had one from her.

#2, she is not splash and some random color. I know Davy and Barbosa are the result of a BBS pen. Poppets daughters are sired by Branch who was black but threw partridge. I do not know what Poppet's parents were. I do know that when I hatched Branch I did end up with a white chick that pipped into the yolk sac and died in the shell. That pen also produced I think 4 more solid whites. I think they are referred to as dominate whites. There really is a lot of colors that come into play with this pen.

What I do know is Splashy stays to be one of my grow outs. I'm praying she is a pullet, and if she is a Poppet daughter my odds are good she is. So far Poppet is a 100% pullet producer. I figure in a month or so we will have a better idea of her color. I do see in person yellow tones on her down coloring. She also has pale grey almost white mixed in. I cannot call her solid white though, there is color to her.

I also said I want pullets, I do not need more boys. If Splashy is a splash I will be hard pressed to let it go if it is a cockerel. The whole goal behind a blue pullet or two was hopes of splash chicks next year. Good grief I could be in trouble here. I think I need to start saving for another kennel for a blue and splash breeding pen.

I am going to be holding back and raising 8 from this group. 1 blue, the 2 blue partridge and Splashy. I talked to Betty this evening and for 2 months I will raise 2 blue and 2 black for her. She also said if any of the ones I list do not sell she will take them as well but she at least wants 4 fuzzy britches as she calls silkies.

I also need a good name for Splashy. I know I am calling her Splashy or Splish Splash but she deserves something better. I may end up calling her either Elizabeth, Carina, Angelica or Calypso as they tie into the Pirates of the Caribbean theme.

Even if your Splash chick is a male, keep him if you want to breed blue chicks in future. To get 100% blue hatches a coupling of a black parent w/a splash parent produces 100% blue chicks & it doesn't matter which splash is the parent hen or the roo.

 

[RoyalChick]

Ditto.

Re: oyster shell, I've found there's 2 types of oyster shell. 1 is roundish pebbles and the other is flakes. The pebbles seem to be limestone while the flakes are from sea shells. They like the pebbles least and the returned egg shells most.

Yes. Exactly my experience. The flakes are also more expensive than the pebbles and the returned shells are free!
Also, I like that I get to explain why the hens need the shells - amazing some people have no idea.

 

[TOMTE]

Yes. Exactly my experien

Yes. Exactly my experience. The flakes are also more expensive than the pebbles and the returned shells are free!
Also, I like that I get to explain why the hens need the shells - amazing some people have no idea.

Does getting less and less calcium from egg shells over time only apply if the hen is eating her own egg shells?

 

[RoyalChick]

Does getting less and less calcium from egg shells over time only apply if the hen is eating her own egg shells?

Yes. If all she eats is her own eggshells then it isn’t enough calcium. She uses calcium in her metabolism (as we all do) to make muscles contract for example, and she loses a fair bit into poop.
But mine get eggshells from dozens of other hens who likely have a far less nice life unfortunately.

 

[TX Chick Noob]

New Coop: We Built a Chicken Palace (and Survived)!


It’s done! Our feathered overlords finally have their dream home. Here’s the chaotic tale of how we pulled it off, for anyone who may consider this option.


We started with two boxes that promised they would become a Lifetime 8x10 shed with skylights—two big ones and a row of little ones along the roof. Lots of natural light in case the chickens want to party under the stars.

The Base: A Curse-Filled Odyssey

The shed demands a fancy concrete pad or wood platform. Did we do that? Ha, nope! Instead, we went rouge and put together an 8x10 cinder block rectangle with a middle row, stuffed with sand, gravel, and rock. The ground was sloped, so we dug, swore, and dug some more to level it.

The Build: Less Pain, More YouTube

Shockingly, the shed went up without a hitch. It’s 500 lbs of plastic and metal frame but the pieces were light enough for us mortals. The doors, though? We wrestled those suckers for hours to make them hang right and shut without attitude. The instructions were written by someone who hates humans, so YouTube became our guru. Pro tip: worship the algorithm. Oh, and the shed’s vents are decent, so our chicks won’t suffocate in their own sass. We drilled concrete screws into the base to keep this beast from sailing away in a storm.

To-Do List: Send Help

Still gotta carve out a hole for the auto door (praying I don’t botch it), hang roost bars, and drag in the nest box. Also, I’m hauling 2 tons of construction sand in my poor Jeep Gladiator—four trips to the gravel pit, because apparently I hate my suspension. Send snacks.

I will have pics this weekend once it’s chick-ready. Our feathered dino’s are clawing at their tent, so it’s good this is almost done or they might make it out and take over the living room!

CONGRATS!!

We have a Lifetime shed as my outdoor kitchen and love it! For the price it is extremely well built and easy to assemble. Of the other “some assembly required” sheds we have had over the years the only other one we have had that is even close is a Suncast. Just bought another one of those to use as a duck house, which we got finished well enough yesterday for them to sleep there last night. We got the Suncast because we needed something a little smaller to fit the space, and it was on sale for $350 at Sam’s.

Altogether it went well. We have done wood platforms in the past, but since they are a pain to keep level and we have the concrete mixer now we did a pad. Biggest issue we had was Bobby took all the panels out of the box the day before we assembled it, so we could go ahead and cut the holes for the “ducky door” and some ventilation. The base warped really bad from sitting on the pad in the sun and then cooling overnight.

But we managed to get it together, and after it sits for a while, fully assembled, and with a little bit of weight inside, everything should settle back down better. Especially when we eventually drill the four concrete anchors in the corners.

Here are some pics of the mostly completed project. Still have to seal around the ventilation panels, hang the light, do some other minor electrical work, and build their “staircase” of patio blocks to get in and out. Might end up having to mount a small section of 2x4 on the inside and outside of the door as another step, that can swing in and out with the door.

The plastic floor should be easy to clean out, and I can use the shelves we put in to store both gardening tools and duck supplies.

Concrete pad

Ventilation

Building in progress

Is it ready?

Looks ready

Duckies ready for bed

Duck Shangri-La (Still a lot of work to do. And they are going to need a bigger pond.

I am probably going to build a low 2x2 frame around the floor in one side to help contain their shavings and might end up using puppy pads under the food and water. Will see how bad it is each day.

 

[RoyalChick]

What do you make of this? I have never experienced anything like this before.
I went to collect eggs.
The box was occupied by a very comfy looking Piglet who unleashed the wrath of a thousand devils when I reached under her.
She drew blood!
Broody you say? Maybe. But remember she is the hen that gave up being broody when she figured it was interfering with meal times.
Anyway, I grabbed the eggs I could get easily and left.
Imagine my surprise when I saw the camera pick up this video immediately after I left!

I was worried why she was shaking like that but she seems fine and is currently bathing.
The egg is from Tassels (green) and has a rock solid shell. You can see where Piglet pierced the shell with her beak, but the egg only cracks open when Piglet drops it.
It is like Piglet was trying to prevent me from stealing it by removing it from the nest box!
How crazy is that?
They haven’t even eaten the egg yet!

 

[TX Chick Noob]

Just spent a little over an hr mowing th grass with BIL’s lawn tractor and I have to say that the hydrostatic drive is terrible! I cannot spend 2-3 hrs pressing down on a gas pedal with 100lb/in squared (ok an over exaggeration) - my leg and back are killing me! And do you think I can find a transmatic drive lawn tractor out there??? No! What is it doesn’t anyone know how to drive a manual gear shift anymore?!

Just as well - cheaper to hire someone likely.

Ok here is the lawn mowing tax

Twister
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Jolly
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It doesn’t have any form of “cruise control” to keep it moving? A lot of them do.

 

[Sylvester017]

No ancient one - you should look up - they are lovely.

Wow! Gorgeous breed Hmong! Melanistic ...black meat bird. Bet @SimpleJenn 's hubby would love this one.

Me & DH...we're thrilled w/ our fuzzy Silkies for good temperament, black skin, turquoise ears, decent egg size (same size as our Dominique eggs) & just as smart or not so smart as any other breed. & 1st-time visitors love them. Easy to keep for our climate zone & great little foragers if their vision is kept clear.

We also cycled thru some rare larger breed chickens. & once we considered Cochin bantams but getting two free Silkie chicks 14 yrs ago settled our choice. It's my personal opinion that most bantam breeds capture the hearts of their owners ~ OEGB, Dutch bantams, Sebrights, D'Anvers, D'Uccles, Cochins, EE bantams, etc etc. & most of them are considered excellent broodies but of course my top choice bantam is Silkie for my favourite all-around usefulness for egg size, broodiness, hardiness in our climate, foraging skills, can't fly out of the yard, good temperament/friendly, & cute eye candy in an array of different colors.

For a standard breed we are in love w/Dominiques who are active friendly curious chicks that don't cower in a corner like most chick breeds but run to their human in peeping joy yet grow up to be fairly calm adults & good flockmates & who continue having reciprocating conversations w/their human. Our Dominiques were great flock leaders & the hens were kind to Silkies in the flock & kept bully hens in their place from picking on Silkies. Doms would lead the chase after feral cats in the yard & would enlist the shy Silkies into the pursuits. Silkies avoid predator confrontations but find courage under the tutelage of Doms.

I'm sure other owners have great experiences w/ their breeds but over the years Doms & Silkies have personally been our best backyard combination flock. I do love all birds, even the funny awkward vultures, ducks, geese, parrots, doves, etc, but I'm just sharing our little backyard

Dana & Violet ~ a Dom & Silkie 2021