Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Ponypoor]

Those are amazing! That's some photo shoot! They could do Dewalt commercials!

Hahahahaha - I will send some to them

 

[Ponypoor]

As youngsters (approx one yr up to 3 yrs old) Legs have been lovely here but noticed going into her 4th yr our White Leg started getting testy w/ other flock members (was her reproductive reputation kicking in to make her ornery, was she just getting old & crotchety, etc etc)?

We liked our White Leg pullet so much we got two Buff Leghorns from a breeder who bred Buff Legs from the Danne Honour line. Danne was project breeding his Buffs to lay more whitish eggs rather than brown. Danne never said (& I never asked) what Buff cross-breed he used to get Buff Legs but since the egg shells were light brown I assumed he had used Buff Orps somewhere in his breeding project. Hard to find Buff Legs now. The Sand Hill Preservation Farm had Buff Leghorns years ago but buffalo gnats killed off their Buff flock & decimated a rare turkey breed but happily they've restarted their Buff Leg flock again. Sand Hill in Iowa is amazing at preserving rare poultry i.e. like Dorking, Barred Holland, Penedesenca, 13 Leghorn varieties, 12 Orpington colors, Scots Dumpy, etc etc etc.
https://www.sandhillpreservation.com/chickens

Danne Honour's Buff Legs on feathersite.com

Buff Leghorn roosters
Photos courtesy of Danne J. Honour

Buff Leghorn hens
Photos courtesy of Danne J. Honour​

Anyway I gave one of our Buff Leg pullets to a friend's laying flock & the Buff was ok w/ other laying breeds like Marans, Australorp & Buff Orps, Easter Eggers, Olive Eggers, etc. When our 4 yr old White Leg & one-yr-old Buff Leg started bullying our gentle Silkie & timid Ameraucana we donated our two Legs to our friend's backyard layer flock who already possessed the first Buff Leg we donated to them. It was sad giving up our Legs but obviously we couldn't donate our little Silkie & timid Ameraucana to a flock owner of larger more aggressive layer breeds. At least our two Legs got rehomed together & we got to visit them often just around the block from us.
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I hope you can eventually find the Lt Brown Legs you love. Check out Sand Hill or a Midwest hatchery next year. This season is pretty much done for shipped birds but put in an early order now for next Spring. Some hatcheries will ship as few as a 3-chick order

That is one lovely rooster!

They look like my buff Orp girls, but slimmer with more jaunty tails.

 

[Ponypoor]

Please ask your girls to come over and do a little carpentry for me.
Do you think that they would mind helping me to weed my garden?

I tried to do some weeding of my tomatoes lettuce and beans, and the gang were more interested in trampling over everything!

And hey don’t you know tender lettuce is a real treat!

 

[Ponypoor]

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Kids, not-chickens, and a crazy “hair”

Awwwww

Kids and pets - they are the best!

 

[Ponypoor]

Caturday
Good morning everyone
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Good morning/afternoon Marie What a lovely moggy! Look at those eyes!

 

[Ponypoor]

Scardy Cat! Éowyn didn't run this time. That's this time.

She looked astonished that she was hopped on her nose hope her nose wasn’t cut. Those beaks are sharp!

 

[BY Bob]

She looked astonished that she was hopped on her nose hope her nose wasn’t cut. Those beaks are sharp!

No damage was done, fortunately.

 

[featherhead007]

He’s silent inside the house with me.

That has changed. He had one hour of sleep and now, cocorico overdose!

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

Happy Saturday everyone. Time for a long overdue hatch update for Goose and Gryffyn. This fiasco of a hatch is finally over as of last night. I learned a few things. First thing is never trust dad and Rosie when they say they have all the eggs. Second thing, never trust Goose and Gryffyn if they each have a nest in close proximity to each other. Swapping nest fiends. After the first nest swap that I noticed after Goose's first chick hatched I swapped their eggs and left the hens in place. I came out the next morning to find that once again they had switched places . They did it 2 more times Saturday and I just gave up. Sunday morning Goose abandoned her unhatched eggs and took her 1 chick off the nest, right into Russ's stall. Well, that sent me over the edge and I gathered them both up and locked them in the coop until Wednesday for her chick to strengthen up.

Here is Goose's little minion. Going by shell color, and the fact that it has feathered legs it has to be either a spooky chick or one of the cochin chicks.

Goose is once again a wonderful momma and very contented and proud of her chick.

Gryffyn, after Goose abandoned her eggs Gryffyn stretched that neck of hers and combined nests. She went from 4 eggs to 13 eggs and I had no clue which was hers and which was the ones Goose abandoned. I called her names and left her alone. Wednesday evening she has 2 chicks hatch while I was at work. 1 passed away soon after hatching as mom found it still very wet. The other one is thriving. It is a total guessing game on who the momma is, came out of a light tan egg and it is yellow with no feathered legs. Yesterday Gryffyn took it off the nest as soon as the sun came up. Thankfully Gryffyn chose not to go into the horses stall once, she kept it near the creek bank digging around. It was getting close to dark last night when I went out to make sure everyone was ok and found Gryffyn and her chick missing. Sheer panic trying to find them. I finally spotted Gryffyns head poking out of Russ's dinnertime hay. She may have chose not to take the chick into the stall during the day, but let's take it to bed in the horses stall. Russ had covered them up almost completely with his hay. Nope not happening. I retrieve a very angry Gryffyn and her chick and for the night decide to place them back on her nest. I was planning on tossing the rest of the eggs into the creek and I heard it. The eggs were left alone all day but low and behold there was peeping coming from one of those eggs. Gryffyn heard it too and my unfit mother took being a witch to a whole new level in trying to get back to those eggs with her chick. I let her settle on the eggs with her chick and went in and got the flashlight and a bucket. I pulled every unhatched egg out from under her and candled them. Nest swapping, being abandoned twice did a number on those eggs. Some never developed, some had a blood ring in them. 1 had a bouncing embryo that needs at least a week to hatch. That sole egg went under Spooky who decided to go broody Thursday. At this point why fight the broody girls. I also know for a fact that egg I gave spooky is a speckled sussex egg. The last egg I pulled out from under her had a external pip and a cheeping chick. I also know for a fact from that egg's size it belonged to Gryffyn's sister Flurry. I gave it back to her, tossed the rest of the eggs and hoped for the best. I went out to check at 1 am and it had just hatched. Another little yellow fuzzball, with feathered legs. I checked on them about 8 this morning and Gryffyn has not taken her chicks off the nest yet. I think my unfit mother has realized it needs a few more hours to strengthen up so is staying put.
I took these last night after I removed all but the pipped egg.

Later today I will go out and get pictures of the 2nd chick.

Welcome to fatherhood George.

 

[BY Bob]

Happy Saturday everyone. Time for a long overdue hatch update for Goose and Gryffyn. This fiasco of a hatch is finally over as of last night. I learned a few things. First thing is never trust dad and Rosie when they say they have all the eggs. Second thing, never trust Goose and Gryffyn if they each have a nest in close proximity to each other. Swapping nest fiends. After the first nest swap that I noticed after Goose's first chick hatched I swapped their eggs and left the hens in place. I came out the next morning to find that once again they had switched places . They did it 2 more times Saturday and I just gave up. Sunday morning Goose abandoned her unhatched eggs and took her 1 chick off the nest, right into Russ's stall. Well, that sent me over the edge and I gathered them both up and locked them in the coop until Wednesday for her chick to strengthen up.

Here is Goose's little minion. Going by shell color, and the fact that it has feathered legs it has to be either a spooky chick or one of the cochin chicks.
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Goose is once again a wonderful momma and very contented and proud of her chick.

Gryffyn, after Goose abandoned her eggs Gryffyn stretched that neck of hers and combined nests. She went from 4 eggs to 13 eggs and I had no clue which was hers and which was the ones Goose abandoned. I called her names and left her alone. Wednesday evening she has 2 chicks hatch while I was at work. 1 passed away soon after hatching as mom found it still very wet. The other one is thriving. It is a total guessing game on who the momma is, came out of a light tan egg and it is yellow with no feathered legs. Yesterday Gryffyn took it off the nest as soon as the sun came up. Thankfully Gryffyn chose not to go into the horses stall once, she kept it near the creek bank digging around. It was getting close to dark last night when I went out to make sure everyone was ok and found Gryffyn and her chick missing. Sheer panic trying to find them. I finally spotted Gryffyns head poking out of Russ's dinnertime hay. She may have chose not to take the chick into the stall during the day, but let's take it to bed in the horses stall. Russ had covered them up almost completely with his hay. Nope not happening. I retrieve a very angry Gryffyn and her chick and for the night decide to place them back on her nest. I was planning on tossing the rest of the eggs into the creek and I heard it. The eggs were left alone all day but low and behold there was peeping coming from one of those eggs. Gryffyn heard it too and my unfit mother took being a witch to a whole new level in trying to get back to those eggs with her chick. I let her settle on the eggs with her chick and went in and got the flashlight and a bucket. I pulled every unhatched egg out from under her and candled them. Nest swapping, being abandoned twice did a number on those eggs. Some never developed, some had a blood ring in them. 1 had a bouncing embryo that needs at least a week to hatch. That sole egg went under Spooky who decided to go broody Thursday. At this point why fight the broody girls. I also know for a fact that egg I gave spooky is a speckled sussex egg. The last egg I pulled out from under her had a external pip and a cheeping chick. I also know for a fact from that egg's size it belonged to Gryffyn's sister Flurry. I gave it back to her, tossed the rest of the eggs and hoped for the best. I went out to check at 1 am and it had just hatched. Another little yellow fuzzball, with feathered legs. I checked on them about 8 this morning and Gryffyn has not taken her chicks off the nest yet. I think my unfit mother has realized it needs a few more hours to strengthen up so is staying put.
I took these last night after I removed all but the pipped egg.
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Later today I will go out and get pictures of the 2nd chick.

Welcome to fatherhood George.

Well some positive outcomes from all of this. Chickens can really be wild sometimes. I'm glad you have some chicks and the mums have babies to raise.