Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[BY Bob]

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone I have a thread, which is more like a blog/journal/record keeping so I don't forget things but people come in occasionally

My flock is new - about 1 year old - I am on rural 24 acres so they are allowed to free range all day. They are incredibly hawk savvy and for some reason, I am nowhere near a predator highway so while I do catch the odd skunk and fox and raccoon on my cameras, they are on the other side of the property and are not interested in the hen house, which sits in a pasture. I'm lucky! I think it's because I live in an area of abundance, they aren't starving creatures. We have had hawk attacks, most of them are unsuccessful. I've got a fine Rooster.

His name is Chuck - there is a story behind his name.

View attachment 4161143

When he was a chick - straight run from Tractor Supply, he was the first one to fly out of the brooder, at only a week old. I named it "Amelia" after Amelia Earhart. Welp, turns out he was a boy -- didn't show it for weeks and thought, hmm... Chuck Yeager! He is sweet and docile and friendly and lovely and very very brave. We ADORE him.

My adult flock is 15 strong, including him. They are all lovely and I am SO attached to them

View attachment 4161165

This was before we had 3 losses. Nothing fancy here!


But we've exploded this year; WAY too many at this point but... who cares.

I have a group of 14 "teens" who are 16/18 weeks old now and big as the big girls and hanging with the big girls now, I can't rightly call them teens anymore, really.

I have a younger group EEs I call the Cracker Jacks 6 of them (long story, story is in my thread) that are 14 weeks old they keep to themselves and haven't ranged out with the bigs yet, only halfway and gentle forays into the 'hedge'

Then I have my perfect 11 Lollipops, a group I hatched myself who are the children of my big girls (and Chuck) and are SUPER friendly and cuddle bugs and I ADORE THEM. From this batch I have Ruby and Whoopie who seek out cuddles and snuggles <3 they are 6 weeks old.

Tilly, a beautful Copper Maran, went broody (LONG story, story in my thread lol) and hatched 8 chicks! They are 4 weeks old. Here they are as hatchlings:

View attachment 4161205


Harriet and Ginger had chicks too - but later.. the story is long and detailed.. but those 5 chicks are brooding with a batch I hatched myself. They are all 1-3 weeks old and in my 'downstairs' brooder.

There are 17 of them down there. I plan to sell these, except possibly for some olive eggers I bred myself from Chuck and Sophia (Maran)


Then, I got a shipment that I had ordered in February ! of 6
(Lakenvelder, Silver Dorking, Speckled Sussex and Golden Campine) and I also hatched out some Welsummer and Ameraucanas like 2 days later, so they are brooding together in our upstairs brooder -

Both brooders are in the hen house, one is just up high to save my back and one is down low for integration.

View attachment 4161206

Looks different now, got a WAY better feeder that doesn't bill out food

Anyway there are TWENTY of those babies in there. I won't be keeping all 20. haha

we want to end up with <70 which works, because of the non-babies we have 54 and it's entirely manageable and not at all trouble.

37 babies and we will be getting rid of a ton of them.

But that's 91 right now hahahah

Wow! Thanks for sharing.

@Ribh someone else has campines!!!

Can you please share pictures of the campines?

 

[Ponypoor]

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone I have a thread, which is more like a blog/journal/record keeping so I don't forget things but people come in occasionally

My flock is new - about 1 year old - I am on rural 24 acres so they are allowed to free range all day. They are incredibly hawk savvy and for some reason, I am nowhere near a predator highway so while I do catch the odd skunk and fox and raccoon on my cameras, they are on the other side of the property and are not interested in the hen house, which sits in a pasture. I'm lucky! I think it's because I live in an area of abundance, they aren't starving creatures. We have had hawk attacks, most of them are unsuccessful. I've got a fine Rooster.

His name is Chuck - there is a story behind his name.

View attachment 4161143

When he was a chick - straight run from Tractor Supply, he was the first one to fly out of the brooder, at only a week old. I named it "Amelia" after Amelia Earhart. Welp, turns out he was a boy -- didn't show it for weeks and thought, hmm... Chuck Yeager! He is sweet and docile and friendly and lovely and very very brave. We ADORE him.

My adult flock is 15 strong, including him. They are all lovely and I am SO attached to them

View attachment 4161165

This was before we had 3 losses. Nothing fancy here!


But we've exploded this year; WAY too many at this point but... who cares.

I have a group of 14 "teens" who are 16/18 weeks old now and big as the big girls and hanging with the big girls now, I can't rightly call them teens anymore, really.

I have a younger group EEs I call the Cracker Jacks 6 of them (long story, story is in my thread) that are 14 weeks old they keep to themselves and haven't ranged out with the bigs yet, only halfway and gentle forays into the 'hedge'

Then I have my perfect 11 Lollipops, a group I hatched myself who are the children of my big girls (and Chuck) and are SUPER friendly and cuddle bugs and I ADORE THEM. From this batch I have Ruby and Whoopie who seek out cuddles and snuggles <3 they are 6 weeks old.

Tilly, a beautful Copper Maran, went broody (LONG story, story in my thread lol) and hatched 8 chicks! They are 4 weeks old. Here they are as hatchlings:

View attachment 4161205


Harriet and Ginger had chicks too - but later.. the story is long and detailed.. but those 5 chicks are brooding with a batch I hatched myself. They are all 1-3 weeks old and in my 'downstairs' brooder.

There are 17 of them down there. I plan to sell these, except possibly for some olive eggers I bred myself from Chuck and Sophia (Maran)


Then, I got a shipment that I had ordered in February ! of 6
(Lakenvelder, Silver Dorking, Speckled Sussex and Golden Campine) and I also hatched out some Welsummer and Ameraucanas like 2 days later, so they are brooding together in our upstairs brooder -

Both brooders are in the hen house, one is just up high to save my back and one is down low for integration.

View attachment 4161206

Looks different now, got a WAY better feeder that doesn't bill out food

Anyway there are TWENTY of those babies in there. I won't be keeping all 20. haha

we want to end up with <70 which works, because of the non-babies we have 54 and it's entirely manageable and not at all trouble.

37 babies and we will be getting rid of a ton of them.

But that's 91 right now hahahah

I love them - and your Roo is true eye-candy.

You're a true chicken tender like the rest of us I see, I started with 3, then 13, now I don't have any (ok I have 44), but they are all named so according to Chicken Math 101 I do not have any chickens hahahaha!

Thanks for the baby pics - I don't have any wee ones this year, and I am living vicariously through those that do.

 

[Ponypoor]

The rat update is not great.
I have confirmed that they are not burrowing in from outside. Have done multiple smoke tests.
They do however march in and out the door when it is open for the chickens to play outside.
In the middle of the day. Bold as brass.
And they have taken up residence under the floorboards of the servant’s quarters where I cannot reach them.
I am deploying rat contraception (no, seriously) as well as a safe rat killer (RatX). They are extremely trap shy and have avoided all traps and bait stations so I am trying to get creative.
Tassels, now she is not brooding, is very aware of them and seems to want to catch them. She has come close a couple of times but no kills so far.

I am buying a rat proof feeder for the Princesses and may start using only the nipple waterer inside the Chicken Palace (though I suspect rats can operate the nipples).

I think water is a big thing. Apparently rats drink a lot, so I need to repair the pipe that the girls dug up. The rats do seem to like that damp area.

Here is one watching me from outside as I fill up water for the Princesses. A minute later it walked in through the door. While it was too wary for me to be able to grab it by hand, it was not nearly as scared of me as I would like.
View attachment 4161117

Whoa Nelly! That's crazy! They know you're a softy!

The ones in the barn are terrified of me and the chickens. I keep hoping one of them will catch them, but haven't seen the hens do so yet.

At night I cover all the feed and put the feeders in the feedroom, and empty all the waterers. But still I see them. Don't know what they are drinking as it is not wet here, and no standing water anywhere.

 

[Sylvester017]

DH got all excited at finding the 1st ripe cherry tomato. Whaddya think, he couldn't get a closer pic... unless he crawled inside the 'matoe! He held it out the tiny thing for the hens so they could peck off a bite & run off w/it.

 

[Ponypoor]

SHRA tax
View attachment 4161103

Do you give them dance lessons to do things in a synchronized manner

If they were ponies they would make an excellent driving team! A very fancy team indeed!

 

[Ponypoor]

DH got all excited at finding the 1st ripe cherry tomato. Whaddya think, he couldn't get a closer pic... unless he crawled inside the 'matoe! He held it out the tiny thing for the hens so they could peck off a bite & run off w/it.
View attachment 4161260

All I saw at first was a Velociraptor's foot!

Still waiting on my Tomatoes - the hens are eyeballing them also, thay have trimmed all the leaves they can reach through the fencing, along with the Lettuce and Brussel sprouts. Brats!

 

[lightm]

The rat update is not great.
I have confirmed that they are not burrowing in from outside. Have done multiple smoke tests.
They do however march in and out the door when it is open for the chickens to play outside.
In the middle of the day. Bold as brass.
And they have taken up residence under the floorboards of the servant’s quarters where I cannot reach them.
I am deploying rat contraception (no, seriously) as well as a safe rat killer (RatX). They are extremely trap shy and have avoided all traps and bait stations so I am trying to get creative.
Tassels, now she is not brooding, is very aware of them and seems to want to catch them. She has come close a couple of times but no kills so far.

I am buying a rat proof feeder for the Princesses and may start using only the nipple waterer inside the Chicken Palace (though I suspect rats can operate the nipples).

I think water is a big thing. Apparently rats drink a lot, so I need to repair the pipe that the girls dug up. The rats do seem to like that damp area.

Here is one watching me from outside as I fill up water for the Princesses. A minute later it walked in through the door. While it was too wary for me to be able to grab it by hand, it was not nearly as scared of me as I would like.

Wow. Sorry...

Would you like to try this product? https://www.automatictrap.com/

I bought this more than a year ago and it is just sitting in my office. I swear that I will install it on the side of a tree trunk this summer (maybe tomorrow!).

Our crawl space person recommended it to me. I don't know if it's chicken safe but I think on the website there is an accessory that you can buy to block off the entry while you have your chickens out.

 

[lightm]

For Pony Sunday, I have a fresh ish mountain pic
View attachment 4161119the snow last week has all melted off, only leaving the remains of the winter snowpack. I've been told that years back (not sure how far back, but within living memory), there were glaciers up there (snowpack that stayed year round). It will be interesting if it stays. Watching glaciers form would be an interesting once in a lifetime. Will keep updates coming.


For @featherhead007 View attachment 4161134the LARGEST plane I've ever seen. Was at our little airport earlier this month, dwarfed the terminal building (could be seen looming over it), and accompanied Air Force 2 (white tail mostly hidden behind the trees on the right). No idea what was going on. I was gobsmacked over the size of the grey beast. I didn't know the runways were long enough for something that size.


And for animal pics....View attachment 4161118a Ling Cod. My dad, brother, sister, and BIL are all in Alaska for my dad's annual fishing trip. This one was 2 inches short of keep length, and at least 50 pounds (it maxed out the scale, which stopped at 50).

The day's keepersView attachment 4161142king salmon and black rock fish

Wow, what a Sunday post! Thanks for sharing.

 

[rural mouse]

In other adventures, Cardhu has eggs cracking. I found a half hatched dead chick and shell near her and one kicked entirely out of the nest with shell bits stuck to it. Tossed that one, looks like total dud. Removed the chick.

Had 4-way drama battle for nest site choice going on also: Kate, Chia, Primula, and Maizie (who was winning choice spot with Primula getting 2nd choice ).

At this point, eggs are staying under Cardhu to determine if the one was a reflex to something moving under her and now she's got it figured out or if it was purposeful in which case she will never be allowed to brood again or if it was a battle for nest site and the chick was a bystander casualty.

Am home today, so checking every hour or so. The delightful, horrible, and everything in between all in a day about having chickens

 

[lightm]

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone I have a thread, which is more like a blog/journal/record keeping so I don't forget things but people come in occasionally

My flock is new - about 1 year old - I am on rural 24 acres so they are allowed to free range all day. They are incredibly hawk savvy and for some reason, I am nowhere near a predator highway so while I do catch the odd skunk and fox and raccoon on my cameras, they are on the other side of the property and are not interested in the hen house, which sits in a pasture. I'm lucky! I think it's because I live in an area of abundance, they aren't starving creatures. We have had hawk attacks, most of them are unsuccessful. I've got a fine Rooster.

His name is Chuck - there is a story behind his name.

View attachment 4161143

When he was a chick - straight run from Tractor Supply, he was the first one to fly out of the brooder, at only a week old. I named it "Amelia" after Amelia Earhart. Welp, turns out he was a boy -- didn't show it for weeks and thought, hmm... Chuck Yeager! He is sweet and docile and friendly and lovely and very very brave. We ADORE him.

My adult flock is 15 strong, including him. They are all lovely and I am SO attached to them

View attachment 4161165

This was before we had 3 losses. Nothing fancy here!


But we've exploded this year; WAY too many at this point but... who cares.

I have a group of 14 "teens" who are 16/18 weeks old now and big as the big girls and hanging with the big girls now, I can't rightly call them teens anymore, really.

I have a younger group EEs I call the Cracker Jacks 6 of them (long story, story is in my thread) that are 14 weeks old they keep to themselves and haven't ranged out with the bigs yet, only halfway and gentle forays into the 'hedge'

Then I have my perfect 11 Lollipops, a group I hatched myself who are the children of my big girls (and Chuck) and are SUPER friendly and cuddle bugs and I ADORE THEM. From this batch I have Ruby and Whoopie who seek out cuddles and snuggles <3 they are 6 weeks old.

Tilly, a beautful Copper Maran, went broody (LONG story, story in my thread lol) and hatched 8 chicks! They are 4 weeks old. Here they are as hatchlings:

View attachment 4161205


Harriet and Ginger had chicks too - but later.. the story is long and detailed.. but those 5 chicks are brooding with a batch I hatched myself. They are all 1-3 weeks old and in my 'downstairs' brooder.

There are 17 of them down there. I plan to sell these, except possibly for some olive eggers I bred myself from Chuck and Sophia (Maran)


Then, I got a shipment that I had ordered in February ! of 6
(Lakenvelder, Silver Dorking, Speckled Sussex and Golden Campine) and I also hatched out some Welsummer and Ameraucanas like 2 days later, so they are brooding together in our upstairs brooder -

Both brooders are in the hen house, one is just up high to save my back and one is down low for integration.

View attachment 4161206

Looks different now, got a WAY better feeder that doesn't bill out food

Anyway there are TWENTY of those babies in there. I won't be keeping all 20. haha

we want to end up with <70 which works, because of the non-babies we have 54 and it's entirely manageable and not at all trouble.

37 babies and we will be getting rid of a ton of them.

But that's 91 right now hahahah

Lovely chicken photos! Especially love your copper Maran mama and babies picture.

Can you share the link of your thread with us?