Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[TOMTE]

Yes, it won’t hurt for everybody to get some Tums occasionally. You could try a short run of about a week and see if there’s improvement. If there is then it might point to the solution.

Are they all already eating a layer feed with high calcium? Or you have roosters and are feeding All Flock with calcium on the side?

Thanks! I don't have roos but I feed Kalmbach 20% (or 18% if they're out of the 20) Flock Maker with oyster shell/egg shells on the side. They mostly forage for their food though.

 

[featherhead007]

Maybe not Carnegie Hall but maybe he fits into a rock festival where you can't hear over all the racket anyway

It’s heating up here in Central Valley. I’m doing my best to keep the cheeps cool. I brought the beautiful Aero into the house. She pecked my cheek so softly, I couldn’t stand it! She’s such a lover!

 

[Ponypoor]

Ooooo. That would be cool.

Now imagine the hissy fit gal is a wee silkie named Georgie taking on Dorothy!

Silly silkie! No she’s not broody again. And thankfully neither is her silly daughter - whom I thought might be this morn, the way she was puffed up and growling; she just had to lay her egg though.

 

[Ponypoor]

Horse disease names are really quite something. Slobbers?!
Sounds nasty.

It’s exactly like it sounds - slobbery saliva all over the place - pools of it in the aisle on the floor where she stands with her head over the door -

 

[Ponypoor]

Hi all, I haven't shared updates on my chickens for a while. They are doing well for the most part. I was traveling for 3 weeks between mid May to mid June. Luckily no chickens were injured or ill during my absence since my husband would be super stressed otherwise.

The main thing is that I took the courage to finally drain Poopy. Poopy has been having water belly for a while, maybe half a year. We can tell that she was definitely suffering. At some point, she started to have a bit labored breathing when sitting (looks normal when she is standing) and I suspect it is due to the extra pressure when sitting. Her poopy butt was getting worse and belly/bum area starts to lose feathers.

On June 16th, a few days after I got back home, I convinced my husband to drain her. In the end, we only used an 18 gauge needle to poke her right side, about 2 inches below the vent. No syringe was attached to the needle as I decided to let the liquid drain out of the needle instead of actively pulling.

It seemed going well except her needle hole kept leaking out fluid after I pulled the needle! We started to read more threads about this and felt like all we could do is to give her water with added electrolyte.

Fortunately the leaking stopped on its own after like 8 hours!! She appeared to be a little into shock, but mostly fine. The next day she was still a little slow and went to roost earlier, but 2 days later she became energetic again and was back to her usual self which we haven't seen for at least half a year.

It's been two weeks since the draining and Poopy is doing great

We also have Inky and Meimei kept laying softshelled eggs or shell-less eggs :-( We get about 2 eggs per week from the one and only Foxy.

Light is doing absolutely well ever since she got her 2nd implant in late March.

Poopy on June 27th.
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A recent trip to a flower farm
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Car show at NC blueberry festival
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May 15th, birthday celebration for Foxy and Meimei (they were 3, top 2 in the picture). Light on the right and Inky at bottom.
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On the table. From left to right: Foxy, Inky, Light, Poopy. This is March 15th. Poopy's water belly hasn't gotten bad.
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The almighty Foxy on March 30th
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Foxy and Meimei taking bath, March 30th
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Two sweeties, April 4th
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All 5 of them, on newly stained deck, April 14th. I especially love my 'headless' Poopy photo (the lightest chicken)
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Don’t worry about it self draining, it’s better it drains this way, it’s less of a shock to their system if it drains slowly this way, and once the pressure is off from the excess fluid it will stop leaking.


They all look great! Whatever you’re doing keep doing it

 

[Ponypoor]

She's doing great cuz of good care, good feed, open range to get exercise & flap wings, dust baths, insects, foraging, flockmates all add up to a healthier hen's life... not locked up in a 1-ft-square cage w/3 to 4 other hens eating crap for feed!

Not a happy hen
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Happy Farm production hens

My chooks would love all that - I’d never see them again they’d run wild!

 

[Ponypoor]

Exactly the dilemma of caring for them, sometimes I wonder if I can handle it or not! Going between worry and joy, with times of peace in between. How do you do it?

Now imagine having crazy nutty horses added into the mix!

I am surprised I am not bald from pulling my hair out!

 

[Ponypoor]

Someone (Esme, I think) has been laying soft-shelled eggs... Again? Was it her last time too? I can't remember. I should have picked up some calcium when I went to the pharmacy earlier, but I didn't think about it. I was too sick, just wanted to get back home.

I ended up going to urgent care yesterday because I wasn't getting any better. The doctor I saw thinks I probably have gastroenteritis, or possibly salmonella or giardia. They have to run some tests to find out. For now he prescribed me zofran for the nausea, which is a total life saver! I feel so much better!

Anyway, I think we have tums so I'll give her one tonight or tomorrow morning... Would it be safe to give everybody a tums, just in case it isn't Esme laying the wonky eggs?

Yes that would be fine

Mine are not fond of mint though!

 

[ChicoryBlue]

That is exactly the one I am looking at.
Are you happy with them?

Yes overall, and I would buy another new model if I needed one. I haven't found any others (though I haven't looked lately) that are all-metal and swing inward like this. They do have wear parts that occasionally need replacing, and it initially needs adjusting to get the weight / swing open, and the chickens have to learn it. So it's not set-and-forget all the time, though most of the time it is! I wrote @bgmathteach a long piece about my experiences with it, I can see if I can PM that to you.

I don't think you would encounter this in your Palace but in full disclosure my older model just got rained on, or against the back of it, inside the run (against the wire wall). Probably because I narrowed the wall's weather protection to better the airflow, and really shortened the above roof tarp. There is a tiny spot inside the feeder where water somehow got in at a corner midway up the container part. A collection of feed stuck there and began to mold which I just discovered and freaked me out. But in a previous year I have had it out in total weather shenanigans under a maple & lilac bush with a short piece of polycarbonate roofing held on with bricks, but with the back side facing away from the prevailing winds, and never had a leak. So today or tomorrow I'm investigating that and will report.

This is not enough for me to not recommend the feeder. I have a second feeder, a newer model, where the roof does get splashed on a little in storms with no ill effects. But it faces south and the north gets serious wind and weather. So I keep the back north side of it protected by a 3'x3' tarp. I've not had any issues with water getting in with that setup. I have corresponded with Al of the Carpenter Shop about the area in the back top, just under the lid. The feeder is made for hanging on a block, so if you don't hang it (I thought I might but haven't yet) he has freely acknowledged it is a vulnerable spot, that blown-in sideways weather can get in right there.

 

[Ponypoor]

Yes that would be fine

Mine are not fond of mint though!

SHRA

Silly Betty!

She’s fine

But really sunbathing in this heat?!

And don’t think those wing feathers don’t hurt when she slashes you in the eye with them!