Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[knoturavggrl]

@rural mouse, I think I may figured out the color name for Thyme - Black Based Snoleopard.

Mugs Monday:
Pebble, no doubt he is a boy now.

Juniper, she almost always comes up to say hello.

 

[featherhead007]

@Rural Chick, I think I may figured out the color name for Thyme - Black Based Snoleopard. View attachment 4162703

Mugs Monday:
Pebble, no doubt he is a boy now.
View attachment 4162704
Juniper, she almost always comes up to say hello.
View attachment 4162705

 

[featherhead007]

I’m sending all the cobs to the recycling plant. I picked up about 60 of them today.

 

[Sylvester017]

@knoturavggrl ~ Our 2 Silkies from the same breeder from the same DNA hatch/sexing. Ginny the Buff/Blue Partridge is almost 1/2 lb heavier/bigger than Suzu the Silver Partridge.

Ginny & Suzu checking out strange "yellow" water melon ~ Suzu went to stand w/the Dominique hen while the Blue Silkie Betta is in the rear near Ginny's watermelon ~ all Silkies are smaller than Ginny.

 

[Sylvester017]

Just a new lurker to this thread and just want to say I enjoy reading everyone's camaraderie immensely - hope it's okay to come in and say hi!

 

[ChicoryBlue]

How long have they been on medicated feed? You should wean them off medicated feed as they grow because medicated feed does withhold vitamins from them.

Their supposed Hatch Day was June 2, so they are four weeks old. I thought one keeps the medicated feed going for eight weeks? They’ve had a box of dirt from the woods since about two weeks and they got a big new box of woodsy dirt, moss and leaves stuff late last week. They’ve not been outside yet.

What is the schedule you have used with the Phyllistines? I haven’t wanted them mixing with the older birds yet and I’ve been wary about when they could or should have contact. I have been tending them in one set of clothes, then changing clothes for the older birds, then showering and changing back to tend the little ones again.

I am imagining it would be better to be older when they meet so that they will be stronger to deal with the respiratory issues there. Remember what happened with Annie? Hazel is in active disease now, and she is pretty uncomfortable and it’s breaking my heart. Her face on the left upper side is swelling. Her appointment is for Wednesday afternoon, a house call. I couldn’t schedule anything for two weeks but they will be in the area and squeeze in a visit.

The chicks already have had something, might have come with them from the hatchery or they immediately got sick here. One was sneezing on the first or second day. Then more started after a few days, and I put them on five days of Tiagard to help prevent a bacterial second infection which they finished last week. One chick today was again snorting this evening however.

I had thought that whatever the tribe has would be manageable, but maybe this will be a big disaster all around. I really don’t want to cull everyone and “start fresh”. Diane has been symptom-free, and Annie and Tedi have had a light nasal discharge and a little snorting, that comes and goes. So they are coping well. And what do you do if you let everyone live out their lives and there’s one hen left all alone? I’m not even sure where the initial disease came from. Queenie? Wild birds?

Thanks for listening. On top of this the one chick with bulging eyes, Isabel, is definitely not right, she blasts around like a chick, jumps and flies and runs, but soon after she stops, she closes her eyes to doze when everyone else is awake and resting, or just standing waiting for the next game. Late in the day she’s very tired and sinks down to sit and doze. She preens, eats and drinks, and poops well. Seems to be hanging in there, but I fear something congenital that’s going to doom her as she grows. She doesn’t appear uncomfortable though, and is enjoying the life she has right now.

 

[Sylvester017]

Mrs BY Bob is not here for this. She can't stand to see her babies tortured so left for the week to let me take care of things.

Oh, I agree, integrations can be brutal.... you are a strong person Gunga Din

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

I have a ton of messages saved up to quote/reply to. Trying to finally get it done. Lol


I would say to was borderline a little too expensive. But fine as long as you made the intensions behind it very clear. Did you ever give it to her? I don’t remember seeing you post about that.


I grew up in the Mesa/Tempe area and have also lived in several other parts of the state. It can definitely be pretty brutal.




I have used different color “wire ties” on mine. I agree you have to check them regularly, especially when the chicks are growing. And also be sure to cut the end off close to where it goes through the other end, so they can’t bite it or catch it on something and pull it tighter. This year I finally bought some “real” leg bands to use.

Teeny tiny wire ties leg bands on Orchid and Violet
View attachment 4161904

“Real” leg bands on Ruby and Crystal (Crystal still had her old wire tie too in this picture.)
View attachment 4161908



I think I saw you post about being pretty sure some of your silkie chicks are “dominant white”. How do you know? Is there any way to tell if silkie’s are dominant or recessive when they came from a hatchery like mine did, or without breeding them?


Griffon has a comb but no wattles. And usually she has a beard, but lately it seems to be plucked most of the time. This isn’t a great picture. What might look like a wattle is actually he reddish/pink throat.
View attachment 4161909



Like this one? Cassie’s feathers are really getting pretty.
View attachment 4161901



Speedy (my Welsummer) is very vocal. And she has a special “it’s too hot” sound she only makes during the summer. I have even heard her murmuring it when she is sleeping.

I am using the term dominate white because that is what I have heard it referred to. I honestly do not know if there is recessive white in silkies. If there is recessive white then truthfully that is what Calypso should be as there is no white for a couple generations behind her.

If your silkie's came from a hatchery I would say fair chance there is white somewhere in their lineage.

I knew my chicks Grandpa Branch possibly carried the genes. His parents were hatchery birds. I'm not sure which hatchery they got them from. They were black and what I now know to be partridge colored. I was given 6 eggs to test their fertility. 5 hatched all black and 1 died in the shell from pipping into the yolk sack. The one that did not make it was white. When I posted on the silkie forum here asking how did I end up with a white chick from black parents that is when the term "dominate white" was thrown at me. 3 more white chicks to my knowledge were produced from that pen. Maybe more, I have not kept up with them in the last year and a half.

Grandma Poppet is a Partridge, I guess you would call her silver partridge. I do not know what her parents looked like or where they came from. Together she and Branch produced 2 blacks, 2 black partridges and 2 moorehead partridges. All pullets god love them.

With the passing of Branch last summer I brought in 2 new boys in January or early February. They were hatched from Blue, Black, Splash eggs and I have a blue boy and a Black boy with silver leakage on his hackles. They are nice looking boys for not show quality silkies but I do not know where their parents came from or what they looked like.

What I do know with the result of Calypso who is solid white. Branch indeed carried the genes for Dominate white and he passed it down to at least one of his daughters. 1 of my 2 boys also carries the gene's for it.

There have been 3 hatches so far from that pen and Calypso is the only white chick so far. I currently have 33 eggs saved up as of this evening. If they do not sell by Thursday, that night I am setting the incubator with however many I end up with. My turner holds 48 eggs. I would like to get as close to it as possible without waiting too long to set the eggs and decrease fertility. We shall soon see if I get another white chick. I very well could hatch hundreds of chicks from this pen and not get another white. I could get surprised and possible have a couple in this hatch now that I know it is a possibility.

What I need to study up on is Calypso. I wonder if by expressing the white will he/she produce a greater chance of white or if the hidden color will be thrown.

 

[Grandma The Chicken]

Last photo for the last day of the month.

 

[Sylvester017]

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.

Chuck is a pretty EE DH & I aren't zoned for roos so I love roo stories/pics...

Our suburban hens 5 Silkies & a Dominique