Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[rural mouse]

It really was super cool to watch - I have loads of deer and have a collection of found antlers but have never seen them using them before. It was like chicks chest bumping - nobody was in danger of getting hurt, but they were super serious about it!
Thank you, yes, I like the stone border. I can take no credit for it as it came with the property which means it has been there at least 25 years, and knowing the history of the place I would guess it was installed in the early 1970s. Apparently it is called Belgian Block and I have a few spare ones behind the barn just in case.
The big area of grass gets mown now and then. I confess I have a guy come do it with a sit-on mower. I would like to let it go wild (I have another area that gets mown only once a year and is let go wild in between) but I have a neighbor over that side who thinks I am a tad slovenly - so I do get that area mown when it gets out of hand just to keep the peace.

Tax: another angle in Chippy and what now seems to me his/her massive comb!
View attachment 4216316

2 weeks. Wait until then.

 

[RoyalChick]

2 weeks. Wait until then.

You do know that feels like an eternity right now?!

 

[Ponypoor]

It really was super cool to watch - I have loads of deer and have a collection of found antlers but have never seen them using them before. It was like chicks chest bumping - nobody was in danger of getting hurt, but they were super serious about it!
Thank you, yes, I like the stone border. I can take no credit for it as it came with the property which means it has been there at least 25 years, and knowing the history of the place I would guess it was installed in the early 1970s. Apparently it is called Belgian Block and I have a few spare ones behind the barn just in case.
The big area of grass gets mown now and then. I confess I have a guy come do it with a sit-on mower. I would like to let it go wild (I have another area that gets mown only once a year and is let go wild in between) but I have a neighbor over that side who thinks I am a tad slovenly - so I do get that area mown when it gets out of hand just to keep the peace.

Tax: another angle in Chippy and what now seems to me his/her massive comb!
View attachment 4216316

I keep the grass mowed around the house and in front of the barn but the paddocks go wild - this year I had someone come in and mow it so I can spray it with a herbicide in the Spring.

Next weekend I will mow it with my small finisher mower to keep it short. With winter coming on it won’t grow much any more this year.

I have left the area under the trees were I put up the safety fencing last year, go wild, cover for the chooks.

As for your neighbour - just smile and tell him that keeping the grass long is what helps conserve soil moisture, keep trees alive and the water table at a good level. All true BTW.

Clyde in the undergrowth

 

[TOMTE]

I'm glad to hear she is better this morning. It really is hard to say what was going on with her. Without watching them all day long, when oddities like this happen, you will probably never know what it was.

I figured it would be a mystery. Some of her feathers were a little out of place which led me to think either predator or self-injury, but I think she's going to molt soon so her feathers have been a little rough anyway. I think it's still too early in the season for fruits to fall and ferment... In the end I'm just glad she's okay! I wish they would stop wandering so far but there's nothing I can do about that short of keeping them locked in the run, and I can't bring myself to do that to them before it's time to (late fall), because the run is too small.

 

[Pastel the Rooster]

Really?! She appears quite fluffy, I figured she was very light and very fluffy! I keep thinking Laverne will chunk up, but so far she has remained very light. Two of the Buffs are like that, Butters is a chunk though.

I must look at the breed standard to see what their weight should be.

My lavender orp is probably one of my heaviest chickens. Amethyst hardly ever flies, and I don’t think she even jumps up to grab treats out of my hands.
Oh! I don’t think I ever got the chance to introduce her to you all, since I got her after I left BYC.
She was being raised as a meat “rooster” where Mom used to work. I realized she was the only hen, and asked her owner if I could buy her from him. He ended up giving her to me for free, which was very kind of him.
She had never been held or touched before, but she has grown quite comfortable with me. She is not a huge fan of being held, but she doesn’t freak out like some of my Wyandottes (who I have raised since they were two weeks old).
So, this is Amethyst, my hen who I saved from being in someone’s freezer.

 

[Ponypoor]

My lavender orp is probably one of my heaviest chickens. Amethyst hardly ever flies, and I don’t think she even jumps up to grab treats out of my hands.
Oh! I don’t think I ever got the chance to introduce her to you all, since I got her after I left BYC.
She was being raised as a meat “rooster” where Mom used to work. I realized she was the only hen, and asked her owner if I could buy her from him. He ended up giving her to me for free, which was very kind of him.
She had never been held or touched before, but she has grown quite comfortable with me. She is not a huge fan of being held, but she doesn’t freak out like some of my Wyandottes (who I have raised since they were two weeks old).
So, this is Amethyst, my hen who I saved from being in someone’s freezer.
View attachment 4216324

She’s a beauty

Did you do your homework?

 

[rural mouse]

In honor of Pony Sunday....

I bring you a Dragon in the Skies!

 

[RoyalChick]

I figured it would be a mystery. Some of her feathers were a little out of place which led me to think either predator or self-injury, but I think she's going to molt soon so her feathers have been a little rough anyway. I think it's still too early in the season for fruits to fall and ferment... In the end I'm just glad she's okay! I wish they would stop wandering so far but there's nothing I can do about that short of keeping them locked in the run, and I can't bring myself to do that to them before it's time to (late fall), because the run is too small.

Glad she is OK.

 

[RoyalChick]

Just flooding the zone. I did warn you all I would.

 

[Ponypoor]

Ok. So. Let me preface this by saying Esme is 100% fine and normal now.

A couple evenings ago 3 girls came back to the run around 7ish, their normal time. Esme was nowhere to be seen though. I called around for her and shook some treats, nothing. Finally after 20 or so minutes I saw her slowly walking around in the woods, so I went to grab her. As I got closer I noticed she was walking a little funny (almost pigeon footed), seemed weak on her feet, kept stumbling and putting a wing out to steady herself. I went to pick her up and she freaked out a little, but once I had her she was kind of despondent.

I brought her up to the run where she promptly went for the food. Her tail was down, she was unsteady and stumbling as she pecked around but managed to eat as much as she wanted to. Gytha was picking on her though so I took her back out of the run to see her walk around. When I tell you I was so worried... I should have gotten video but it didn't even cross my mind! She almost seemed drunk.

After a few minutes of watching her, I gave her some treats which she eagerly wolfed down and put her straight into the coop. I doubted she'd be able to get in by herself, that's how uncoordinated she was acting.

The next morning I braced myself for the worst, but she was acting 100% back to normal. Only difference was she was still inside the run with the rest of them instead of escaping.

Which brings me to my question: what the heck could have happened? Could she have run/flew into something and stunned herself? Got into some fermented fruit? Jumped by a predator and escaped (no injuries though)?

Well without seeing her myself I can only say that it could be anything.

One year, one of my hens was going through her first moult (I think it was Dorothy) and she started walking backwards and in circles and generally not acting right.

Of course this freaked me out, but then I realized that it was her pin feathers on her belly which were causing her distress. I tell you though it really had me worried; I was sure she was dying. Once I realized it was her feathers, I put her up on top of my round bale to eat and drink away from the others and just made sure she wasn’t bothered by the others.

I also figured out that she enjoyed a gentle massage of her belly feathers.

For your girl I would just ensure she is eating and drinking ok, and keep her quiet for a couple days.

Next year you might want to look at some electric fencing to keep them from wandering and keep some larger ground predators out.

You can use these plastic poles and run about three strands along the bottom to keep the chooks in, and put another one up at about the 2’ level to keep out dogs, foxes, bears…..

They are super easy to put up the spike at the bottoms gets stuck into the ground, and easy to take down, I would use the electric twine rather than the tape.

Anyways it’s an option for you in the future.