Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[drstratton]

Pony Sunday!

My other passion!

Italian Bee on a Caryopteris.

 

[Ponypoor]

Pony Sunday

Reenie and Truly enjoying some wild apples

 

[RoyalChick]

@RoyalChick This was my BCM’s @ about 7 weeks or so. Brownie had a really prominent comb, they both had combs
at about 3 weeks. His kept growing and getting darker red while hers remained where you see it in this picture until she matured. Contrasting greatly with the other pullets of other breeds who at this point had almost no comb or wattle development at all. I know it’s not the same breed but both breeds do end up with good sized combs and wattles so I thought perhaps this comparison would help you. I do think there is still reason to hope Chippy is a pullet.
View attachment 4216417View attachment 4216418

Wow! That comb is almost bigger than his head!!

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

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 on Chippy and what now seems to me his/her massive comb!
View attachment 4216316

Ok, I went back and really looked at my 2 sussex at a similar age. More specifically I went back and looked at how they were patterning in as I did not remember my 2 starting to color up on the chest first. I was wrong, white came in on the chest first. Now comparing my two with Chippie, I'm leaning heavily towards pullet. Keep in mind sussex have a decent comb for a hen and wattles. A rooster has a impressive comb and wattles. Chippie's is just starting, I really think if Chippie was a boy that comb and those wattles would be double the size they are currently.

Here are my 2 at 5 weeks of age. Very similar minus the tail. My girls were tailless wonders for a while.

 

[RoyalChick]

Ok, I went back and really looked at my 2 sussex at a similar age. More specifically I went back and looked at how they were patterning in as I did not remember my 2 starting to color up on the chest first. I was wrong, white came in on the chest first. Now comparing my two with Chippie, I'm leaning heavily towards pullet. Keep in mind sussex have a decent comb for a hen and wattles. A rooster has a impressive comb and wattles. Chippie's is just starting, I really think if Chippie was a boy that comb and those wattles would be double the size they are currently.

Here are my 2 at 5 weeks of age. Very similar minus the tail. My girls were tailless wonders for a while.

View attachment 4216432View attachment 4216433View attachment 4216436View attachment 4216437

Thank you! That might help me cope with the waiting.
The thing that is different about Chippy is that s/he has a white chest. Not just white spots.

Oh, and Chippy has a good sized tail.
That is either a piece of cheeseburger or a cricket that s/he is carrying away.

 

[featherhead007]

I already have a "blood is flowing" situation with the hen Diane. She is somewhat manageable though changeable. I imagine an aggressive rooster presents greater danger.

I have big doubts about Shanai being a pullet when s/he holds her long curly tail up, it looks soooo like a rooster then! It isn't in that posture all the time though. So I am waiting to see.


My B.O. lap chickens Tedi and Annie come around and ask for lap time very often, and Diane comes around to hang nearby, either to hang out nicely or do damage to me, depending on her mood. That actually limits my interactions with the new Buckeyes significantly.

To just hang out with them without them scattering with the approach of a B.O. I have to block access first, or interact with them only after the Bigs have retired for the evening (that was that nice evening sit-around at the coop the other day).

@featherhead007 how do you do it - how do you bring a hen or two and sometimes rooster inside for food and snuggles. Do you get permission from the lead rooster first? And how do you make that ask?

I have to ask Mr Wyandottey before I bring any of his tribe out of his eyesight. I just tell him bluntly, with an authoritative voice . And never look away while speaking to him. Chooks can read human intentions by our facial expressions and eye contact.

 

[featherhead007]

Ok, I went back and really looked at my 2 sussex at a similar age. More specifically I went back and looked at how they were patterning in as I did not remember my 2 starting to color up on the chest first. I was wrong, white came in on the chest first. Now comparing my two with Chippie, I'm leaning heavily towards pullet. Keep in mind sussex have a decent comb for a hen and wattles. A rooster has a impressive comb and wattles. Chippie's is just starting, I really think if Chippie was a boy that comb and those wattles would be double the size they are currently.

Here are my 2 at 5 weeks of age. Very similar minus the tail. My girls were tailless wonders for a while.

View attachment 4216432View attachment 4216433View attachment 4216436View attachment 4216437

Sussex? Don’t you mean Suspects!?

 

[featherhead007]

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 on Chippy and what now seems to me his/her massive comb!
View attachment 4216316

Put that leg down, firmly on the ground ! And yes Chippy, you look very Suspect to me!

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

Sussex? Don’t you mean Suspects!?

Yes I do, they had me guessing for a while. I'd been told by someone that boys sprout their tail feathers later then the girls. Here I was with 2 tailless wonders right up to about 8 or 9 weeks.

Chippie is now officially a Speckled Suspect.

 

[featherhead007]

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 is pretty!