Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[ChicoryBlue]

The are expected to follow her lead.

Helpful!
Question - what do you mean in this last sentence?

 

[Grandma The Chicken]

Caturday
His own hidey hole.

He also likes to be high up. He climbs and sits on a high area.

 

[Sylvester017]

2 or 20 - it’s all the same here. The worse thing with the chooks is chasing down the escape artists. Otherwise it’s just feed, water, and pick poops. Same as with the horses (their poops are a wee bit bigger!).

I am thinking the silkies are all boys for some reason. So they will be rehomed. The Noirans I am undecided on; I was looking at my flock and I see that my oldest layers are going to be 5 so they will likely not lay much next Spring, I’ll need replacements for them.

Raven and Blanche are 8…? And rarely lay now.

My silkies will be 5 also:
Henny Penny
Fluffy
Curly
Marty

And the barnyard mutts who will be 5:
Whiskers
Misty
Buttercup

These two will be 5 next Oct:
Rose
Dorothy

I have a lot of old ladies here.

Then the 4 yr olds:
Butterscotch
Muffy
Tippy
Eli-too
Little Grey

So you need new replacement birds for a lot of eggs... for yourself, for neighbors, or relatives? Ours are pets... the eggs are just a side bonus. We figure 3 hens won't lay next year leaving us just 3 Silkies laying for another 2-3 years. The sad story is not knowing which bird we will lose 1st cuz it will happen eventually & we're not replacing this time around. We love the fluffies so much I can't bear the thought...

 

[knoturavggrl]

I bet I'll be buying eggs next week or the week after. I have 3 that might yet be laying, based on how red their combs are. One of those three had a feather explosion last night, so I think she has joined the molters and might be done for the season.

Of my 8 hens, 3 are five years old, 2 are four years old, and 3 will be three years old next May. I'm thinking I need to get chicks next spring.

Enable me, someone! Please!

Challenge accepted!
Temptation 1 - First up hands down personal favorite (they would revolt if I didn’t include them) Swedish Flowers

Temptation number 2 - Shetland because they are adorable and they lay blue/green eggs.

Temptation number 3 - double silver laced Barnies because omg they are sooo pretty

 

[Sylvester017]

I bet I'll be buying eggs next week or the week after. I have 3 that might yet be laying, based on how red their combs are. One of those three had a feather explosion last night, so I think she has joined the molters and might be done for the season.

Of my 8 hens, 3 are five years old, 2 are four years old, and 3 will be three years old next May. I'm thinking I need to get chicks next spring.

Enable me, someone! Please!

Our Silkies lay year-round spring summer winter... we always have eggs in the skelter... if you're looking for all-year layers... of course you'd need at least 5 or 6 Silkie hens cuz they have no synchronized laying season the way standard breeds do but that's why we always have eggs.

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

Well, I do not have a polish pullet to love on today.

They were a no show yesterday, but I woke up to this message from them..

I had to work yesterday evening and midnight . Sorry I didn’t get back too you but yes I do but they got a real bad cold and I wont sell them to anyone til I see if they get better . I won’t sell anyone a sick animal . I’ll keep you up dated I’m currently have her on antibiotics


I have since talked to them this morning. It is a wait and see game now. I'm hoping she recovers. They have not brought in any new chickens in 3 months so they think it is just the weather changing that brought on this illness. The polish and 2 of her Guineas she listed for sale are sick. They are in isolation now and being treated. If they recover, she is holding off for at least a week before re-listing them. I also have first dibs on the polish pullet if that happens.

I'm very sad. I want her, but I am so thankful they are honest about her and did not sell me a sick bird.

 

[bgmathteach]

Sorry for the long post but I do have pictures! Big deal here - Shehnai is officially in the Idiot phase.

Long story short, there's been ninja fighting and chasing here; Shehnai is going after Hazel, who is losing the fights now and is running.

I did not see this coming, that he would be randy before the pullets matured. I thought if any, they or the Buff Orps, would be the targets. But he fears the Orps. Hazel is not laying except for one or two eggs in the Spring so isn't particularly fertile either.

I think: he thinks he can dominate her and take her, and he's probably right, she is small and has never been a fighter and has always been socially timid. She became Queen by attrition and not by social climbing or dominant personality, she got her power through Queen Peanut. Now she rules by being the eldest, with certain looks and precision pecks and not much physical dominance.

I'm worried for her - she is 5 and is not in great health with her respiratory problems, I think her air sacs are scarred; heat waves hit her harder than others. She's breathing very heavily after these skirmishes. After a long run with Shehnai trying to get on her and grabbing her neck - she cannot outrun his long legs - she was breathing a honk with each breath, like whooping cough. I feel really sorry for her and am concerned.

She is getting some protection from the Buff Orpingtons. I saw Shehnai back down early on before I knew what was going on but I realize now it was only because the BO's showed up.

So Hazel spent time in the main run hiding from Shehnai. She did gather her BO troops by doing this long calling, and they answered her and assembled. They really huddled around her, Tedi next to her and Annie up on the ledge and Diane on the outer edge. They had a little preening party then.
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Shehnai came into the run and when he got toward the back area, Diane walked toward him, "foraging", pushing him away. That's him by the cement block.
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There's Diane, and that's him behind perch and the red top waterer, leaving. Hard to see.
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The Nomads all sequestered themselves up by their coop twice that I saw.
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With things temporarily calmed down I went about the work on the run expansion & roof for awhile, and then went to check on the Nomad Buckeye's feed up there. In that coop's run I fed Shehnai from my hand, then he skedaddled, because I had made a mistake (in hindsight) - I left the main run door to the aviary open, which is usually not a problem. So the Buff O's did their usual thing when they saw me up there and came up to see what's what. Hazel of course stayed back.

The BO's pushed the Littles off, who hung around outside the Little's coop run. Except for Shehnai, who apparently saw the opportunity to go after Hazel again now that the BO's were away from her. He must have walked directly down there, because very soon after he left there was squawking and shrieking and Hazel was running, and I ran back down to find her running around in the run and dodging, using every piece of furniture available, except she didn't go up to a perch as Shadrach mentioned in his article would be a good escape.

This was where I actually saw he had some neck feathers in his beak and was trying to jump up on her while they both ran along. She tore herself away in a dodge, I opened the human main run door to outside the complex again - I had opened it for her before when she was looking longingly for another place to escape - and she ran out. Shehnai stayed inside because he saw her through the wire and didn't think about going around, which I counted on. He tracked her moves up and down that alley but couldn't reach her. That's when she hid behind the coop to catch her breath and honked like she had whooping cough.

The BO's hanging closely with Hazel earlier out there in a peaceful moment
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Hazel had a drop of blood where the beak meets skin after this long grabby run. I thought at first she had been breathing blood out but it's not from the nares. It didn't look bad, and it would have stressed her even more to have me handle her so I just hung out with her protectively.
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At one point all the Nomads were in the aviary area up by their little coop but Shehnai was hanging close to the main run door out to there, looking to get at Hazel. Hazel wanted to go to the big coop because it was coming up on roosting time, which meant going by that door, but Shehnai's presence held her back. So Tedi moved to sit in the doorway. Annie was close there too, and then Diane took it upon herself to help again. She went out past Tedi and drove Shehnai back up to his coop. Here they are, Shehnai walking back up, Diane working up to a chase. Only the edge of Tedi is visible perched on the threshold.
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Advice & comments please - just monitor? Or is this situation different? I feel her health is at risk, but I don't know. She recovered from the heavy breathing relatively fast and she isn't wheezing all the time.

But the Queen is not thumping the Idiot like I thought she would; she used to thump him easily but now she is afraid of him and he does not fear her. I'm worried whether she can physically handle incessant fighting and running, that she hasn't the stamina / breath. His behaviour has really changed from just days ago and that may be freaking her out too. She looked kind of panicked about it all.

Do these randy rooster sessions usually occur in the morning and then again late in the day, so she'll have a peaceful middle of the day?

He is not going for the Buff O's - he fears them instead. Will they step up more to help her? I am thinking I should somehow create additional areas she can hide in and they can defend her from? Better visual blocks. To the ramparts!

I agree with @rural mouse : as many obstacles as possible, no corners for him to catch her. I think that it is really, really good that the BOs are standing up to him to protects her....and it seems like Diane-Ida is willing to 'push him away'. GOOD, GOOD, GOOD! I know you want to integrate them, but could you keep the door between the two areas closed first thing in the morning...and then closed it up again early evening - to keep them separated during the worst part of the day (hormonally speaking)?

I think that if the B.O.s will defend her, they WILL get a good thumping or two in, and that will go a long ways towards teaching him manners. I think if you are able to monitor some (from a distance)...to be sure she is being defended....and see if they do actually thump him good...not just runs away...I think things will then settle down some. But, again, he needs to be thumped a time or two (or three!), not just chased/pushed off for him to learn his lesson.

And, yes, the boys mature faster than the girls, hence why he is interested in Hazel - she is mature, and less a threat to him then the BOs...easiest 'adult' target.

I think what RM (correct me if I am wrong, @rural mouse ) meant is if he wins Hazel over, then the others will fall in line and be his, too. Truth is, though, while it might help some, he actually has to work for EACH hen for them to become his. (Well, some hens will just fall beaks over spurs for a roo....no telling about taste for some!) but most need to be 'woo-ed' and have the roo show them he will be a good provider and look-out and escort.

 

[Sylvester017]

Buttercup is just dropping feathers everywhere as she walks! I hauled a handful off to help her out but so many of them! I gave up, best I could do was help with her tail feathers. Those don’t get up in my nose and eyes!

We never get a bald chicken here, since we've been using Missing Link sprinkled lightly w/ the girls' morning daily added treat dish of lamb, peas, corn, cheese, or whatever DH mixes it with. It probably works like feather fixer but all I know is no bald birds... they do lose feathers around the yard & definitely moult yet none go bald. Never had a scraggly looking bird using this stuff. Never knew they were moulting if we didn't see fluff & feathers flying in the wind.

 

[Sylvester017]

I am really interested in seeing what sort of eggs the Noirans lay. Supposed to be very dark like pure Marans. Seeing as how they are only 7 weeks old it will be likely the new year before I see eggs from them!

They quiet lovely chickies, very sweet and curious. The silkies on the other hand are like savage wild beasts on the Serengeti! They are scratching digging catching all sorts of things. Running like mad through the tall grass and weeds - true little dinosaurs!

That's what I love about Silkies... very active foragers when other breeds are snoozing/digesting away their morning crops the Silkies are busy zipping around. & they hide super fast during hawk alertsWe never expected our cute eye candies to be so self-sufficient.

 

[Ikslo]

Challenge accepted!
Temptation 1 - First up hands down personal favorite (they would revolt if I didn’t include them) Swedish Flowers
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Temptation number 2 - Shetland because they are adorable and they lay blue/green eggs.
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Temptation number 3 - double silver laced Barnies because omg they are sooo pretty
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I would put the silver laced barnies in the #1 spot, personally!