Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[BY Bob]

Her Majesty seem very interested in them, so will you eventually have them all run out together?

In a week. I need the new girls to accept the Cluckle Hut as their home.

 

[micstrachan]

Run build is ongoing...pavers added on one edge under the posts & wire run supports to keep the swale side of the run from sinking. The ground may have shifted to “fall” toward / into the swale next to it. Not the French drain but a deep swale excavated some years ago that the French drain goes to. You can see the swale stones just beyond the run litter boards
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A pullet with the Bigs
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Pullets in the pool, might begin dustbathing!
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No…a sunbath instead!
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Annie looking fine
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Hazel is molting; Shehnai clambering on her doesn’t help her comfort I’m sure
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She's doing okay dealing with the Hormonal Idiot. Sessions with him, the chase and capture, are not fun. Not visibly injured so far, when she gets caught she positions herself pretty well and is very stable while he fumbles around slipping off her and moving his feet all over the place, figuring out how to do this and stay on her. I saw his foot push out and step on her wing for instance, but I think he mostly stepped on feathers. Mornings, then an afternoon shot at mating her after the midday siesta, usually not too successful, but later he's downright hunting for her in the evening. The pullets are still also mimicking Shehnai giving short chases, and she confronts them, generally flares at them twice before running away.

In between all is fairly peaceful and she relaxes some when she sees from his body language he's on to something else, but she keeps her distance. She doesn't obsess about where he is, it's interesting to watch how "in the moment" she is. If he is out of sight she'll do her regular chicken things. Sometimes she is shocked and surprised when he comes back from a corner he just went around, very funny! He might be learning some about what’s acceptable and what isn’t, his behavior is refining in some vague way, just an intuition on my part.

Shehnai has crowed! He was standing tall as if he had spied something to look out for. Then he got taller and flapped his wings. Then he did it again, with a crow! So far he crows about three times each morning and that's it.

Currently sounds like "Toodle-ee-doo!"
Shehnai preening
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Shehnai mug
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Hazel is getting pretty good at staying with the orps for protection and hiding from his sight, and the orps might be learning their part too. A couple days ago Diane led her up into the coop to roost early during a lull in the chasing, Hazel agreed and didn’t throw her out. Shehnai didn't try to follow them in there, though last night he did, causing all kinds of squawking and rummaging sounds. Don’t know if he succeeded in mating her, but he came back out after several seconds. I could see he had had the idea because he jumped up there and looked around while Hazel and one of the BO’s were hanging about the coop door thinking about going in for the night. Then he was chased down, but went back after they went in. I took pics when he got up there and the pullets followed
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If the pullets are like the last group of Buckeyes they would lay a first egg in early December, if the light were right. (June 2 hatchday; the last group were hatched July 6 and laid Jan 4th.) Will they be squatting in November then? How soon before the actual egg so their hormones become evident to a roo? Shehnai is sort of grabbling/stabbing them on the neck now, but not trying anything more.
Pullet photo-bombing
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Here Hazel’s taking refuge with Annie this morning when she’s in there to lay her egg
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For a couple of days I’ve been closing up the wire run with Hazel and the orps in there for about half an hour to an hour while I do chores and hang out before doing run work. They eat and rest and dust bathe and are hidden behind the visual blocking screen. This also gives me time with Shehnai and the pullets to be close with them, undisturbed by the orps. They invariably come over to see what I’m doing and end up chasing the Buckeyes away so this is nice.

I've been concerned Hazel is spending much of her time in the forested aviary area which has a waterer but no feed, though she is getting bugs. When I brought food by hand up there she hungrily ate a lot, and I fed her twice. Might put a treadle feeder up there.

Here's Shehnai seemingly cooling off. He does this, likes to lay on some damp ground. He did some gathering motions while there.
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I have an absent, I didn’t know you got a second batch of buckeyes. I love it!

 

[rural mouse]

How old are the 7 honkers? I mean how old when they started honking?
My other three are still peep-peeping.
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The storm finally got to me this afternoon with heavy rain. Everyone except Piglet has been hanging out under cover.
Piglet is soaked but preening herself back to glory.

Mine sort of trickled in. I was hearing honks from all but Hawthorne (Arabel is the youngest, by 6-36 hours) who took another day or so to start honking....thinking back....10 weeks at others leaving, still peeps....the following week or so...? So 11-12 weeks, I think. Hawthorne slow feathered. Wonder if that is connected to a slight delay in "puberty"...?

 

[BY Bob]

Wonder what the cost is for the test…..

But darn it’s the Tylosin use that’s the big problem. Such a rootin tootin trouble - I could kick myself for getting those chicks, but then I am also extremely sad I couldn’t get the other two and I can’t help but wonder if they are ok, are they suffering.

I am my own worse enemy for worrying.

If it's mycoplasma it will always be there. You can test in a couple of weeks and find out.

 

[BY Bob]

1 is the Lonliest Number

Roosting tonight was seperate. 3 singles.

Niamh was in the nest box.

Tilly on the roost

Joy on the chair in the run

Joy and I had a nice conversation. She did not struggle as I transported her to the roost.

Her and Tilly are together now.

 

[Ponypoor]

Mine sort of trickled in. I was hearing honks from all but Hawthorne (Arabel is the youngest, by 6-36 hours) who took another day or so to start honking....thinking back....10 weeks at others leaving, still peeps....the following week or so...? So 11-12 weeks, I think. Hawthorne slow feathered. Wonder if that is connected to a slight delay in "puberty"...?

Hmmmm I guess my Noirans should start quacking in another few weeks. Can’t remember how old they are now.

Holly, the grumpy girl, gave poor Virginie an evil peck on the back. She’s back to laying and doesn’t have much to do with the chicks now. Georgie let’s them snuggle at night, but it’s Marty who now calls them to food!

As for Whiskers, she is ready to dump her three, she wanders off and doesn’t call them along with her, and when they call for her she ignores them. I am hoping Marty takes them on also, but the Noirans put the runs on the poor wee gals.

This morning I almost had a complete coronary, Reenie trod on one of the silkies foot, I about murdered both her and Whiskers, it’s impossible now to keep any of them out of the horses’ stalls so the stall doors are now permanently shut while the chooks are about.

Not to worry baby is fine, she limped for about half an hr and snuggled with me for about 10 min. Then she had enough and was off with the zoomies. She was fine the rest of the day, but holy Dinah these kiddos are gonna give me a coronary.

And Whiskers laid a lovely blue-green egg today so she will soon be wanting to ditch her kids I guess. I’ll need to put the sweeter heater in the summer house four them if she isn’t going to snuggle them if they are cold anymore. They don’t have a full body of proper feathers yet.

The Noirans are fully feathered.

 

[Ponypoor]

First eggs - in a while - for Fluffy and Whiskers.

Clockwise:

Holly (upper left egg)
Mrs LC
Holly
Fluffy
Whiskers (blue-green egg)

Fluffy lays a decent sized egg for a silkie, almost as big as Whiskers.

 

[Ponypoor]

Leftovers for Breakfast

Some leftover chick food Hattie?

Why I don't mind if I do!

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I have been mixing the chick starter (20% protein) with the layer pellets (17%) to make the morning porridge, 1/3 starter, 2/3 layer. This brings it to about 18%, I might do half and half to get about 18.5%. Increase the protein content in their porridge, and lower the calcium amt.; this past week I have been mixing it with the Tylosin water to make sure they are getting the proper amt of meds.

In the Summer House I do straight starter with a handful of layer pellets (mixed with the Tylosin water) for the chicks, and of course everyone in there eats it.

I tried the Polish with the porridge but they won’t eat it. Even when they see the others eating it. I hope they start eating it as it’s a great way to get additional fluid into them.

Since most of my gang is moulting I am going to get another bag of starter to continue mixing with the porridge, to increase the protein content for them.

 

[ChicoryBlue]

Hmmmm I guess my Noirans should start quacking in another few weeks. Can’t remember how old they are now.

Holly, the grumpy girl, gave poor Virginie an evil peck on the back. She’s back to laying and doesn’t have much to do with the chicks now. Georgie let’s them snuggle at night, but it’s Marty who now calls them to food!

As for Whiskers, she is ready to dump her three, she wanders off and doesn’t call them along with her, and when they call for her she ignores them. I am hoping Marty takes them on also, but the Noirans put the runs on the poor wee gals.

This morning I almost had a complete coronary, Reenie trod on one of the silkies foot, I about murdered both her and Whiskers, it’s impossible now to keep any of them out of the horses’ stalls so the stall doors are now permanently shut while the chooks are about.

Not to worry baby is fine, she limped for about half an hr and snuggled with me for about 10 min. Then she had enough and was off with the zoomies. She was fine the rest of the day, but holy Dinah these kiddos are gonna give me a coronary.

And Whiskers laid a lovely blue-green egg today so she will soon be wanting to ditch her kids I guess. I’ll need to put the sweeter heater in the summer house four them if she isn’t going to snuggle them if they are cold anymore. They don’t have a full body of proper feathers yet.

The Noirans are fully feathered.

Wow it wasn’t stepping on a foot in the pasture, it was on the stone floor, so how is the silkie okay?

 

[Ponypoor]

Hazel "Hottie Hazel" update
Seeing Hazel all upset while getting chased and tackled by Shehnai has been hard but it might be happening less. Possibly now there’s some better news - Hazel is figuring out strategies, and maybe, just maybe, Shehnai is also learning the ropes and acting a little less desperate.

I haven’t seen much lately how Hazel gets into the coop at night, and I know Shehnai hangs around that coop knowing she will be there, and he's dying to get a little nookie in before bed. Frankly I have left before then so I don't have to see it.

But I have observed that the mornings are going better for her through a new strategy she's implementing.

After starting the night on the roost bars snuggled with the other Bigs, at some point she slips into a nestbox by morning. She stays there in the coop for about two hours after the pop door opens. The other day when I tried feeding her there (because there was no feeder where she was spending her days) she was at first in a certain state, like a trance-meditative state. She made very small and low peep vocalizations to me, not her usual volume. Maybe it was a “Shh! I'm hiding! Don’t give me away! I’m not really here, and I don't see you either!” state. So now I’m leaving her alone and just watching by camera. She dozes, but wakes and is very alert to any chicken sounds around the coop. Mostly she sits stock still, and like Elmer Fudd she stays vairwee, vairwee quiet. Totally unmoving and as un-detectable as possible.

This is her today, she only had just moved her head and started looking around. She left the coop at about 8:30 (fifteen minutes later)
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Meanwhile the gangs had finished eating and drinking near that coop for the morning, and went up to the rhododendron bushes for a morning rest. I'm pleased to see them pretty close together.
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Later, here she is - that dark blob next to the tripod leg. Most everyone has moved away and she is here by herself.
View attachment 4230681I didn't see how she did her move from the coop to the rhododendron, but it was quiet. I've got a feeder up there for her, I hear her using it through the day, so she’s eating when she wants now. This large circular space around the bushes works for her with Shehnai. She uses the open space with easy running on the upper woodland ground (versus the weedy field below the rhododendron). There are three trees, the waterer & feeder, and the big rhododendron bush to dodge around.

Shehnai does chase her out of there but she usually finds a Buff Orpington nearby, plus he's not so crazy after the morning time. He also gives up more easily at these times, maybe in general, as if he is learning the ropes a little. Hazel isn't as panicked as she was and is making some smarter moves when she runs. So maybe they both are learning the dance.

But she’s not using the under-pallet idea, I placed it just below the rhododendrons. Maybe it’s still too low? It's about ten inches above the ground. Other chickens have gone under there partially with a crouch, but nobody has walked through under it. Needs to be higher? No photo, sorry...

Diane Update

She is my shadow, pecking my ankles when I walk, hanging around closely most of the time. I am growing to like her constant company and am trying to just not give her the opportunity to bite my hands or arms when possible. Yesterday when I laid down on my side on a pallet near the rhododendrons to let everyone inspect and walk on me she got up on my hip and sat there for a long time.

Before that I saw a pullet peck her neck, twice, and she didn’t move, just stood quietly. She’s making friends? Diane has been sleeping in the pullets’ coop at least a couple of nights now and then, and did again last night.

Two of the bolder pullets boss Hazel around and Hazel is afraid of them. Unfortunately they have been inadvertent herders / blockers when Shehnai chases her. Was this pullet bossing Diane? It did not look like it. Usually Diane is feared and does the pushing/ chasing. So - fair to say she is making friends, or becoming accepted as Queen Of The Littles?

Here she moved even closer to the pullets and nobody ran away, one pullet is to her left in fact.
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I am glad Hazel seems to be adapting. They have never had a Roo around so it’s a learning curve for all of them.

Once Shehnai learns to handle his hormones you should have a lovely flock.