Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[RoyalChick]

These are the two boys I swapped for them (pics from a couple weeks ago). The breeder kept complimenting them and I was like they're your birds! I just hatched them and kept the feeders topped up.

They're my first zebra chickens but I really love them, both their looks and their temperament so far. I only have pullets now but I'll probably see about getting some hatching eggs from another line in the spring.
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WOW!!

 

[rural mouse]

Like I say, wind isn't the only issue. I can't plant more trees than I can get away with pretending were already there. A proper shelter belt is out of the question.

Some small raspberry/blackberry sort of thing could hide for a while...."some migratory bird must have dropped the seeds" then encourage them to spread on their own. Any trees with small seeds could occasionally show up, too...

 

[rural mouse]

These are the two boys I swapped for them (pics from a couple weeks ago). The breeder kept complimenting them and I was like they're your birds! I just hatched them and kept the feeders topped up.

They're my first zebra chickens but I really love them, both their looks and their temperament so far. I only have pullets now but I'll probably see about getting some hatching eggs from another line in the spring.
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Tell the breeder that he/she is getting international compliments on that line. They're gorgeous birds.

 

[kattabelly]

Some small raspberry/blackberry sort of thing could hide for a while...."some migratory bird must have dropped the seeds" then encourage them to spread on their own. Any trees with small seeds could occasionally show up, too...

The raspberries are throwing up suckers all over without any encouragement and I'm chucking overripe blackberries and other soft fruit all around the place and poking in cuttings. I have a fair amount of experience of working in permaculture, food forest type settings though my work as a gardener

 

[Labsandchickens8]

I have a bag of starter left. I think i will put it into the run for the polish to finish up this week. Then everyone goes to 20% all flock.

I also feed 20 percent but always worry it's too high. Do y'all think it's good?

 

[featherhead007]

Will someone please tell my roo Gizmo, that the front yard beyond the gate is OFF LIMITS!!
Little brat loves to explore, until I catch him. Then it’s run for your life, here comes daddy!! Then he’ll perch as high as he can, and crow at me in defiance.

 

[RoyalChick]

I also feed 20 percent but always worry it's too high. Do y'all think it's good?

Not too high. I feed 20% at all times. On the feed threads the people who know think of high 20s low 30s as too high.
I believe you are very safe giving 20%. Remember that 16% in layer is determined by the industrial need to give the minimum for profitable egg production.

 

[ChicoryBlue]

So thinking about Bob’s Niamh’s roosting I was reminded of the Roovolution podcast episode I just listened to. Have you heard these theories or research? I have heard only some.

What do you think of this information?

First claim, that one eye is nearsighted and the other farsighted. You will see a chicken consistently looking at the ground things with the nearsighted eye and further things, like the sky, with the farsighted eye. They can do both at once. Seems to me we would be seeing a consistent tilt of the head.

Second claim, that in roosting, because they can do this unispheric sleeping, sleeping with just one half of their brain, they keep one eye relatively active, which will be the outside eye, the one facing away from the main group roosting, to be able to see a predator as soon as possible.

Third claim, in order to give the other half of the brain a sleep time, they’ll turn around while on the roost so that the first eye is now facing in and the other out. (If this is true, maybe this accounts for falling off the roost?)

Third +1/2 claim, this is one reason there is competition for the inner roosting spots, the coveted safer places, because there’s less urgency to keep a lookout, and - I’m not sure I remember this right - I think they said that in the inner roosting spots they can then have periods where they let both sides of their brain sleep at the same time.

 

[Labsandchickens8]

Not too high. I feed 20% at all times. On the feed threads the people who know think of high 20s low 30s as too high.
I believe you are very safe giving 20%. Remember that 16% in layer is determined by the industrial need to give the minimum for profitable egg production.

Thank you so much for the reassurance

 

[RoyalChick]

So thinking about Bob’s Niamh’s roosting I was reminded of the Roovolution podcast episode I just listened to. Have you heard these theories or research? I have heard only some.

What do you think of this information?

First claim, that one eye is nearsighted and the other farsighted. You will see a chicken consistently looking at the ground things with the nearsighted eye and further things, like the sky, with the farsighted eye. They can do both at once. Seems to me we would be seeing a consistent tilt of the head.

Second claim, that in roosting, because they can do this unispheric sleeping, sleeping with just one half of their brain, they keep one eye relatively active, which will be the outside eye, the one facing away from the main group roosting, to be able to see a predator as soon as possible.

Third claim, in order to give the other half of the brain a sleep time, they’ll turn around while on the roost so that the first eye is now facing in and the other out. (If this is true, maybe this accounts for falling off the roost?)

Third +1/2 claim, this is one reason there is competition for the inner roosting spots, the coveted safer places, because there’s less urgency to keep a lookout, and - I’m not sure I remember this right - I think they said that in the inner roosting spots they can then have periods where they let both sides of their brain sleep at the same time.

I have definitely read the thing about sleeping with one half of the brain at a time - I haven't gone down the research rabbit hole to see what data backs up that claim.