Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[ChicoryBlue]

Never has a creature shown less curiosity than Mr. Chips to the 6-8” of snow that fell last night.
He figured it was a great day to take his girls nest box shopping!
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Much more productive, for sure!
When I open the run door, one or two hens jump up onto the 1x10 litter board and look out at the view. Mr. S keeps watch but hangs in the back. Nobody has any interest in jumping out onto snow.

 

[TOMTE]

And by the way, “Remember When “ is an Alan Jackson song. You can’t get anymore country than that!

One of my all time favorite country songs very beautiful

Tax

Looking good! She has a little baby chickie tail

 

[ChicoryBlue]

Update on my school Polish with coccidiosis.
She was doing great. I finished her dosage on Monday and she was better. Her poop was normal, she was acting normal. Yesterday I went out to school with my friend and we wanted to clean the coop and whatnot. Taffy was dead. No clue what happened, but there was mold under the feeder and waterer, so we think it might’ve been respiratory. Blueberry, GreenBean, and the two barred rocks got some VetRX on their beak and under their wings yesterday to hopefully get rid of respiratory issues.
I’m really upset. Taffy didn’t like being caught, but once I had her she was the sweetest. I had hope that I could work with her and get her to be more social. I just wanted a blue polish, and now she is gone. Ugh, owning chickens is the worst sometimes.
Here is a picture I took of Taffy when I found her. Also, to take the picture she was in a flower box, just so no one thinks there is potting soil with the white fertilizer stuff in the coop…

Spoiler: Dead Polish Pullet

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My friend and I moved the run to a new spot (where no chickens have been before), washed off the TSC coop and scrubbed it with soap to get the poop off, and put the coop back into the run. We put barn lime and shavings down in the coop and run to try to get rid of parasites and coccidiosis.
Well, GreanBean has yellow and foamy poop, so I bought some new Corid and am dosing the water. I just hope it isn’t too hard on them.

And here is the new run setup in the new spot, which is pretty far away from the old spot.View attachment 4266238

Now, my chickens I have at home… I think Bolt is sick. I just don’t know how or why or what is wrong with her. Two days ago, I noticed that her feathers were really puffed up, and when I picked her up, she weighed a lot more than normal. Also, she had poop sticking to her butt and something hanging out of her vent. It was flat, long, and kinda yellow. I went into panic mode because I thought it was her intestines or something, but Mom said it was poop (I do NOT think it was poop.) I didn’t get a picture of it though. If Bolt dies though, I am probably going to sell/give away all of my chickens (except for Athens and maybe a few special ones). I’ve had that hen for almost four and a half years, and she is easily my favorite hen. Like, no one else compares to her besides Athens, and he isn’t a hen.
Here was her two days ago. I told Mom to hold her so she could feel how heavy she is.View attachment 4266235

Very sorry for your loss!
You did great work moving and cleaning everything. Hard to say why she died, and it’s heartbreaking, for sure.


It might not have been that mold, but now you see there is that problem, one suggestion I have is to put something under those hanging feeders to catch the spilled feed. Like a bin lid or something, easy to dump, and wash off. Then you can easily take it up and remove spilled feed before it has a chance to get moldy. In your climate that might be a daily chore, depending on the weather.

 

[Ponypoor]

He was not having it. Poor fellow. That scared me I can't imagine how you felt.

I really feel bad handling him. It’s so sad! None of my other chooks are terrified of me, in fact the opposite, after being here so long I would have hoped he would at least tolerate my picking him up.

Poor fella.

 

[RoyalChick]

Happy Monday
Geronimo up on the step-ladder tree (her favorite spot).
When I took the food into the next run she flew from the ladder to the day-perch in the next run.
She is still a serious flying chicken that one!

 

[featherhead007]

One of my all time favorite country songs very beautiful

Tax
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Looking good! She has a little baby chickie tail

Song breaks my weakened heart

 

[featherhead007]

What really bothers me is our weather here. Foggy and overcast!
I can’t fly in this weather, nor do I want to drive my car in fog. Maybe I will take Dakota to the lake later today.
In the meantime, I will entertain my rooster buddy Mr Wyandottey!

 

[featherhead007]

I use a red heat lamp to light the room.

 

[Ponypoor]

What did you do to punish Mr LC to teach him a lesson?

Well to be honest nothing, he was doing one of two things:
- attacking me for ‘hurting’ one of the flock.
This I am not going to discourage, I want them protecting one another.
- attacking Mr P while he was at a vulnerable state.
Let the boys figure it out themselves.

After I let Mr P free I did go and pick up Mr LC, he was shivering so I did snuggle him a bit to warm his feet. He and Mrs LC are not made for the cold.

I did note that Mr P and Mr LC stayed away from each other afterwards.

The dynamics are as such with the boys:

Mr P chases both of them, but Clyde doesn’t take on Mr P at all.

Mr LC and Mr P scrap every time Mr P chases him, or if Mr LC sneaky ninja kicks him.

But - Clyde puts the run on Mr LC who doesn’t retaliate with Clyde. Yet. Spring might be different, Clyde’s breathing has him at a real disadvantage. I keep a close eye on him, mostly he keeps to himself with his favourite ladies.

Hopefully this dynamic stays this way.

Now, I have Gomer Pyle to worry about; so far I have seen Mr P put the run on him once, then I see him eating with Mr P this morning. Hopefully he can stay with Mr P, learn the be a good boy.

 

[Ponypoor]

Dealing w/broody Silkies for 15 yrs ~ it doesn't bother us. We've been breaking broody Silkies & don't fall for their determination. Some we break in less than a week... others take longer... but we've never submitted to giving them eggs or chicks.

Our friend who rescued a couple of our accidental shipped cockerels & a hen moved to Nevada but was out here for a 2-day visit ~ said they rescued 4 turkeys just before Thxgiving. Being vegan, they find forever-only homes for the birds they rescue.

Here's some BFTP past pics of our rehomed birds to our Nevada friend:
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Everytime I see her fuzzy legs and feet I smile

And of course the stripes…..