Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[RoyalChick]

Mugshot Monday courtesy of Geronimo! And yes, she is adopting the exclamation mark into her name.
In this picture she is about level with my head. She flew up because I was holding a plastic jug. She was disgusted that it contained only her regular chicken feed and not some outrageously tasty treat.
She dug around in it and then looked at me like I had betrayed her.
What can I say, I have to refill the feeders somehow!

 

[RoyalChick]

I do not understand how Cookie has managed to displace Calypso from the number two roosting spot next to Tassels.
AND she has lived to tell the tale.
Calypso can be very mean and Cookie is very small, and yet here we are. Three nights in a row.
Geronimo is on her own on the roost that has no ladders so she flies up from the ground and Piglet and Sylvie are together on a different roost near the nest boxes.

 

[Ponypoor]

And it just started snowing. I hope it doesn't get too cold and kill everything that came up when it was warm!

Crazy weather, we had a snow eater wind today, warm and very strong, we are now under a rainfall warning for tomorrow into Wednesday, the amt of snow we have had and still have, and the frozen ground means this will bring flooding.

But while it’s nice I am taking advantage of getting the chooks outside. Hopefully the rain holds off till tomorrow evening so I can get the gang outside again for more fun.

 

[GoosesGeeses]

We have zero snow here, it snowed for 5 minutes, and that is all gone.

 

[GoosesGeeses]

I hope it snows more on the mountain, they plan on closing April 4th, but if there is more snow, later.

 

[GoosesGeeses]

I personally don't mind no snow down here, the geese either. They have been grazing all day.

 

[GoosesGeeses]

And the ducks can swim around the slough without it being frozen over

 

[GoosesGeeses]

I am going to go do some chicken (and waterfowl) photography, pictures will be up as soon as i can get them

 

[Ponypoor]

I learned to ski, by my friends bringing me up to the highest point of Snow Summit in Southern California. Friend said, “just make it down this mountain without killing yourself and you will have taught yourself how to ski! See you at the bottom, bye bye!”
It worked fabulously. I can ski quite good.

No no no that is just wrong! And dangerous!

Chick tax, tax:
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And a mucky mug. Yellow chick had a bit of mud or something stuck in the down of its face, and started screaming bloody murder when mum & bro tried to remove it.
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Awwww poor wee kiddo, hard trying to tell mum she’s killing you!

I didn't want to make time to watch it. Something about crossing zebras with domestic animals...why do it? I may have wrongly assumed it is just for looks....is it? So I'm afraid I don't approve. Maybe this is the wrong idea about zebras, but I've always thought they generally can't be domesticated. To me that makes them great. A truly wild animal. So this idea is like an insult to zebras.

Stick with striped chickens, the damage with them may be irreversible too, but what's done is done.
Sorry (not sorry) to rain on everybody's parade

The Original Gangsta Buckeyes, from 2020. New to being outside, they had a warming pad available to them in the coop. About 6 weeks old here. Loved these guys! But the genetics of this line...only Hazel is alive today.
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The Zebroid cross was done in Africa originally to make a pack animal, horses are not as strong as mules or zebroids, but the zebra gives the hybrid cross better stamina, strength and a tougher hide which resists the bite of flies like the TseTse fly. It was done for practical farming reasons.

Then they found it was a good riding animal (not unlike a Mule), though somewhat spooky if not trained properly. Though I can tell you I have ridden plenty of Jack-aRse horses that were so spooky you needed super glue on the saddle.

I never ride Truly on the road or in the bush - she a complete wing-nut, spooks at the leaves blowing on the trees…. She’s also temperamental and has to be ‘made’ to do things, most horses you ask them to trot on and they trot on. Ask Truly and she stops turns her head looks at you and tosses her head and says nope! Make me…. So I have to get more aggressive with her. She is not a fun horse to ride.

Anywhoo the point I am making is zebras are not that much different than horses, they just haven’t been domesticated. In domestication traits such as temperament are bred for. True wild horses (like the przewalski horse) are just as ornery as zebras.

I have seen plenty of zebras here in zoos and private owners that were like backyard ponies very quiet and tame. Lot more reasonable than Truly!!!

I’d breed them, like Mules they would make a great pack and riding animal. With funky colouring.

 

[Ponypoor]

One last mug for the night

Petra