Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Ponypoor]

Special day for the girls! Last time I tried to give them dubias, they were scared of them and ran away whenever one would move This time it only took them like 20 seconds to check them out and realize they're food!

Belated thirsty Thursday pic (don't worry, she didn't get any of my drink. She was very interested in the shiny can and the sound of the carbonation)
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Those beetles are huge! And they don’t fly?

My chickens would be on them like sharks!

 

[Ponypoor]

I keep a colony of dubia roaches to breed so I can feed the nymphs (their young) to my leopard gecko. Every once in a while I need to do a cull, get rid of most or all of the adult males depending on if I need more nymphs for my leo or not, as well as any unhealthy ones

They're one of the healthiest feeder insects out there with a low fat and chitin content compared to high protien and calcium! Extremely easy to care for too.

Depending on where you live they may be illegal though, like Florida, because that is the perfect climate for them to not only survive outside of their enclosure, but also breed, and would likely become invasive quickly. They're fine to keep here in Michigan because they wouldn't survive in our cold, dry (relatively) climate. They wouldn't survive more than a week outside of their enclosure here, even indoors. And escape is rare anyway, since they can't fly or climb. They're designed for life on the tropical forest floor.

If anyone wanted an idea for a healthy chicken treat...

Very interesting insect. Illegal to have here in Canada though.

 

[TOMTE]

Very interesting insect. Illegal to have here in Canada though.

That stinks... I know for a fact dubias wouldn't be able to survive outside of an enclosure long enough to breed in Canada, so it's strange that they're banned. I'm guessing it's simply because of misinformation and the stigma around roaches in general

Tax. A belated fluffy butt!

 

[PrettyBirdRocky]

Welcome to Bob’s thread! We would all love to see some photos of those chicks (esp me I love babies)

4 weeks old Brahmas

 

[Sylvester017]

Giv

Give her some time and an open back chair; she’ll be biting you in no time.

???

Teehee! I just got it!!!

 

[Sylvester017]

4 weeks old Brahmas

Wow! Amazing to me how fast chicks grow in just a month!

 

[fuentemoon]

But isn’t shrimp expensive?

Says the guy who gives his ladies steak!
Not really, 2.50 for enough for 2 days worth of treats. Cheaper than buying live mealworms.

 

[Sylvester017]

My hen sneaks up behind me and pecks my butt . I choose not to elaborate any further

Shep is a booty biter too.

Alex seems to have his derrière pecked often

He’s hen pecked

Ya, I have ankle biter’s literally. Owwwww!

And my legs (thanks Coco!) and my shoes and my head (thanks Aero) I can’t stop the madness!

In all our years never had a booty peck ~ only leg pecks, jewelry tugs, beak wipes on shoes, taps on the camera lens, scratches on arms, nibbles on hair ~ but no booty pecks?

 

[Sylvester017]

Hopefully next year she settles down a bit.

I found with mine that during the first year they were all business ‘had to stay on the nest’. But they settled down the next year.

Meanwhile Curly is back in the nestbox and Henny is in there gifting her an egg. If it wasn’t for the Roos I would let her have a couple of the silkies eggs. But nope not happening. No more babies ever. Not even buying from Peavey Mart - getting Shorty was just an eye opener.

Yes, babies are a lot of work I imagine on a large scale. In our case we are zoned for 5 hens/no roos so getting 2 or 3 chicks as early as possible are more pets than utility ~ so we get the luxury of keeping new chicks to play with, socialize w/ them for at least a month or two before integrating them outdoors. Believe me ~ in our small suburban property 5 hens is more than enough responsibility (and fun). We have 5 Silkies & one old Dominique who is left from prior flocks. She's good w/ the littles so we keep her around.

Are feed stores your only source for true breed (not mixes) chicks? Here in the States there are 100's of private NPIP certified private breeders and a few large hatcheries that ship all over the USA (unless a specific State puts a temporary shipping restriction cuz of Newcastles or AI alerts). Seems like your only source for chicks/eggs is Peavey Mart or nearby farmers? Or maybe that's a good thing not being tempted too easily into chicken maths .

 

[Ponypoor]

Poor baby probably needs an iron gate to keep her in? Do animals get dementia or Alzheimer's I wonder?

She has bad arthritis in her hips and hocks. So she has a hard time getting up and down to lay down. So she is sleep deprived. She falls asleep standing up, falls over. Usually breaking doors and walls when she does. Now I just keep that stall guard tied with hay twine, easy to break and won’t hurt her. And she is good about going back in her stall too do her ‘business’