Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[notabitail]

Yes, any bareskin contact with the earth is grounding! Barefoot is just most convenient I think, since you can do a lot of things on your feet, walking, meditation, yoga, light stretches, tai-chi, etc

I do barefoot 24/7 unless on a bike ride or going somewhere. Shoes have always given me foot pain. Sandals seem to be the limit.

I have stepped in chicken stuff before...

 

[Sylvester017]

Thanks. Mrs BY Bob's immediate reaction was no more chickens and then no more Polish. No more chickens is how she reacts to any chicken death these days.

She is over that now but it's hard on her losing them so young.

We've been thru 25 birds in 14 years ~ we've lost thru re-homing cockerels or bully hens, deformed chicks, putting down tumor or sick birds at the vet, heatstroke, or just plain old age. Lost birds at 11 yrs old & chick at 21 days old. Never easy w/ any beloved pet.

 

[TOMTE]

I have stepped in chicken stuff before...

When I was a kid, at my grandparents' old house, there was a family down the road with a girl my and my cousin's age. They lived on a dairy farm. We would play over there a lot, often in the cow lot(s). Usually we wore barn boots or old shoes that we didn't mind getting dirty, but sometimes we'd run around and play out there barefoot.

One time we were playing hide and seek or tag or something, barefoot, and I ran around a corner and slipped in a big steaming pile of cow poop. Had poop all up the right side of my jeans and half way up my side... On my arms and hands where I caught myself. Yeah, that was funny

I don't know how old I was, between 10 and 13, most likely.

Tax

From last week. I don't think I've posted it here yet

 

[Debbie292d]

Your kitties are so cute! I NEED to put my face in their fur, itchiness be darned

I love to cuddle with my cat (when he's willing, he can be a huge cuddlebug when he wants to be, and he purrs like a motorboat)

The Lord of the Rings trilogy has been a comfort to me since I was small. Of course, I can't watch the theatrical versions— only the extended editions

My weighted blanket is perfect for comfort. The pressure is niiiiice

Talking to my bf... And him reading Discworld to me. We're almost all the way through the series! Right now we're on I Shall Wear Midnight. I love Discworld so much, Terry Pratchett's world and writing are a comfort because it's a fun escape from the Roundworld sometimes, when I need it!

Being outside in nature... And, have any of you ever heard of grounding/earthing/rooting? It's the practice of taking some time out of your day to stand with your bare feet on the earth. It can do wonders for not only emotional health, but physical health too! (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4378297/)

I had heard of it recently, but I'm one to walk around the front yard barefoot most of the time. The chickens usually don't go there and the dogs both go poop in the farmer's fields or woods, never in our yard, so it's pretty clean.

I recently got a tip to use a fingernail grinder for trimming cross-beaks. Looking at that grinder online though, they show you can use it on your feet. If you walk around outdoors a lot, you develop the driest, toughest feet. swear I could walk on coals!

It comes on Monday so we'll see!

Here's Nosy. He got cross-beak at a month old. He's two months old now. Nosy got his/her name due to being, well, nosy. Everywhere your hand went while they were in the brooder, there was Nosy. In the grow-out pen, same thing. Afraid he might miss something I guess!

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

@SimpleJenn and @BY Bob and dear Rose.

I am so deeply sorry for the tragic events that have happened. I am at a loss for words other then to say I am deeply and truly sorry. I know the pain of loosing one unexpectedly and the pain of loosing a few over a couple days time. To loose a whole flock at once, I cannot comprehend the shock and heartache you all are going through. I know they were loved birds and my heart also breaks for Jenn's daughter. Some of those chickens were her birds. I know animals can teach children about life, love and death, but this is just to much.

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

@BY Bob

please give Rose a big hug from me. I know polish have a special place in her heart and you all are still mourning the loss of Phyllis. I am sorry her wish to follow Versace grow up has been taken away from her now as well.

I do not have a Polish for her to follow from afar now, but I do have George who is as close to one as he could get. Please if you think it will offer her comfort or even the smallest joy and not pain share the pictures and stories I post of him with her.

I took these just a few moments ago. The little man is learning about the back door now and when I open it I am coming outside with treats. He is getting braver and bolder and soon I think he will be brave enough to attempt his first solo walk-a-bout in the house.

I am sorry he is dirty. It has rained for 3 days and he is now mud bathing instead of dust bathing.

 

[Debbie292d]

We solved the waterer problem years ago by using nipple waterers. There are several models & brands from stand alone, cage mounted, or hanging styles. We got the Brite Tap brand & Rent-a-coop brand so the sparrows can't get a foothold to stand on the rounded spigots.

Rent-a-coop 32-oz chick nipple waterer we used for the Silkie chicks earlier this year which we have moved outdoors now that we don't plan on any more new chicks.
Year 2024
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Nipple attachments have kept sparrows out of the chicken water & stays clean from chicken dirt too. This is a small waterer from Rent-a-coop but there are DIY ways to get the Premier brand of nipples to attach to insulated thermos jugs or resin pails, etc.
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PREMIER water nipples from Rent-a-coop. We got a couple backup nipples should a mounted nipple leak but in 10 years we only replaced one nipple!
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We have a couple handled Rubbermaid insulated 2-gal jugs that have Brite Tap brand spigots that easily screw into the jug ~ no drilling ~ just unscrew the jug spigot then screw the Brite Tap right into the 2-gal spigot hole ~ no more dirty water from sparrows or chickens. We've had our 2 jugs for 14 years! These jugs can stand alone or hang up in a coop.

Some pics of our 2 insulated jugs over the 14 years ~ easy to clean ~ add ice cubes in summer ~ add probiotics or worming meds etc.
We have an old Brite Tap nipple style on this jug ~ the newer Brite Tap attachments selling today are better

Year 2015
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Year 2016
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Year 2022 old jug w/ newer Brite Tap spigot
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We still have a jug w/ one old style Brite Tap nipple spigot still in use today 14 years later ~ Year 2024

That water jug is a great idea!

We have a 5-gallon nipple bucket in the coop that lasts about a month. We put 1/2 teaspoon RV water freshener so it doesn't get gross.

For the newly hatched chicks, after a week of marbles in a chick waterer, they get a verticle nipple bottle. They use that for a couple months, then get switched to a small version of what's in the coop. Old Tupperwear cereal containers work great.



In winter for the outdoor pens we've purchased three 2-gallon heated waterers. Those work great and stay thawed nearly the entire winter. The polar vortex froze them pretty much though. We keep them out of the windchill.

 

[Sylvester017]

I think I need to get one of those for ice-water in the summer.
I didn’t know you could screw in the tap with nipples attached.
Thanks for sharing.

It depends on brands or models. Rent-a-coop https://rentacoop.com/collections/p...DFawggA5x-TL4Mq-xdc7qrsXeWVU__ENdHdFXoLhETmQE has many different nipple/cup water designs, then there are DIY people who drill their own holes for nipples watering, & then there's ChickenWaterer.com that sells the new Brite Tap water assembly that screws into a Rubbermaid or Igloo 2-gal spigot. We don't need a 2-gal capacity thermos but there are no smaller bottom spigot brands. None of the 1-gal thermos's offer bottom spigots.

If it's more convenient to order from Amazon they offer Rent-a-coop items, Brite Tap waterers, & Rubbermaid/Igloo jugs but I prefer going directly to the brand websites for complete info.

 

[Sylvester017]

That water jug is a great idea!

We have a 5-gallon nipple bucket in the coop that lasts about a month. We put 1/2 teaspoon RV water freshener so it doesn't get gross.

For the newly hatched chicks, after a week of marbles in a chick waterer, they get a verticle nipple bottle. They use that for a couple months, then get switched to a small version of what's in the coop. Old Tupperwear cereal containers work great.

View attachment 3989747

In winter for the outdoor pens we've purchased three 2-gallon heated waterers. Those work great and stay thawed nearly the entire winter. The polar vortex froze them pretty much though. We keep them out of the windchill.

All great options! How wonderful you have DIY skills!

Our reason for insulated Rubbermaid jugs is to keep water icey cold in our brutal So Calif summers that soar into the 115 temps sometimes!

 

[Debbie292d]

All great options! How wonderful you have DIY skills!

Our reason for insulated Rubbermaid jugs is to keep water icey cold in our brutal So Calif summers that soar into the 115 temps sometimes!

In Wisconsin, it might hit 100F but for usually only a week, two at most, if it does. It will be so humid though so it makes it worse. I had to live in Wisconsin a decade before I realized that this is just a humid state as I used to think it was a fluke.

We bought a digital exhaust fan which between that and the cold air return vent in the human door is the only ventilation. The nipple bucket and horse bedding pellets keep it dry and odor-free, so they're not exposed past 70% even if it's 80% outside. Mold can start growing at 70% so our goal was to keep it below that.