Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Sylvester017]

Well then it’s a good thing you have all of us here to whom age is nothing but a number

We all have appts and stuff at all our different ages. I’ll make you laugh like a teen

Pretty risky business grabbing ANYBODY from behind whether a friend or not !!!

 

[Sylvester017]

Hello everyone, I hope you all have /had a nice Sunday. We finally had a very small dusting of snow yesterday, after almost a week of rain. I'm not complaining, we really need it !
View attachment 4041588I was sad to see it melt away in a few hours, but higher in the mountains there is still a little snow left. Barely enough to step in 5cm running for an hour this morning.
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Some damp LGD dogs from one of the past rainy days for pony Sunday.
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Their owner says the darker brown young dog, that's hiding behind the pyreneese, is a spanish mastiff. He's very happy with her because she stays all the time with the sheeps, whereas the pyreneese and anatolians tend to sometimes jump the electric netting and go wander. Apparently the spanish mastiff have a lower prey drive and this makes them easier to keep in an enclosure and better guards for the sheep herd.
(All the same, seeing the size of an adult Spanish mastiff, I'm glad his dogs are well educated and don't cause trouble to humans like so many LGD's around here).

The sun came out for a bit today. Théo can't resist a bit of sunshine, he even forgets to play bad guy.

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I know some of you have opinions leaning on one side or another but I always wonder how much of my chickens personality is defined by breed, genetics, by individual temper, or by their environment. Or a mix of all of that. I do feel partly responsible for the fact that some of my chickens have become very untrusting toward humans, much more than when they were very young, although I'm not sure exactly why.

Beautiful scenery! Theo is one gorgeous kaleidoscope of colors!

A breeder I knew raised Great Pyrenees for sale. They said GP's have a wanderlust & have to be fenced in w/ a flock but even then they still find ways to escape.

As for fearful chickens ~ some breeds are naturally outgoing towards humans while others are more aloof. In your open range maybe your birds like the freedom that makes them more danger aware & see humans passing by as possibly something to be wary of? Treat sharing is usually a good way to make chickens pesty pets.

 

[featherhead007]

Follow up about the chick with the abscess: I went to take a picture of the baby, but it must have popped out on its own. Yuck! I bet the little one was so relieved by that! No picture to take now. The three littles are out having fun with Nacho

 

[featherhead007]

Beautiful scenery! Theo is one gorgeous kaleidoscope of colors!

A breeder I knew raised Great Pyrenees for sale. They said GP's have a wanderlust & have to be fenced in w/ a flock but even then they still find ways to escape.

As for fearful chickens ~ some breeds are naturally outgoing towards humans while others are more aloof. In your open range maybe your birds like the freedom that makes them more danger aware & see humans passing by as possibly something to be wary of? Treat sharing is usually a good way to make chickens pesty pets.

Not just chase you, but catch you!

 

[BY Bob]

Sooo just want to bring up a safety note regarding you power cord and that natural gas meter. I may be seeing something that isn’t there, but I would be remiss if I didn’t explain.

I hope that the cord isn’t wrapped around it, and also you shouldn’t have anything within 3’ of that meter.

But the power cord esp should be kept away from it, if there were a leak from the pipe, and that power cord wrapped around the metal piping creates and electro magnet - it could spark a fire, also if any gas were leaking it would vent into your run and coop.

This is why these intake and exhaust pipes are to be located 3’ from doors and windows.

In the Spring you may want to move the coop to a safer location.

But if that power cable is wrapped around the pipe I would remove it as soon as possible.

Safety First

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Safety Chicken!

 

[featherhead007]

Maybe it’s not a poultryguist, but a chook that knows how to say “Alex” I just don’t know which one is doing it. Makes me crazy!

 

[rural mouse]

I can’t get that close to the bird.

What about after dark?

 

[rural mouse]

Why do hens always want the same box? So funny!

So 1 set of eggs gets hatched.

 

[BY Bob]

I have made contact with the seller of the silkie boys. They are both still available. Price is not bad, 15 each. They are the perfect age almost 7 months old. Asking about their temperament now. This feels right to me, one of them is speaking to me from pictures. I think I may be making a trip tomorrow.

I said I would know the "right" boy when I saw him from pictures.

Now that's exciting!

 

[BY Bob]

She sent this video to me. She said they are not aggressive but slightly skittish. They were part of a 45 chick hatch and she could not be as hands on with them all. They are easy to catch and will settle down once you have your hands on them. They are let out to free range a few times a week. Honestly this is really starting to feel right. This person was one I was looking into last summer after Branch died and Poppet went broody that first time and took forever to break. She had some week old chicks for sale which were too old at the time to foster under a broody hen. She had some more eggs that were due to hatch in a week and if Poppet was still broody I was going to get 2 or 3 to give to her but she broke up before they hatched. I have kept her in the back of my mind thinking about getting a few day old chicks to raise this year in hopes of a boy. Her adults look nice, and there is some nice looking pullets in with the boy in the video.

They are very cute......



But they are not chickens