Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[CrazyChookChookLady]

Mugs Monday.
Alpia.
Judging by that comb & wattles she'll be back laying soon.

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Look at that stink eye!!

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

Currently reading through last fall...the molt...my adults are molting (based upon the feathers I'm finding: no naked backs) (the babies are too but expected at 9-10 weeks). Is a hard molt breed related? Or will a bird have a hard molt (naked pincushion) one year and a gradual another? If the latter, ideas on cause? If the first, which breeds are more prone to it? We've been known to get the occasional summer snowstorm (rare, but it happens), endangering naked pincushion birds.

Alice, my Araucana, had a very hard first moult in March 2020 which left her as a pin cushion. This year she only had a few pin cushiony patches.
There is a regular “Worst Molt” competition thread on BYC which is entertaining and informative. Silky chickens needed their own category as they moult so badly.

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

Yes I do make it myself.
I make it in a mason jar on the counter-top - or in the fridge if I need it to slow down. I am quite a fan because I like those sorts of sour flavors but I know not everyone likes it.
Before I figured out the ladies liked it I was wasting a lot of milk because the little kefir grains are rather productive and were way outpacing my ability to eat it but you have to keep feeding them anyway.
Turns out the chickens love it and if I freeze it before giving it to them then they make less of a mess than if it is liquid. It is also a good way to slip in extra calcium (I add some powdered calcium to the pot before putting it in the freezer) and I often throw in kitchen scraps as well.

We really do need a “Recipes for Chickens” book.

 

[BY Bob]

@BY Bob will the Peacock work for chicken tax?
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Absolutely!

 

[BY Bob]

This is good news. Phyllis will be fine.

I sure hope so. She needs to settle back into the flock now. They are not going to make it easy on her.

 

[BY Bob]

Yet Another Redhead for Monday
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Wonderful!

 

[RoyalChick]

You shut up, I will sick my attack rooster on you!

Sick? Schtick?

 

[RoyalChick]

Sometimes her claws are long and sometimes they wear down. I asked Dr Mark about it and he said it really doesn't matter.

That is good to know. I checked the Princesses today and theirs aren't very long. I realize you have sandy soil whereas I have clay that sets like concrete - I wonder if mine wear down because they are digging such difficult ground. I have to use a pickaxe to break ground so it must be tough on toenails.

 

[featherhead007]

Sick? Schtick?

Turn loose!

 

[RoyalChick]

Alice, my Araucana, had a very hard first moult in March 2020 which left her as a pin cushion. This year she only had a few pin cushiony patches.
There is a regular “Worst Molt” competition thread on BYC which is entertaining and informative. Silky chickens needed their own category as they moult so badly.

I still shudder remembering Alice's hard moult. It really got to me!