Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[BY Bob]

Yesterday afternoon Mom noticed she was hearing a dog bark. At first she assumed it was CeeCee. The barking got more constant, louder and panicked. At this point she knows it is not CeeCee as she saw her out the window doing her passed out yoga dog pose on top of the sawdust. She came and got me up from my nap and told me to help her find this dog. I'm confused and going what dog and my mind immediately went to crap something got after the chickens. I go out and hear a dog barking but the first thing I do is circle around the side of the house looking and doing a head count on my chickens. Everyone is accounted for and totally relaxed so I spot her by the Mimosa tree staring at the hillside. I then understand the problem. I see a Great Pyrenees dragging a leash tangled up in a tree on the hillside. Tangled was not the word for it, in his panic to get loose he had about a foot left and was choking himself trying to get loose. I told mom who I thought it belonged to as they are the only ones I know who have a Pyrenees and offered to go get them to help. She declined and told me to go get her pocket knife and she would cut him loose. It took some time but she got him cut loose and used one of the horses lead ropes to walk him up into the yard. She is livid at this point and when I saw him I understood why. He was horribly matted but that is the least of his problems. She told me to feel him. Underneath the fur he is skin and bones. CeeCee easily weighs more then he does and he is 3 years old so should be done growing. His collar was a makeshift one using a metal tie out cable and it was tight. She took pictures and video's on her phone, lots of them. She cut loose the wire collar and then walked him up the road to see if he belonged to our neighbor, which he did. She went by herself and came home 45 minutes later after a blow-up argument with them.

She actually scared the guy when he saw her walking him home. He is afraid of the dog as he has bit everyone in their household and he could not understand that he had not ate her up or even offered to. She informed them scared of him or not it was no excuse to starve him. If they were afraid of him they needed to get rid of him and I guess told them she was calling the animal shelter today.

Last night she sat at the table and cried for a hour while talking to dad. She is tempted to take him herself. Hearing he bites worries her though. Even skin and bones this is no little dog we are dealing with. He is a good 6 inches taller then CeeCee and you all know she is a big girl. I have reservations about him but told her I would support whatever she decides to do. Deep down, I do not want him and I could never trust him with a bite history. I am all for calling the animal shelter though. I fear if the shelter does nothing, which they tend to do sadly, she will not sit back and do nothing. I want a LGD, just not this one.

Breaks my heart hearing stories like these. Some humans should have no responsibility for other living beings.

 

[Sylvester017]

He allowed my Mom and me to a point to touch him. He did get reactive when my brother tried to cross the creek to help cut him loose. Dad was on Dirt so he never saw him or got close to him. He could very well be reactive to men due to some mistreatment. When he was a pup he got loose a few times. He came in the yard then and he never looked at the chickens. He just had no manners and would jump up on you. He still has no manners or leash training as he was jumping up on mom on the walk home. I walked him home myself 2 years ago and he was friendly towards me then. He is kept in their backyard. I hear him barking but unless I go snooping to see him I never see him so in truth I forget about him unless he is loose.

I'll tell you what he needs right now. His back half of his body, shaved, too matted to brush out. He needs flea treatment, he was filthy and full of flea dirt. Food obviously. I cannot tell you if he has ever saw a vet, honestly probably not so there is shots and everything else. He is also not neutered, that would need to be done. I will tell you right now it is cheaper to have a vet out for a farm call for the horses then it is to take a dog to the vet. Big dog, major ouch.

At a minimum, he would need a nexgaurd for fleas and ticks, his size that would be 2 of the maximum dose pills. Worming, shots, neutering, heartworm check and preventative. Our vet and his prices looking at $600 easily.

Then factor in some major fencing to keep him contained, training, and really does he like men? Does he like children? Skin and bones, I put him around 90lbs and he is still as strong as a ox. At a healthy weight, he should easily hit 140 for his size and build if not more.

For anyone he would be a major commitment. Could he be a good dog for someone? Maybe. Would he do better on a big farm with a job, yes that would be ideal I think. I just cannot get over hearing he has bitten several people. Personally, I feel if a dog bites, it should be put down.

I'm w/you about biting dogs. We had 3 Rotties from the same sire/dam but from 3 separate litters. One of the Rotts was given to DD's boyfriend at the time. The puppy was a biter even at 6 weeks & I warned her not to pick that pup but that was the one the boyfriend wanted. The dog grew up a biter especially of men! That's not to say a biter can't be rehabilitated but it has to be w/ certain precautions ~ my precaution is to have no biter at all. I refused to take the Rott back after it's vicious bite on their grandfather's hand. They had always thought it cute how he would nip & bite & never obedience-trained him & they paid for it. So sad for the Rott as they are a working/herding breed that dwell on our every command willingly.

 

[BY Bob]

No expert here. But I look for the shape in flight to narrow it down to probably a buteo (big fat wings compared to body, likes to soar on thermals). It’s so far away I can’t do more than that visually.

But Bob, you had calls on that video! Plus @TOMTE has experience with Red-Shouldered Hawks, which to me makes that a very reliable guess. So off to All About Birds (Cornell University web site) to look up Red-Shouldered, read how they describe the call, and listen to the clips they have.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-shouldered_Hawk/sounds

The fourth clip has the two-part call most similar in quality (though it’s a short version of it) and overall the clips have a strong resemblance, per the written description.

Next, I looked at each of the “similar species” they list, listened to their calls and also read the descriptions of the species’ call. That eliminated those others quite quickly - the basic quality of the calls and the descriptions were very different. So I’m going with Red-Shouldered.

Regional differences account for some of the differences we hear, but remember from our chicken experiences - we all know how every chicken sounds a little different, and that every sound they make doesn’t have the same meaning either, of course. So the library of sounds Cornell has collected is trying to be representative of what has been observed in the field, and also is dependent on whether someone has made a quality recording of it.

Thanks so much. Red Shouldered it is. Wow!

 

[rural mouse]

Yesterday afternoon Mom noticed she was hearing a dog bark. At first she assumed it was CeeCee. The barking got more constant, louder and panicked. At this point she knows it is not CeeCee as she saw her out the window doing her passed out yoga dog pose on top of the sawdust. She came and got me up from my nap and told me to help her find this dog. I'm confused and going what dog and my mind immediately went to crap something got after the chickens. I go out and hear a dog barking but the first thing I do is circle around the side of the house looking and doing a head count on my chickens. Everyone is accounted for and totally relaxed so I spot her by the Mimosa tree staring at the hillside. I then understand the problem. I see a Great Pyrenees dragging a leash tangled up in a tree on the hillside. Tangled was not the word for it, in his panic to get loose he had about a foot left and was choking himself trying to get loose. I told mom who I thought it belonged to as they are the only ones I know who have a Pyrenees and offered to go get them to help. She declined and told me to go get her pocket knife and she would cut him loose. It took some time but she got him cut loose and used one of the horses lead ropes to walk him up into the yard. She is livid at this point and when I saw him I understood why. He was horribly matted but that is the least of his problems. She told me to feel him. Underneath the fur he is skin and bones. CeeCee easily weighs more then he does and he is 3 years old so should be done growing. His collar was a makeshift one using a metal tie out cable and it was tight. She took pictures and video's on her phone, lots of them. She cut loose the wire collar and then walked him up the road to see if he belonged to our neighbor, which he did. She went by herself and came home 45 minutes later after a blow-up argument with them.

She actually scared the guy when he saw her walking him home. He is afraid of the dog as he has bit everyone in their household and he could not understand that he had not ate her up or even offered to. She informed them scared of him or not it was no excuse to starve him. If they were afraid of him they needed to get rid of him and I guess told them she was calling the animal shelter today.

Last night she sat at the table and cried for a hour while talking to dad. She is tempted to take him herself. Hearing he bites worries her though. Even skin and bones this is no little dog we are dealing with. He is a good 6 inches taller then CeeCee and you all know she is a big girl. I have reservations about him but told her I would support whatever she decides to do. Deep down, I do not want him and I could never trust him with a bite history. I am all for calling the animal shelter though. I fear if the shelter does nothing, which they tend to do sadly, she will not sit back and do nothing. I want a LGD, just not this one.

From the sounds of his history, he's likely food aggressive, which starved makes perfect sense. Definitely a work with carefully. Could be a treasure, could be a problem. Keep us posted.

 

[ChicoryBlue]

Thanks so much. Red Shouldered it is. Wow!

You have Coopers as you said, and we do too. This call was nothing like a Coopers. Also, even from a distance the bird you had looked chunkier to me than a Coopers. Ratio of wingspan to tail length I think.

 

[SimpleJenn]

Nocturne does NOT want to be disturbed while laying.

Sharing a tasty bug

Today he is learning manners.

Noooooo go awayyyyy

"Whatcha got?"

"I will NOT show you my butt! I don't care if it is Fluffbutt friday!"

Here we go, some fluffy butts


Semi-fluffy rooster butt.

Sheppy

Biscuit

Butterbird

Cookie has a doublewide fluffy butt

 

[Sylvester017]

No expert here. But I look for the shape in flight to narrow it down to probably a buteo (big fat wings compared to body, likes to soar on thermals). It’s so far away I can’t do more than that visually.

But Bob, you had calls on that video! Plus @TOMTE has experience with Red-Shouldered Hawks, which to me makes that a very reliable guess. So off to All About Birds (Cornell University web site) to look up Red-Shouldered, read how they describe the call, and listen to the clips they have.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-shouldered_Hawk/sounds

The fourth clip has the two-part call most similar in quality (though it’s a short version of it) and overall the clips have a strong resemblance, per the written description.

Next, I looked at each of the “similar species” they list, listened to their calls and also read the descriptions of the species’ call. That eliminated those others quite quickly - the basic quality of the calls and the descriptions were very different. So I’m going with Red-Shouldered.

Regional differences account for some of the differences we hear, but remember from our chicken experiences - we all know how every chicken sounds a little different, and that every sound they make doesn’t have the same meaning either, of course. So the library of sounds Cornell has collected is trying to be representative of what has been observed in the field, and also is dependent on whether someone has made a quality recording of it.

Not sure this is representative of Red-shoulder hawks everywhere but the one I saw several years ago was soaring gently very high above ~ had to use binoculars to see it (I was nervous as a backyard chicken owner then so I was more watchful for hawks). Later I noticed the Cooper's hawks were lower altitude flyers & not as graceful soarers as Red-shouldered hawks.

Nowadays we get a glut of Cooper's hawk fledglings every Spring that perch on our roofs, fences, & telephone poles to watch our hens but they don't have enough aerial space in our yard to do their traditional flying to grab prey w/their talons. One Cooper's fledgling ran out of flight space in our yard and knocked itself out hitting the side of our dog kennel coop run! We purposely planned our yard to have a lot of trees, popup canopies, patio roofs, lawn furniture & benches to interfere in aerial predators' flight space.

Our Cooper's don't seem to engage in ground battle w/ our hens. The Cooper's seem to prefer catching small birds, doves, etc in flight w/their talons. A dove flew into a neighbor's banana tree & the Cooper's didn't bother to fly the rest of the way into the tree to get the dove. Ground fighting I guess isn't fun to the hawks ~ they seem to prefer catching w/talons while flying?

We've never regretted erecting multiple obstructions to aerial space in our yard ~ for one it is shadier for the hens and second a flight barrier for predators. Unfortunately it doesn't keep out ground predators which require very different deterrent methods!

Tx + Fluffy Friday ~ Silver Partridge Suzu after dustbathing ~ we learned not to stand too close when the hens shake it off!

 

[ChicoryBlue]

Yesterday afternoon Mom noticed she was hearing a dog bark. At first she assumed it was CeeCee. The barking got more constant, louder and panicked. At this point she knows it is not CeeCee as she saw her out the window doing her passed out yoga dog pose on top of the sawdust. She came and got me up from my nap and told me to help her find this dog. I'm confused and going what dog and my mind immediately went to crap something got after the chickens. I go out and hear a dog barking but the first thing I do is circle around the side of the house looking and doing a head count on my chickens. Everyone is accounted for and totally relaxed so I spot her by the Mimosa tree staring at the hillside. I then understand the problem. I see a Great Pyrenees dragging a leash tangled up in a tree on the hillside. Tangled was not the word for it, in his panic to get loose he had about a foot left and was choking himself trying to get loose. I told mom who I thought it belonged to as they are the only ones I know who have a Pyrenees and offered to go get them to help. She declined and told me to go get her pocket knife and she would cut him loose. It took some time but she got him cut loose and used one of the horses lead ropes to walk him up into the yard. She is livid at this point and when I saw him I understood why. He was horribly matted but that is the least of his problems. She told me to feel him. Underneath the fur he is skin and bones. CeeCee easily weighs more then he does and he is 3 years old so should be done growing. His collar was a makeshift one using a metal tie out cable and it was tight. She took pictures and video's on her phone, lots of them. She cut loose the wire collar and then walked him up the road to see if he belonged to our neighbor, which he did. She went by herself and came home 45 minutes later after a blow-up argument with them.

She actually scared the guy when he saw her walking him home. He is afraid of the dog as he has bit everyone in their household and he could not understand that he had not ate her up or even offered to. She informed them scared of him or not it was no excuse to starve him. If they were afraid of him they needed to get rid of him and I guess told them she was calling the animal shelter today.

Last night she sat at the table and cried for a hour while talking to dad. She is tempted to take him herself. Hearing he bites worries her though. Even skin and bones this is no little dog we are dealing with. He is a good 6 inches taller then CeeCee and you all know she is a big girl. I have reservations about him but told her I would support whatever she decides to do. Deep down, I do not want him and I could never trust him with a bite history. I am all for calling the animal shelter though. I fear if the shelter does nothing, which they tend to do sadly, she will not sit back and do nothing. I want a LGD, just not this one.

Another option is you foster this dog while the shelter and you look for a good home & job for him. You could rehab him, and train him some.

Sounds like our cat, he is a sweetie but has a history of abuse from men and good treatment by women, and he learned safe and not-safe places. He had to fight to save himself from abuse, as if the guys cornered him, it’s a life-or-death response. So DH has to be alert for reactions and take care not to put the cat in a similar place/situation/pose that triggers him, whereas I watch too but have a lot more leeway. So who is his best buddy and lap-human? DH.

 

[Sylvester017]

Awwwww hug your brother for me

Want to make me mad? So many dogs and cats out there, needless babies being made and people dumping them on the side of the road. I get so mad!

I get mad when I see people overbreeding chicks too w/o a plan ahead of what to do w/ the surplus. It's hard to know how many eggs will complete incubation but have a plan I say if all do hatch.

Tx ~ Buff Partridge Ginny

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

Mom called the shelter this morning and sent the pictures and video's she had of him. We will see if they come out.

I am going to be 100% honest here, I will support her, but I do NOT want him. For them to have such a reaction thinking he had bit her there is something behind that to make them that way.

I am not comfortable taking on dog like him. If he did bite, he could do major damage. To us he has unknown triggers. I have a daughter to think about. We have CeeCee, he could hurt CeeCee if they got into a fight. He needs basic manners taught to him. Who is going to take on the responsibility of simply leash training him? Teach him that jumping on people is not ok? I would not let her do it alone.