Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Sylvester017]

Snow funView attachment 4016426

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Looks like Sherman doesn't have any ill effects from his claw injury. So cute when dogs play!

Our DD's Christmas Day pups playing w/their new toys! Run! Bluuurrrr!

 

[Sylvester017]

Last night I fell on my derrière in the Summer House while getting everyone in bed in the Hen House.

Nothing hurt, I was carrying two chooks at the time (Curly and Henny), Curly started flapped and threw me off balance, I didn’t want to drop her so down I went cradling her. She stood on my chest looking at me - likely sizing up an eyeball to peck - but then hopped off me and marched back and hopped up onto the roosting ledge.

Henny was a good girl and stayed with me, I put her in her nestbox she sleeps in, over at the Hen House.

Falling down carrying too much is how I fell breaking my arm ~! lucky it wasn't a hip!!! I don't carry a lot any more...

I looked like a war refugee! Took weeks for the face & body bruises to go away but the arm is broken. Slipping, stumbling, falling, losing balance, happens in an instant!

 

[Ponypoor]

International border, several sea sized lakes, and most of the great plains...actually, probably an all day drive south of @LhickenChicken

Minor details

 

[Ponypoor]

H

Falling down carrying too much is how I fell breaking my arm ~! lucky it wasn't a hip!!! I don't carry a lot any more...

I looked like a war refugee! Took weeks for the face & body bruises to go away but the arm is broken. Slipping, stumbling, falling, losing balance, happens in an instant!
View attachment 4016453

Gosh that’s terrible! But you’re right lucky it wasn’t a hip! Though with a hip you would likely have been all healed by now….

I don’t normally carry two chooks at a time but those two are always quiet. I guess I didn’t have her secured enough and she panicked.

I really need to get them roosting in the Hen House again, they have become accustomed to staying in the Summer House.

 

[Ponypoor]

Oooooo...Brabanters are very rare indeed & they have Bantam varieties too. They have 13 varieties in Germany & something like 8 SOP varieties in Belgium ~ known for being cold hardy.
Brabanter

As w/most moderate layers or broodies rare birds almost go extinct in our USA! I always tried to order rare breeds here to keep them from going extinct but unfortunately my beloved Breda Fowl just didn't have enough customer interest. People want the exhausted egg breeds or hybrid layers rather than broodies or moderate layers. However, the rare breeds seem to be the most "eye candy" in the chicken world.
Blue Breda Fowl

That's why I order the moderate layer Dominiques over Barred Rocks to keep Doms from going threatened or extinct plus I like the smaller rose combs rather than larger straight combs that get more tattered looking in old age.
Rose comb Dominique

https://www.cacklehatchery.com/product/dominique-chicken/

W/ every breed there are plus/minus issues & over the years I figured what worked best for me.

Yes those Brabanters look very quirky, and I have read that they are good predator aware. And yes very cold hardy!

Maybe next year I will look into getting some. The minimum order for chicks at Performance here in Ontario is 5 chicks. I would really love a couple Orloff also, but I would have to sell the excess - not likely an issue but still…. Unless RM wants to come for a visit

 

[Ponypoor]

International border, several sea sized lakes, and most of the great plains...actually, probably an all day drive south of @LhickenChicken

Oooooooo !

Lookie what I have come across - and Pickering is only like 90min from here!

They bring chicks up from Texas! I wonder what hatchery????!!!

And they have Brabanters! But no Orloff

https://www.pickeringvalleyfeed.com/chicken-information/breed-info/


EDIT
Huge BUMMER!

Seems you also have a Pickering in the US….. so no easy 90min drive for me…. Oh well.

 

[Ponypoor]

Oooooo...Brabanters are very rare indeed & they have Bantam varieties too. They have 13 varieties in Germany & something like 8 SOP varieties in Belgium ~ known for being cold hardy.
Brabanter

As w/most moderate layers or broodies rare birds almost go extinct in our USA! I always tried to order rare breeds here to keep them from going extinct but unfortunately my beloved Breda Fowl just didn't have enough customer interest. People want the exhausted egg breeds or hybrid layers rather than broodies or moderate layers. However, the rare breeds seem to be the most "eye candy" in the chicken world.
Blue Breda Fowl

That's why I order the moderate layer Dominiques over Barred Rocks to keep Doms from going threatened or extinct plus I like the smaller rose combs rather than larger straight combs that get more tattered looking in old age.
Rose comb Dominique

https://www.cacklehatchery.com/product/dominique-chicken/

W/ every breed there are plus/minus issues & over the years I figured what worked best for me.

I found this on your lovely Breda

https://www.birchwoodfarmsga.com/post/meet-the-breda-fowl-the-world-s-only-combless-chicken

 

[Sylvester017]

Yes those Brabanters look very quirky, and I have read that they are good predator aware. And yes very cold hardy!

Maybe next year I will look into getting some. The minimum order for chicks at Performance here in Ontario is 5 chicks. I would really love a couple Orloff also, but I would have to sell the excess - not likely an issue but still…. Unless RM wants to come for a visit

I love anything Russian ~ Orloff, Pavlovskaya, etc. But I had to think twice before getting Orloff cuz they are more game bird than backyard even tho breeders have crossed them w/barnyard varieties to make them more flock friendly I didn't want to take the chance. Plus similar to our Breda "Char" they stand very largely erect giving more chances of dominance or bullying of shorter birds.

It's been said the Brabanter has Polish in its history which gives more chance of being a better flockmate. Those were all things I mulled when I took my breeds into backyard flock consideration.

Since the Breda at the time were so very rare in Europe & USA & since the BBS Breda variety were so gentle I picked them. Later I got the Cuckoo Breda variety which is a 2-lb heavier Breda variety which I didn't realize at the time & she towered & bullied over the other flockmates ~ she was very different from the BBS variety so that further cemented my decision away from game bird backgrounds in breeds. She was a sweet people bird but she terrorized flockmates & cats too!

There's always exceptions to breed temperaments but I didn't chance game bird history again.

 

[Ponypoor]

It’s pelting down rain, I brought the horses in they were cold and soaked. Miss Georgie Girl was in the Hen House with her wee ones for a few hrs, I brought them back in the feedroom.

As such I am just chillaxing here surfing the net and checking out the Breda fowl…. Interesting bird.

http://www.aviculture-europe.nl/nummers/15E02A05.pdf

 

[RoyalChick]

Falling down carrying too much is how I fell breaking my arm ~! lucky it wasn't a hip!!! I don't carry a lot any more...

I looked like a war refugee! Took weeks for the face & body bruises to go away but the arm is broken. Slipping, stumbling, falling, losing balance, happens in an instant!
View attachment 4016453

Ouch!