Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Sylvester017]

We had just given them treats. They generally get grains and meal worms for treats. Occasionally we bring them a squash or a cabbage. Not leftovers. They get their own. I even bake the squash just for them. lol

I was just thinking before giving them a treat call their name then shake the treat & maybe they will associate your voice w/ "treat" and then come running when they hear you call. Our 6 girls are so spoiled that whenever we come outside or come home in the car they already start running to us & calling to us. Treats/food has been our best training tool.

About the only time mine don't come running when we call is if it's mid-day & they are snoozing hidden somewhere digesting their morning crop or if they're being broody. I have one girl that comes running when I call even if she's snoozing. DH trains each girl in the group by saying her name each time he gives only her a treat & in time each one learns their name. It doesn't happen overnight but consistent training & treats like w/ any pet, pays off. And some learn faster than others. Just depends on how much time you want to spend training or how pesty you want them to be.

Note: If you can't tell your 3 girls apart, paint one girl's single toe blue & another girl's purple w/ fingernail polish (no red or green to get pecked at) & leave one girl w/plain toenails & that way you can use that method for identification & name training. Just thoughts I'm throwing out there...

DH makes a special plates of mixed veggies, vitamins, can organic corn, maybe w/ Greek Yogurt or meat at around 7 or 8 a.m. every morning. They start milling around the door automatically waiting for that morning supplement & if he's late they start squawking for it or tapping on the glass door. Who trains who

 

[Sylvester017]

Temps stayed above freezing overnight...and the chinook winds hit (foehn winds in europe).

View attachment 4057128farthest they've spread out (and earliest) in a month.

They're smart to rest on patches of soil where there's no snow. Smart girls. Such a pretty picture...

 

[Sylvester017]

Whohoo, I can confirm a second silkie layer and I caught her in the act this morning.

Lori my solid black bearded silkie pullet is laying.

 

[micstrachan]

Official Introduction Post

Say hello to
Red Hen the Rhode Island Red
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Blue the Sapphire Sky
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Yeti the Light Brahma
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Squatch the Mystic Marans
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The girls with hairy legs get hairy names

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Precious babies!

 

[micstrachan]

Picture time.

I took these just as it was breaking daylight. We moved the horses a hour later as the water rose to the edge of their stalls. Thankfully that is where it stopped in my yard. The barn flooded, the gazebo in the horse ring as you can see if flipped over and the concession water rose to the window. Tomorrow I will go see just how bad it got inside the concession, I am afraid to look honestly. The ring is still flooded so when it recedes the ring fencing may be totally shot. Around midnight we had a drunk try to drive through the water to get home. He is so lucky. One of my neighbor's waded the water to get him to safety. Another poor soul was not so fortunate. A gentleman in a blue pick-up tried to drive through and his truck got stuck. He stepped out and went under. They have yet to find him. Do not know who he is as they finally moved the truck this afternoon to hope to get some identification on him to know who they are looking for. 8 hours after the rain stopped it dropped 30 degrees and we woke up to snow this morning. It has since melted off but still very cold. We have a snowstorm coming tomorrow night into Wednesday with several inches expected. Thank god we have power and heat back but so many do not have homes anymore. They are saying this is as bad as the 1984 flooding. School is closed indefinitely. One of the high schools completely flooded. It was being used as a emergency shelter. They had to evacuate it to Rosie's high school. Right now there are over 100 people there. I thank each and every one of you for your thoughts and prayers. Please, please keep them coming many places are still flooded and it will be weeks not days before the exact extent of the damage is known.

After I took these photo's I packed my camera up and loaded my last bag into the car.
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Ih my goodness, Rebecca. This is horrifying. I should know this, but can someone tell me exactly Rebecca is geographically?

 

[micstrachan]

Mr Wyandottey is out there with his ladies, just honking away. I want to bring him inside and cuddle with him, but he will only do that in the afternoon when his lady friends are scattered about the yard. I don’t want to embarrass him, he’s a big man! All feathers. Without feathers, he would look like a rat on stilts!
Just saying.
But he’s my rooster and I love him View attachment 4051996

Rat on stilts! Now that’s funny!

 

[micstrachan]

Laverne’s toe part one

Oh, goodness. Poor Laverne. I wonder how she did it?

 

[micstrachan]

I have had hens doing those mustard poops so I looked it up at the time.
Other than what has already been mentioned , but less likely for chickens who don't go outside, avian spirochaetosis (= contamination by a bacteria called brachyspira) and colibacillosis ( contamination by e.coli). The last could be the cause of reproductive disorder.
And of course coccidiosis which also does not seem very likely in your hen's case !

This is a repost for thirsty Thursday but these two terrors are so cute.
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Love this!

 

[micstrachan]

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Bottom left is somebody's Buff Orp egg, I think little Annie's, 52 grams. Upper right is Hazel's Buckeye egg, 72 grams. She started laying again five or six days ago. I noticed she was resting a lot, sitting when everybody else was standing, and pumping her tail then. At night too. I worried because she has had a respiratory illness in the past.

She wasn't doing any fast breathing, and when sleeping it was the same rate as the others, just with big motion in the back. Then a couple of days later she was walking differently in some hard to define way, and looked a little low to me. So with a heavy heart I felt her belly and on the left side easily and immediately felt a smooth lump in there. She bokked when I gently moved it a little.

Next day she went into a nest box and stayed there for hours. I checked and she had changed to another nest box. Then she came out, ate and drank, and went to roost, with no egg laid, same pumping tail. This was worrying as Popcorn also kept trying to lay, or feeling like she had to lay, maybe because of tumor? before she just up and died suddenly. Popcorn didn't have a pumping tail though.

Anyway next morning she finally laid it. She was pretty perky that day! Then two days later and here's another one. This seems to have moved along faster, is that a good sign?

Thanks for letting me relay my worry! If only we could take care of these dear animals like we can for cats and dogs. So much is unknown! And out of our hands to do anything about.

Oh, yay! I’m so glad she pulled through it, and with an egg to boot!

 

[Sally PB]

Pip laid an egg today! 75 grams, nice shell!

A year ago, when she first had salpingitis, I would not have expected her to live this long. I've told her she doesn't have to lay eggs to secure her spot here. Just be my sweet little Pippy.