Illinois...

[Faraday40]

@cavemanrich
Thank you for the pics & update. You can see why "Lonely" needed to go to a special home. She's actually very outgoing and blends in well with other chickens of any size. She requires daily cuddles and will follow you around until you eventually give in an pick her up. (She's no beauty queen..... just a girl with a great personality.) Wendy is more aloof and always does her own thing. She's no pushover but not aggressive either. I'm surprised they're sticking together. Of course Lonely does have a way of melting the ice, so Wendy had no choice but to accept her. Wendy's known for her pretty eggs.

 

[Justso]

Hi Adna, missed seeing this over the weekend. I’m about an hour ? from you. Greenville Illinois. I have only 10 ladies so far . 3 Easter Eggers, 2buffs,2barred rock, 2 gold lace Wyandottes,and 1 Rhode. Going to get more chicks Wednesday.

Jmay where are you getting them from?

 

[Bycjmay]

Jmay where are you getting them from?

Jmay where are you getting them from?

They are called Chicken Scratch farm. I am hoping I can give them a glowing review. About an hour and a half south of me.

 

[Justso]

Yummy!

 

[SnootyHen]

Oh look! Meyer reduced their minimum chick order to 3. No reason...

 

[Molpet]

Hawk migration is starting

 

[Molpet]

Finally cleaned a chicken fast enough to cook before rigor. Not that I usually eat chicken for breakfast LOL, but I did today
He was good

 

[Faraday40]

Witnessed a hawk vs turkey fight this morning. (Not sure but probably a red-tail. Much bigger than our reg hawk)

I heard a squawk & looked out my bedroom window to see a flap of wings & a big hawk fly up from the ground into the lower area of the pine tree. I quickly yelled Hawk while the kids & I scrambled to get outside. We scared the hawk out of the yard but that turkey was all puffed up and seriously on alert. He's missing a few tail feathers. Otherwise, all the birds are OK & present. Not sure who was the hawk's intended target. We locked up the flock until after lunch. There are many alerts being sounded this afternoon, so I'm debating putting them back inside.

 

[SnootyHen]

Talk to me about free ranging. I hear stories like this and it scares me but I also see happy chickens out hunting bugs and I know my girls would love it. I can't have a rooster so that's out for protection. I have 3 dogs. One loves the chickens and I think would protect them but the other 2 I am not totally sure if they'd have a momentary lapse in judgment at some point -- one is really old and forgets herself more often than not now. Most of my neighbors have dogs so if they get over my fence ever, they would likely be someone's dinner. Plus hawks, coyotes, foxes, etc. And is it ever too late to let them try? Are they too old to learn how (about 6 months old now)? Every time I go in the run, there are 2 who stick their necks out as far as they can to eat the grass growing just outside of it. I know they'd love it but how do I rip off that band-aid and just let them try? And now that I have 4 new chicks on their way, it would be nice to let them all have a little more room by spending some time free-ranging...

 

[Faraday40]

Talk to me about free ranging. I hear stories like this and it scares me but I also see happy chickens out hunting bugs and I know my girls would love it. I can't have a rooster so that's out for protection. I have 3 dogs. One loves the chickens and I think would protect them but the other 2 I am not totally sure if they'd have a momentary lapse in judgment at some point -- one is really old and forgets herself more often than not now. Most of my neighbors have dogs so if they get over my fence ever, they would likely be someone's dinner. Plus hawks, coyotes, foxes, etc. And is it ever too late to let them try? Are they too old to learn how (about 6 months old now)? Every time I go in the run, there are 2 who stick their necks out as far as they can to eat the grass growing just outside of it. I know they'd love it but how do I rip off that band-aid and just let them try? And now that I have 4 new chicks on their way, it would be nice to let them all have a little more room by spending some time free-ranging...

Do your chickens come running to you for treats? If so, it's easy to train them to go back into their coop. You could try free ranging when you, kids, dogs, etc. are outside and then lock them up when you go back inside.