Illinois...

[Faraday40]

I just looked. She is sitting on the eggs again. Who knows if she'll hatch any... Ib don't have another broody though. The chickens have never gone broody in the 3+ years we've had them.

Well, 3 ducklings are out and playing soccer with the other eggs. 2 are pipped. Last one is the ??? egg. Has a big air cell. They're in my little incubator with some misc. chicks for someone else. Three of those are out.

My big incubator has no action yet. Just some turkey and Spitzhauben pips. They're supposed to hatch tomorrow and Sat, so no worries at this point. It's the 1st time we're hatching in it. Normally just incubate and then move for hatching.

 

[Faraday40]

4 turkey, 3 spitz, 1 lav orp, and some duck pips in big incubator. DS is already trying to name and keep all the Spitzes.

Small incubator has 5 ducks and 5 chicks. There's only one last duck egg left - no pip. It has a large air cell and no movement. My gut says a "quitter"

@BReeder! I will try to take some pics. (Hard while they're still inside incubator. There's one big duckling/chick pile) The differences among the ducklings are interesting. One is mostly yellow with only a little brown. Are they all Rouen or do you have an assortment?

 

[jdragonwings]

Losing food (fruit) would be much worse but still sad this is likely the end of this years lilacs
View attachment 2627740

That is incredibly sad; those are my absolute favorite. Maybe some will manage to pull thru??

 

[jdragonwings]

I beared the cold yesterday to put together a new pergola. I'm really liking it, but this cold weather is keeping us from using it yet. It is 10'x10' and the side walls fold out to extend the canopy to approx. 10'x25'. I anchored it to the patio with tapcons (thankfully because we got some gusts today). I also added some lights under the main canopy, which should look really nice at night and light up the patio sufficiently. Coupled with the addition of new replacement patio chairs (not to mention my the different BBQs), we should get some good use out of the patio.
View attachment 2628807View attachment 2628810

That is so cool! I've never seen one with the sides that open out like that!

 

[BReeder!]

4 turkey, 3 spitz, 1 lav orp, and some duck pips in big incubator. DS is already trying to name and keep all the Spitzes.

Small incubator has 5 ducks and 5 chicks. There's only one last duck egg left - no pip. It has a large air cell and no movement. My gut says a "quitter"

@BReeder! I will try to take some pics. (Hard while they're still inside incubator. There's one big duckling/chick pile) The differences among the ducklings are interesting. One is mostly yellow with only a little brown. Are they all Rouen or do you have an assortment?

I only have Rouens. Mostly yellow is interesting... there might be something hidden in the genetics.

 

[jdragonwings]

So I have to say the cliche phrase... chicken math happened. We just finished our beautiful coop that fits 6 chickens perfectly and got them in it a few weeks ago. And then I went out and bought 6 more chicks...
I know how I'll enlarge the coop-it's actually pretty easy. I'm going to cover all the screened in areas with plywood and make it into one large coop. It will hold at least 15 (based on the 4sq ft / bird) so at least that is figured out...
But I was hoping for thoughts on how to enlarge the run area... because with my new plan I will be converting the current run into coop so now I'll have no run We have lots of free 1x5's and 1x7's
My ideas are
#1- hog wire and metal T posts (how high would it need to be? How sturdy/unsturdy is that? We have kids and dogs. Could I reinforce it with 1x5's at the top and bottom?)
#2-build a fence from pallets and probably use T posts to hold it up. I really don't want to dig post holes bc that would require getting additional tools and help from my DH.
#3-I'm open to other ideas...

 

[BReeder!]

So I have to say the cliche phrase... chicken math happened. We just finished our beautiful coop that fits 6 chickens perfectly and got them in it a few weeks ago. And then I went out and bought 6 more chicks...
I know how I'll enlarge the coop-it's actually pretty easy. I'm going to cover all the screened in areas with plywood and make it into one large coop. It will hold at least 15 (based on the 4sq ft / bird) so at least that is figured out...
But I was hoping for thoughts on how to enlarge the run area... because with my new plan I will be converting the current run into coop so now I'll have no run We have lots of free 1x5's and 1x7's
My ideas are
#1- hog wire and metal T posts (how high would it need to be? How sturdy/unsturdy is that? We have kids and dogs. Could I reinforce it with 1x5's at the top and bottom?)
#2-build a fence from pallets and probably use T posts to hold it up. I really don't want to dig post holes bc that would require getting additional tools and help from my DH.
#3-I'm open to other ideas...

Free lumber is amazing, especially these days. Use it if you can get it. Since they are 1x5 and 1x7, can you rip them in half on a saw? Do you have a table saw? I was thinking if you do the boards in half and then glue and screw two halves together you could create 2x2.5 (a 2x3 effectively) and 2x3.5 (a 2x4 effectively). This would be better lumber to work with for building run walls to cover in wire.
Alternatively, use the 1x boards to make a picket style fence with extra wide gaps (say a foot) and put wire over it. My run is 6ft picket fence made of 1x4 horizontals and the cheapest (about 1/4" or less) fence pickets covered in hardware cloth. I repurposed landscape timbers and old 4x4s for posts.

 

[24Elsinore]

Hi all,

I just wanted to drop in and say to my fellow Illinois folks on here. I live in the Chicago suburbs. I don't have any chicks yet but I have some ordered from Cackle Hatchery that are supposed to be delivered in June. So right now I don't have much to offer in the realm of chicken advise!

However another hobby of mine does provide me with something I can give away, trade and bargain to any interested people. I raise plants native to the Chicago regions for various people and projects, and I often have lots of leftovers. If anyone is ever interested in starting a pollinator garden or native flower garden, let me know and I'll see what I can help you with. Currently I have a couple dozen wetland plants from last year, including bluejoint (a grass) and wild mint. Both of these would work well in a rain garden, and bluejoint is excellent for erosion control in wet soils or along river banks. Let me know if you are ever interested.

 

[WhyDoILikeChickens]

Hi all,

I just wanted to drop in and say to my fellow Illinois folks on here. I live in the Chicago suburbs. I don't have any chicks yet but I have some ordered from Cackle Hatchery that are supposed to be delivered in June. So right now I don't have much to offer in the realm of chicken advise!

However another hobby of mine does provide me with something I can give away, trade and bargain to any interested people. I raise plants native to the Chicago regions for various people and projects, and I often have lots of leftovers. If anyone is ever interested in starting a pollinator garden or native flower garden, let me know and I'll see what I can help you with. Currently I have a couple dozen wetland plants from last year, including bluejoint (a grass) and wild mint. Both of these would work well in a rain garden, and bluejoint is excellent for erosion control in wet soils or along river banks. Let me know if you are ever interested.

You look familiar but just to be safe " welcome to the thread".
Congrats on the chicks, what did you order?
I hope this year to make a (real) garden and want an area of chicken friendly plants.
Keep us updated on what you have, I'm sure someone will be interested.

 

[jdragonwings]

Hi all,

I just wanted to drop in and say to my fellow Illinois folks on here. I live in the Chicago suburbs. I don't have any chicks yet but I have some ordered from Cackle Hatchery that are supposed to be delivered in June. So right now I don't have much to offer in the realm of chicken advise!

However another hobby of mine does provide me with something I can give away, trade and bargain to any interested people. I raise plants native to the Chicago regions for various people and projects, and I often have lots of leftovers. If anyone is ever interested in starting a pollinator garden or native flower garden, let me know and I'll see what I can help you with. Currently I have a couple dozen wetland plants from last year, including bluejoint (a grass) and wild mint. Both of these would work well in a rain garden, and bluejoint is excellent for erosion control in wet soils or along river banks. Let me know if you are ever interested.

Welcome! I am starting my first "real" garden this year, as well as starting chickens. And we just moved into a new house last fall, so I'm very excited to start working on the yard. I've always wanted a natural flower garden