Illinois...

[jdragonwings]

This rain is something else. We had some water leaking into the basement, so now we have to regrade the front yard and install gutter guards. We had to dig a temporary trench away from the house at 11pm when we noticed the water pooling by the house (due to overflowing gutters and torrential downpours). Finished around midnight and then the dog got sprayed by a skunk. What the heck was a skunk doing out in the middle of a thunderstorm? And how has the dumb dog not figured out what skunks do??? This was the third time!

Changing subjects, I hate to ask this, but I'm afraid I've got a male. I'm posting pictures. They're not very good bc I'm not very good at taking chicken pictures It's supposed to be an oliver egger. I can try to get better ones, if needed. Oh and it's about 2 months old.

 

[Faraday40]

This rain is something else. We had some water leaking into the basement, so now we have to regrade the front yard and install gutter guards. We had to dig a temporary trench away from the house at 11pm when we noticed the water pooling by the house (due to overflowing gutters and torrential downpours). Finished around midnight and then the dog got sprayed by a skunk. What the heck was a skunk doing out in the middle of a thunderstorm? And how has the dumb dog not figured out what skunks do??? This was the third time!

Changing subjects, I hate to ask this, but I'm afraid I've got a male. I'm posting pictures. They're not very good bc I'm not very good at taking chicken pictures It's supposed to be an oliver egger. I can try to get better ones, if needed. Oh and it's about 2 months old.

Pretty sure she's a female olive egger. Mine look the same but without the crest. Males should have a different color pattern. (I'll admit I've been nervous about the gender of mine too. 12+ weeks old now. One has red in face and wattles.) I've seen them checking out nest boxes. Too early for eggs, but who knows.....

 

[Faraday40]

This rain is something else. We had some water leaking into the basement, so now we have to regrade the front yard and install gutter guards. We had to dig a temporary trench away from the house at 11pm when we noticed the water pooling by the house (due to overflowing gutters and torrential downpours). Finished around midnight and then the dog got sprayed by a skunk. What the heck was a skunk doing out in the middle of a thunderstorm? And how has the dumb dog not figured out what skunks do??? This was the third time!

So sorry about all the troubles. We had a dog who loved to play with skunks too. Keep peroxide, baking soda, and Dawn on hand at all times.

Try to get some sleep.

 

[megpie021]

This was my olive egger at about 16 weeks. They all look almost exactly the same

it’s definitely a girl because we get lots of little olive eggs.
Editing to add we keep natures miracle skunk on hand because our dogs are stupid. It works pretty well.

 

[homeschoolin momma]

This rain is something else. We had some water leaking into the basement, so now we have to regrade the front yard and install gutter guards. We had to dig a temporary trench away from the house at 11pm when we noticed the water pooling by the house (due to overflowing gutters and torrential downpours). Finished around midnight and then the dog got sprayed by a skunk. What the heck was a skunk doing out in the middle of a thunderstorm? And how has the dumb dog not figured out what skunks do??? This was the third time!

Changing subjects, I hate to ask this, but I'm afraid I've got a male. I'm posting pictures. They're not very good bc I'm not very good at taking chicken pictures It's supposed to be an oliver egger. I can try to get better ones, if needed. Oh and it's about 2 months old.

I see nothing that looks male to me. Looks like a lovely ccl.

 

[Faraday40]

I see nothing that looks male to me. Looks like a lovely ccl.

x2
I wish my olive eggers had pretty Legbar crests like @jdragonwings . They're supposed to be Welsummer x CCL but who knows for sure. Not sure what the white on the head is all about. At this point I'm just hoping for any female colored egg layer.

 

[jdragonwings]

I do absolutely love her coloring! I don't know how we got so lucky-blessed actually, to end up with all 12 being girls

I was watching a show on Netflix about Hollywood pets. They had a teen girl with a barred rock that knew over 80 tricks... I was trying to get my son interested in training one of our chickens bc he likes them so much but I think the idea overwhelmed him. Any ideas on how to get a child started on something like that?

x2
I wish my olive eggers had pretty Legbar crests like @jdragonwings . They're supposed to be Welsummer x CCL but who knows for sure. Not sure what the white on the head is all about. At this point I'm just hoping for any female colored egg layer.

 

[jdragonwings]

This was my olive egger at about 16 weeks. They all look almost exactly the same

it’s definitely a girl because we get lots of little olive eggs.
Editing to add we keep natures miracle skunk on hand because our dogs are stupid. It works pretty well.

Ours look so much alike!

 

[Faraday40]

I do absolutely love her coloring! I don't know how we got so lucky-blessed actually, to end up with all 12 being girls

I was watching a show on Netflix about Hollywood pets. They had a teen girl with a barred rock that knew over 80 tricks... I was trying to get my son interested in training one of our chickens bc he likes them so much but I think the idea overwhelmed him. Any ideas on how to get a child started on something like that?

Our daughter trained a few hens over the years. My son is working on a piano-playing chicken (modern game bantam). The 1st thing is to bond with them. Call them over and give treats. Let them get used to being handled. Teach them to go into coop on command. (call them over, say "go coop" and throw treats inside. They'll learn quickly if you do it daily) Those are the basics.

After that you can try tricks. Some are much smarter than others. Our Dominique was amazing and enjoyed the spotlight (technically the fluorescent lighting of several local schools, a parade, and some special events.) My orps take a lot of patience (not the brightest breed) but a few of the seramas are quick learners. In fact, I worked with @homeschoolin momma's cockerel once and he learned how to peck at the target. The second time (a few weeks later) he remembered the trick

Here's a project my daughter did when she was younger. (operant conditioning) This is basically how we started.

 

[Faraday40]

Our cherry bush is up to 25.4 lbs of fruit so far! (2021 is our biggest harvest yet and we still have a little more out there.) The fruit began splitting from all the rain, so it's a rush trying to pick, pit, process and freeze them in time.

Here's a pic from this afternoon (Our 3rd picking)

DS helped me pit chrries. Kitchen looks like a crime scene, but it was still very helpful.