Illinois...

[Faraday40]

Oh my, they are beautiful!!! Is it just me, or do they seem to grow quickly?

Yes they grow quickly, but one advantage is that they calm as they mature. My Legbars easily take treats from my hand, pose for photos, come when called, & follow a few basic commands, but they do not hop into my lap like the Orpingtons. Our fav Orp lives for attention. Besides the common daily commands, she does a few party tricks to amuse visitors.

The Legbars are descent flyers & will sometimes roost on low tree branches - over 5 ft up. Once my son closed the coop during the day and locked one Legbar inside & the other outside. The poor girl outside tried her best to get in. She flew on top of the coop & then on top of our garage to figure things out. DH freaked out to see a chicken on the roof! I laughed at him, re-opened the chicken door, & had a little talk with my 4 yr-old. Every time we've had an issue involving an adventurous chicken, it's been one of my Legbars. The rest of the flock can be stopped with an 18" fence.

 

[NotAFarm]

Quote: I quit trying to mulch anything that I didn't want dug up.

Bugs love the mulch and the chickens love bugs! I let my chickens free range and they have plenty of room so most things are left alone. When I plant some thing new, I put a piece of those round tomato cages around it (I cut the tomato cage into three, or four depending on size, pieces that include the ring and "legs"). By putting the ring around the plant, the chickens are kept from getting to the crown. When the plant grows it covers up the wire and you don't see it. For a line of plants, use 2 x 4 welding wire bent over the plants with 4 inches of "headroom". Cut the wire so that you push the ends into the soil to hold the wire in place. Once again, the plants will cover the wire when they grow in.
Chickens need a place to scratch so make sure they have a place that you let them "make a mess" (this could be their run). Grass clippings (not sprayed), veggie trimming, leaves, etc will invite bugs and worms that the chickens will love hunting for.

We have rain this morning....I hope it is done by 10:00 for the Veteran's Program.

If you are a Veteran, I thank you.
If you are the parent of a Veteran, I thank you.
If you are the spouse of a Veteran, I thank you.
If you are the child of a Veteran, I thank you.

 

[ChicagoClucker]

I hatched 3 hens and 3 roos. I am going to keep all 3 hens and 1 roo. I just moved them into the dog crate because they needed more room. I don't have any trees in my backyard, so I might need to build a high roost bar somewhere in the yard so they don't go over the 6ft fence. And my grandson is 3 and he is in the habit of closing the coop door also. He pretends he is a farmer and helps me clean, feed and garden. I have to call him Farmer Dominic when we are in the yard working, hahaha. And thank you so much for all the info, love this site and being able to talk to other chicken lovers.

 

[Nwchickma]

Just sharing pictures, my Facebook friends don't understand these are my 3 girls, hanging out in the composter.

 

[NotAFarm]

Just sharing pictures, my Facebook friends don't understand

these are my 3 girls, hanging out in the composter.

What a lovely group you have!! Non-chicken people, including some most family members, will NEVER understand......

...fortunately for me, I have the grandchildren who think I'm the greatest grandma ever because of my chickens!....okay, maybe I'm the greatest for other reasons, too, but the chickens set me apart as not your average greatest grandma ever.

 

[Faraday40]

I hatched 3 hens and 3 roos. I am going to keep all 3 hens and 1 roo. I just moved them into the dog crate because they needed more room. I don't have any trees in my backyard, so I might need to build a high roost bar somewhere in the yard so they don't go over the 6ft fence. And my grandson is 3 and he is in the habit of closing the coop door also. He pretends he is a farmer and helps me clean, feed and garden. I have to call him Farmer Dominic when we are in the yard working, hahaha. And thank you so much for all the info, love this site and being able to talk to other chicken lovers.

I'm not sure if mine would go over a 6' fence unless there were something next to it to jump up on. (like steps) That's how she got on the roof. Jumped on chair, then coop roof, then garage roof. They sometimes jump on a low branch then up to a higher one. The rest of my chickens are glued to the ground. Since they all want to stay together, I rarely have any go over our 4' fence. All three times, it has been a Legbar & also accidental - like they fell out of a tree or tried to balance on the wire fence & fell to the wrong side. Of course it's always followed by panic clucking b/c they can't figure out a way back. LOL

I used a dog crate in the garage as a brooder too! Are these your 1st chickens or do you already have others? Looks like we're going to get a few very cold days. One poor hen is molting now. She's no longer bare skin, but I don't think those short little feathers give much warmth.

 

[Faraday40]

Just sharing pictures, my Facebook friends don't understand

these are my 3 girls, hanging out in the composter.

Well of course, they like hanging out by the compost! There's all kinds of interesting stuff in there. What's not to understand? LOL
Your "chicks" are getting big. Do you have 2 layers now?

 

[Faraday40]

What a lovely group you have!! Non-chicken people, including some most family members, will NEVER understand......

...fortunately for me, I have the grandchildren who think I'm the greatest grandma ever because of my chickens!....okay, maybe I'm the greatest for other reasons, too, but the chickens set me apart as not your average greatest grandma ever.

Grandkids look like they're having fun. Likewise, my children's friends always ask to have the play dates here. Also the neighbors visit & bring treats to feed our hens.

My parents & siblings all know my deep love for animals. (almost became a vet, but decided to teach instead) They are supportive & enjoy reading my chicken emails with crazy pics & humerous stories. They may not completely understand, but they do make a point to ask that I continue to send updates.

DH is a computer network guy. He believes nature is too messy & belongs outside. If it doesn't have a cord, he doesn't understand it. While I'm out playing in the dirt (aka gardening), he prefers to stay clean in climate-controlled environment. He grew up eating canned foods & hating veggies. He was amazed the first time he ate garden pea pods. Little by little he has learned to appreciate our backyard & the great things that come from it. We've been slowly adding & expanding the gardens and planting fruit bushes & trees. He thought I finally lost it when I wanted to add chickens. He claims to "tolerate" them and only admits that he likes their eggs. However, I have caught him sneaking leftovers out to the coop. He also didn't object when our daughter's 4H project made our flock grow. On several occasions, I've even heard him explain to others why backyard eggs are superior to the ones at the grocery store. At this point, I believe he's a closet chicken-lover.

 

[SixChickFlock]

Winter has set in here in Chicago. I am still watering my flock with plastic 1 gallon fountains. This morning the one in the coop was frozen solid! I'm watching the replacement water to see how long it takes to freeze over. That time will change daily.

My plan (until I can devise an effective water heater) is to take fresh water out at the crack of dawn when I let the girls out of the coop and replace as needed. I now have 4 of these fountains at $6 per from Tractor Supply, I can keep at least one of them sanitized and ready at all times.

Tractor Supply (St John and Valpo, IN) is all sold out of heated fountains, I have a heated base on order which should be here before Christmas. I'll look around for other creative options... Heated dog water bowl... Reptile hot rock... Maybe a 60w incandescent bulb under a flower pot below the fountain... A PVC nipple waterer with pipe heating tape. Looking forward to a warm day of 35 degrees.

 

[NotAFarm]

We had snow this morning....enough to make most things white.....and so it starts.......

Right now Farm & Fleet has the small (holds 1 quart) heated pet water dishes on sale for $12.99, regularly $14.99. It says other sizes also on sale. I use these, plugged into a Thermocube, in my coop. I have two small buckets I keep in my laundry room. I fill one half/or three-quarter full of water and leave the other empty, in which I throw a clean rag. I take these to the coop, empty the dirty water in the heated dish into the empty bucket, take the rag and wipe the waterer out and fill with fresh clean water. Repeat on other dish(es). Once a week I bring the waterers in the house in the evening and give them a thorough cleaning (or do it outside if temps permit) and let them dry overnight.