Illinois...

[ChicagoClucker]

Ok, couldn't help myself, and ordered 6 jubilee chicks and 2 more mottled. So excited!

I candled the eggs in the incubator, 21 eggs went in, only 10 fertile and doing nicely. Looks like I am going to have to trim some butts!

Speaking of butt trimming, I thought I would share this painful and funny post I saw, not their exact words, but this was the jest of the post.

Someone was having problems with fertility in her group, and someone told her to trim some butts. She said, well I plucked some butt feathers but no one told me they would bleed. It looked painful for them. The rooster was not happy having his butt plucked at all.

 

[jnckids]

Does anyone know of a place in Northern Illinois that takes retired hens to free range and enjoy the rest of their lives?

Thanks!

 

[cavemanrich]

Does anyone know of a place in Northern Illinois that takes retired hens to free range and enjoy the rest of their lives?

Thanks!

I would take them If I wasn't UP TO CAPACITY, and getting a couple Icelandics in short while. Those 2 retired hens may still have some egg production left. Almost 5 is not very old.

 

[jnckids]

I would take them If I wasn't   UP TO CAPACITY,  and getting a couple Icelandics  in short while.    Those 2 retired hens may still have some egg production left.   Almost 5 is not [COLOR=FF0000]very[/COLOR] old. 

We do get a couple here and there. We would rather keep them than send them to become soup at this point lol. If your situation changes let us know.

 

[cavemanrich]

I will keep that in mind as well as ask a neighbor who also has a few hens. I keep mine till the end, and my oldest one currently is 11. The rest are pretty young though. There are a few peeps in your area that do keep chickens. If they see your post they may take you up on it.

 

[megpie021]

We are pretty sure our little D'uccles are boys. Which means they will need a new home. I have posted them under the breed thread and in the breed and gender, they are 4.5 weeks old and in the last few days are getting more pink than not

Looking to see if anyone here can venture a guess as to if I can be in denial any longer or not.

 

[chickendreams24]

Pepper is about to be 5 weeks monday. I bought her as a silver laced wyandotte pullet. So... yeah. I really dont want to rehome any one. But if it is mr pepper itll have to happen. I did post pepper in the breed /gender and people said wyandotes can be tricky and to wait it out.

SlW are tricky in my experience especially hatchery stock. Wait it out it could go either way.

Well a sad morning

the CX hen I kept would have been 1 yr next week... I found her dead, stiff and purple... comb almost black... She had laid 1 egg this spring a few weeks back... I was thinking yesterday I should think about soup...too late now.. she was 12.28lbs
The CX are so sweet and I played with them too much.. I learned not to play with my food LOL... but I do not think I'll get any more of them, too hard to restrict their food so they have a good life... and soooo hard when they are pulling at my pants, looking up at me with sweet faces.... when I gather them to process.. jerk cockerels are easier for me to process, I have had it with them by the time I catch them.
I have 1 pullet and 3 cockerels out of her from last fall... The older hens will not accept 'romance' from the cockerels, but I have 2 younger ones that do...and the pullet is laying so not all is lost for my meat project.
RIP 'Little Fatty'

So sorry to hear about Fatty. She had a wonderful life.

Please continue to pray for my sis & our family. She's doing much better & now it comes down to bureaucracy. She was supposed to get transferred to another hospital (that accepts Medicaid) as soon as she was moved out of the ICU. However there are only a limited # of beds, therefore she had to stay put. They also looked into a rehab facility & even a nursing home so she could continue to get physical therapy until she's strong enough to go home. Well, no beds there either! She was able to walk up some stairs with assistance this morning, so now they're talking about sending her home. ???? It was one week ago that she nearly died & went into sepsis. She's still got a urine bag attached because she was all bloated with fluids not exiting normally. They are removing it now to see how she does. If that goes well, they plan to send her home. My sis is excited about this, but my dad & I are very nervous. The hospital docs & nurses also said that my sis MUST use Sepap machine when sleeping. I saw for myself on her monitors how she stopped breathing as soon as she drifted off. My sis has no Sepap because hers broke in early Nov. Her primary doc couldn't find her results from the test in 2015, so he referred her to get re-tested. The 1st time insurance said it was too soon, & she had to wait until Jan 2017. Twice she made appointments with different sleep centers for testing. Both times, the day before the appointment they called & cancelled because they no longer take Medicaid. Her primary care doc told her earlier this week not to worry & that they'll take care of it when she gets transferred to Rush. Well that's not going to happen now & I fear that she'll stop breathing tonight. I begged her & my dad not to leave the hospital without a Sepap - a keeper or even a loaner. A social worker is going to see what she can do, but it's a weekend. Much of the administration is not available on weekends. In addition to all this, my sis needs so much help & Dad is in his upper 80s. He's in very good health for his age, but the stress must be overwhelming. He's the one who was present when Mom stopped breathing & he dialed 911. Since Mom's death, my sis has been Dad's primary focus. They give each other companionship, & he drives her to appointments, picks up all her meds, and helps her in any way he can. They really need each other. They both need prayers and strength to get through these next few days. I apologize for babbling, but sometimes I must vent or explode. I realize the hospital did an amazing job saving her life and am very thankful. I simply want her to stay alive and receive the care she needs.

Praying as always and sending hugs.

 

[ChicagoClucker]

We are pretty sure our little D'uccles are boys. Which means they will need a new home. I have posted them under the breed thread and in the breed and gender, they are 4.5 weeks old and in the last few days are getting more pink than not

Looking to see if anyone here can venture a guess as to if I can be in denial any longer or not.

I can't tell on the first pic because his face is turned away, but if his comb is anything like the other 3 than yes you have all boys. Those last 3, definitely boys. Sorry, I have been in your position before when I hatched my Marans, such a disappointment.

 

[megpie021]

I can't tell on the first pic because his face is turned away, but if his comb is anything like the other 3 than yes you have all boys. Those last 3, definitely boys. Sorry, I have been in your position before when I hatched my Marans, such a disappointment.

Its only two birds, with two pictures of each. Its been harder to deny it with Oreo (the porcelain one because theres a lot more red coming in), and Brownie was a bit more questionable with the less pink, but still very noticeable comb. This sucks. Oreo is the sweetest bird. You pick Oreo up and immediately Oreo just settles in and lays down. Brownie is more of a wild card, runs hysterically fast from hands, but once scooped up will perch on a finger and stare you down.

On the other hand we are thinking Pepper is a girl. No changes have happened, only just the slightest of pink, and she is a full week ahead of these two. Pepper is our most attention needing one. She will literally fly at me to be held, even if I have another one on my arm or in my lap.

 

[ChicagoClucker]

Its only two birds, with two pictures of each. Its been harder to deny it with Oreo (the porcelain one because theres a lot more red coming in), and Brownie was a bit more questionable with the less pink, but still very noticeable comb. This sucks. Oreo is the sweetest bird. You pick Oreo up and immediately Oreo just settles in and lays down. Brownie is more of a wild card, runs hysterically fast from hands, but once scooped up will perch on a finger and stare you down.

On the other hand we are thinking Pepper is a girl. No changes have happened, only just the slightest of pink, and she is a full week ahead of these two. Pepper is our most attention needing one. She will literally fly at me to be held, even if I have another one on my arm or in my lap.

Well, you could keep the pair and make some more babies