Illinois...

[LinaNate]

New to the group & area... We are in Golconda, IL. Anyone nearby offering fertile eggs?

 

[MeepBeep]

New to the group & area... We are in Golconda, IL. Anyone nearby offering fertile eggs?

I have a never ending supply of standard EE, standard barnyard mix, bantam barnyard mix, and will have some Black Sumatras and Guinea fowl come spring, but I'm about as far away from you as I can get while still being in the state of Illinois

 

[Faraday40]

New to the group & area... We are in Golconda, IL. Anyone nearby offering fertile eggs?

I'm not near you, but I will have some fertile eggs in spring. We just use them for eating. Our roo is a Lavender Orp. We have a mix of females, but 3 out of 10 are purebred Orps. The other females are Legbars, Easter Eggers, and lovable mutts. We're in the western suburbs of Chicago. I'm not NPIP or a business or even a farmer. They're our pets. The Orps are not economical, but we adore their personalities and jumbo eggs.

 

[Faraday40]

Such a cute picture in front of the tree! I will have to do that next year with the grandkids.

Thanks. We did something similar last year, so the kids insisted they each hold their fav hens for the Xmas photos this year. I find it funny how when you do something ONE time, my children call it a TRADITION.

Sad note: I worked hard making all those pretty blown egg ornaments. They were well received gifts. I made a whole set for our own tree that included an egg from every hen - including two we sold in July. My dog ate the entire set - or at least chewed them up into bits. The only ones remaining are the ones I gave away. I guess I'll be making more & hanging them only at the very top of the tree. Great Danes have an egg obsession & Labs will eat anything not nailed down. Our naughty dog is a mix of the two! Not only will he steal eggs if the coop is open, but he eats chicken poop & learned how to use the treadle feeder. Yes, he ate several pounds of chicken feed before caught in the act. Both our coop & run must be locked up tight when he's out. We even had to shrink the chicken door to prevent his crawling through. Naughty, naughty dog!

 

[dave3]

I am new to the group. I live in Olney in southeastern part of the state.

 

[Faraday40]

It's an egg-citing time over here today!
After a molt & break, Princess Lay-a made her 1st egg this morning. Darth Layer just stared making pullet eggs last week, & Cookie (our only bantam & nick-named our "Bantam Menace") came back to laying on Christmas. All three laid an egg this morning! After two months of getting less than 1/2 dozen eggs per week, we get 3 eggs in one day! The egg force is strong today!

 

[LinaNate]

I've got Easter eggers, wellsummers, black australorp, red blue laced Wyandotte hens, golden laced Wyandotte hens, sexlinks, white leghorns and two buff orphington Roos. Got an incubator for Christmas. Can't wait to break it in and hatch some chicks.

 

[NotAFarm]

Book review/recommendation-

After reading only the introduction, "Why Did The Chicken Cross The World", by Andrew Lawler, promises to be a good read! I imagine I will stay up late tonight to read the rest of it...

Merry Christmas Illinois chicken keepers!

I'll have to check it out!

Well... We have a rooster, a cockerel I suppose.

Her name was Juniper... We have renamed him Martini, sorta goes with gin... juniper berries... Hoping he stays sweet and gentle and doesn't get renamed Pot Pie.

Congrats! I love my rooster....they add a completely different dynamic to the flock.

New to the group & area... We are in Golconda, IL. Anyone nearby offering fertile eggs?

WELCOME, LINANATE!!!!

Quote:
Oh NO!! They were lovely and I thought, after seeing yours, "I need to try that!" I'm sorry you lost the eggs from your "past" hens that can not be replaced but hopefully the rest of the flock will contribute to the new set!

I am new to the group. I live in Olney in southeastern part of the state.

WELCOME, DAVE3!!

It's an egg-citing time over here today!
After a molt & break, Princess Lay-a made her 1st egg this morning. Darth Layer just stared making pullet eggs last week, & Cookie (our only bantam & nick-named our "Bantam Menace") came back to laying on Christmas. All three laid an egg this morning! After two months of getting less than 1/2 dozen eggs per week, we get 3 eggs in one day! The egg force is strong today!

My pullets have started to lay also!! It is nice to find more than one a day!! Hooray for lengthening of days!!

 

[SixChickFlock]

Rooster question for my Illinois friends...

A buddy of mine adopted 3 pullets to add to his neighbors 3 hen flock. They wanted more eggs and he helps with feed and maintenance. Very handy and hard working guy. One of them "turned out to be a dude"!

He's an Americana... Probably from the same group that 2 of my 3 pullets came from.

I'm wondering how the addition of a roo will affect my flock. Two are molting. Two or 4 of 8 are laying. What happens when you add a rooster to a mixed flock that are still getting to know each other?

He is coming over for a visit shortly... !

Quote:

The night went well. At dawn everyone was out of the hen house except Junebug and Juniper The Roo... Who seemed to be having quiet conversation on the roost inside.

The day went well. Everyone ate and drank outside all day and the hens didn't treat little roo too badly. And then it was bedtime...

I watched this from my rooftop deck... I didn't want to interfere...

As the sun went down and the girls foraged their way to bed, Juniper Martini The Roo preceded the girls into the coop, came back outside and gently herded them all in. He then checked the outside perimeter of the run quite thoroughly, hopped up on a small oak stump and jumped onto the top of the open run door where he seemed to check out the roof and surrounding land. It took only moments to fly to the ground, peck on the garage door and hop inside the coop. I swear, if he could have closed the door and activated an alarm system, he would have!

I'm very impressed with this guy. He did the same thing on his first night except that I captured him on top of the door and put him to bed. Really kinda hoping he works out. I did not know roosters were so cool.

Thanks again, Faraday, for sharing your experience.
NotAFarm... He has changed the dynamics of the flock already. Nary a squawk nor squabble from the girls at bedtime.

 

[kfacres]

New to the group & area... We are in Golconda, IL. Anyone nearby offering fertile eggs?

I'll take several trips a year to the Mt. Vernon area, can deliver Cornish eggs for hatching that far.

These aren't the Cornish/ Rock cross birds, they're real Standard Cornish birds. Pictures or other infor available upon request.