Illinois...

[Faraday40]

Honey Update:
Still good. DH told her she wasn't allowed to take a day off. Honey's continued to lay even with the painful toe. Amazing!

 

[LinaNate]

It started as one hawk but it was like he told his buddies because many of them showed up together and then it remained that way for weeks. You could hear them flying in for the kill- squawking at each other. After I locked them up the hawks went away, took about a week or two though.

I finally got a nice tall run built and I ran strings over the top of it to provide a visual barrier for the hawks... and I have my cattle dog out there now kind of guarding things because a possum came in the coop one night and just ate the belly out of one of my older hens!

I'm scared to let them out again. They free ranged all summer with no issue and when it got colder we started having hawk issues. I'm thinking it's a seasonal thing since smaller animals aren't as active for preying upon.

 

[NotAFarm]

LinaNate, You may also get some migrating hawks from farther north that move into your area during winter when they can't find food elsewhere.

Looks like our run of moderate temps is about to end

We got the lights off the one spruce tree outside since the weather from here out is looking brutally cold!

 

[kfacres]

Who knew hawsk were such discussion critters!

 

[ChicagoClucker]

Ok posted a pic of my marans to get opinions on gender. 8 out of 10 say both are cockerels. So sad, I will be in need of blue copper and black copper marans hens.

 

[Faraday40]

My guess is 2 boys, but I've been wrong. Below are some pics of 2 orps from the summer. I thought "2" was a male especially when compared to its petite sister, so I sold it very cheap. Not only did it turn out to be female, but she's a better layer, friendly & just beautiful. The positive part is that this chicken ended up becoming the family's fav, very spoiled hen.

 

[ChicagoClucker]

My guess is 2 boys, but I've been wrong. Below are some pics of 2 orps from the summer. I thought "2" was a male especially when compared to its petite sister, so I sold it very cheap. Not only did it turn out to be female, but she's a better layer, friendly & just beautiful. The positive part is that this chicken ended up becoming the family's fav, very spoiled hen.

Thanks for giving me hope. I wanted 1 roo to cross with my legbars so I can get some olive eggers. I guess I need to order some pullets.

 

[rhondawho2]

My guess is 2 boys, but I've been wrong. Below are some pics of 2 orps from the summer. I thought "2" was a male especially when compared to its petite sister, so I sold it very cheap. Not only did it turn out to be female, but she's a better layer, friendly & just beautiful. The positive part is that this chicken ended up becoming the family's fav, very spoiled hen.

I'm new to the site and have just purchased a chicken coop and am anxious to get started! I live near Peoria, Illinois. In particular, I'm curious about your tote with chicken wire in these pics. What's that set up for?

 

[Faraday40]

I'm new to the site and have just purchased a chicken coop and am anxious to get started! I live near Peoria, Illinois.

In particular, I'm curious about your tote with chicken wire in these pics. What's that set up for?

17 years ago, I made that for when I transported my pet prairie dogs. (No Craigslist back then & a new dog carrier was way too expensive for a new teacher with college loans.)

I still come across for uses for my home-made carrier. I often use it when I bring chicks in for a school presentation. Over the summer, I kept my baby chicks in the garage at night but carried them out to the chicken tractor for grass time during the day. (We have a bad hawk problem, so they must stay contained for safety.) I used the tote to be able to carry more than 1-2 chicks at a time.

When the chicks reached about 10 weeks old, we began their training. They learned how to walk from the safety of the run to the safety of the coop (not the garage). It took a few days of chasing the slow learners, but by the end of the week, they simply did it on command. I only let the adults free range when I'm home, so it's nice to be able to get everybody back in the coop on command. (Especially when I need to leave the house & not return before dark.)

Chicken tractor training.....


Here's what it looks like when I call my chickens back to the coop.


Here's my coop. We just added the run extension this fall.

 

[rhondawho2]

Thanks for sharing! I'm anxious to get started.