Illinois...

[Justjered]

Awesome. Funny small world. My wife travels to Janesville for work with home run auto group (she works for an IT company that works with them).

Would love to chat in the spring about possibly getting additional eggs.

Sorry about your loss this year. We've only lost one and it was horrible.

I'm hoping to end up with around 15-20 silkies of various colors. Currently we have 8 and think that they are such a happy friendly chicken and even with 8, seem to serve our purposes of egg needs.

 

[Shay88]

Hello from East Peoria! Well, we're getting our first snow fall this winter season and I'm slightly freaking out. It's my first winter with chickens. I have 3 Silkies and 3 Polish in one coop and 3 Bramahs in the other. I have them able to go in and out of their coop to their run as they please during the day. If it starts to snow pretty hard will they go in the coop on their own? Or should I go out there and make sure they do? I could be totally panicing for no reason but I just don't want anything bad to happen because of my lack of experience. Any advice at all would be great hope everyone stays safe out there!

 

[Justjered]

We're in the same boat. Our silkies decided to hang out in the coop when my wife opened the door to their run this morning.

What I've been told/read. They will probably stay out of the weather a lot of times. You might have to clear some open ground for them to go outside once the snow piles up.

 

[Molpet]

mine go out if there is a path all winter... I do not have silkies though...

 

[Faraday40]

When snow is like this (below) the chickens will stay inside.

Even with the door open, all they'll do is look outside & wonder why the ground is missing.

Here are some of my orps wanting to come outside but looking confused at their first sight of snow.

Unless you shovel some paths, they'll stay inside. They may still spend more time inside than out even when shoveled.

Because of all the time inside, you should make some boredom busters to keep their beaks busy & prevent feather pecking, bullying, & other undesirable behaviors.


Here my roo discovered a creative way to watch over the hens & still keep his feet dry.

They will come out when the snow starts to melt - but usually still stay near the coop.

This is about as far as mine like to travel.

 

[Faraday40]

Had a brief meet up with @chickendreams24 last night. By now she has noticed that I slipped some "packing peanuts" in with the quail & chicks. I also gave some home made cheddar ale soup & pretzels to smooth things over with her DH2B. (Hope he's not too angry with me, but I knew they'd be well taken care of & that you secretly wanted them.) DD's fav is the silkie mix with 5 toes. It was the 1st to hatch & very bonded to the kids. Actually even the quail are pretty tame, b/c the kids held them frequently. The chicks were allowed to run around on the floor for playtime & when DD made her clucking noise, they'd run straight back to her.

Here she is with a quail


... and saying Good Bye to her fav chick.
(She is now more determined than ever to get a silkie this spring/summer.)


Thank you also for what you slipped into our trunk. Know that it will be enjoyed by all of us.

Yes, what a sneaky pair we are! Meeting up at random parking lots to exchange foods & poultry.

BTW- Thank for explaining more about your cooler-brooder. I did not realize it was a small building/structure on your property. In my mind, I had pictured something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Coleman-3000000-48-Quart-Cooler-Blue/dp/B002V9XV9K

 

[cavemanrich]

Hello from East Peoria! Well, we're getting our first snow fall this winter season and I'm slightly freaking out. It's my first winter with chickens. I have 3 Silkies and 3 Polish in one coop and 3 Bramahs in the other. I have them able to go in and out of their coop to their run as they please during the day. If it starts to snow pretty hard will they go in the coop on their own? Or should I go out there and make sure they do? I could be totally panicing for no reason but I just don't want anything bad to happen because of my lack of experience. Any advice at all would be great hope everyone stays safe out there!

We're in the same boat. Our silkies decided to hang out in the coop when my wife opened the door to their run this morning.

What I've been told/read. They will probably stay out of the weather a lot of times. You might have to clear some open ground for them to go outside once the snow piles up.

I think that if the snow is coming down and they are outside, then they may get wet. They have fur, not feathers

. Well you know what I mean. The other feathered friends can shed off the snow off regular feathers much easier.

 

[cavemanrich]

Just an Update. Last week Mousse was at the bottom of pecking order. Now every one getting along GREAT. SIZE MATTERS

. I think she was teaching the other chickens a song. Almost sure I heard them ALL HUMMING.. Kumbaya

 

[Justjered]

I've been at work since 445 this morning. So haven't gotten to see our chickens and the snow yet. However my wife said they ran out of the coop this morning all excited and stopped at the snow line. Baffled, looked back and forth and decided to go back in the coop and stay in the covered area with bare grass.

Lol. Smart girls. stay dry and warm.

 

[Faraday40]

Just an Update. Last week Mousse was at the bottom of pecking order. Now every one getting along GREAT. SIZE MATTERS

. I think she was teaching the other chickens a song. Almost sure I heard them ALL HUMMING.. Kumbaya

Wow! Your "Mousse" is looking larger today. Her legs are thick like tree trunks! I'm glad the other girls decided not to challenge her.