Illinois...

[Faraday40]

Good News:
Many of the summer pullets are finally starting to lay, so egg numbers are increasing. Got 6 eggs yesterday & 5 today!!!!!

Bad News:
I'm pretty sure I heard our little runt quail crow. I thought it was female because there is no bump behind the vent, and one day I found 2 eggs in their cage. I remember being thrilled & shocked when I found that 2nd egg, because the runt was DD's 2nd fav quail. If it's her fav chick, then it will always be a male. (The runt / failure to thrive chick was showered with DD's attention, so I was thrilled at the idea of her 1st time being wrong.) I guess one of the eggs must have been hidden from the day before. Now knowing that it's a male (and that DD's predictions are still 100%) I'm a little surprised that the other white male quail is mating both the male & female alike. ????

 

[chickendreams24]

Good News:
 Many of the summer pullets are finally starting to lay, so egg numbers are increasing. Got 6 eggs yesterday & 5 today!!!!!

Bad News:
I'm pretty sure I heard our little runt quail crow.  I thought it was female because there is no bump behind the vent, and one day I found 2 eggs in their cage.  I remember being thrilled & shocked when I found that 2nd egg, because the runt was DD's 2nd fav quail.  If it's her fav chick, then it will always be a male.  (The runt / failure to thrive chick was showered with DD's attention, so I was thrilled at the idea of her 1st time being wrong.) I guess one of the eggs must have been hidden from the day before.  Now knowing that it's a male (and that DD's predictions are still 100%) I'm a little surprised that the other white male quail is mating both the male & female alike.  ????

Been getting 1-2 quail eggs a day. The quail with the broken toe got the tape off somehow and it's started to heal crooked. Hopefully there are no complications and it will just have a crooked toe. It's wing appears fine just a couple broken feathers. DH2B made me think about its gender last night and I've decided it could just not be showing its gender due to being injured. So I'll wait to decide on that one. I'm also still not sure about our little brown ones. Either it's one female and one male or its two males breeding each other.

I've seen some of our cockerals do that as a show of dominance and frankly I think confusion. Usually only when they've just matured in my experience.

Two of the lavender chicks are going to a new home this evening along with an older pullet and possibly a couple more birds. Although I think they're leaning towards just the three.

I don't really want to rehome them but hopefully I can add more this year. We'll have to see. The jury is still out one some of their genders. Hoping for at least one lavender pullet from you to keep. I think 2-3 of the blacks developed coloring or barring so that's interesting. Maybe more. We'll see.

The little chick that was injured by the rat is doing well. He(yes a boy) is very sweet and his external wounds are all healed up. He has some scarring and a limp but we hope some physical therapy will help with that. We did have to pull some solidified pus out of the last hole by his hock before it closed. It was very well cleaned and packed with antibiotics after debridement and has since healed. I'm glad we were able to save him.

More later everyone. We had an icky ice storm here last night not terrible just enough to make the roads bad and coat the ground.

 

[Faraday40]

I've been getting 1-2 quail eggs from 3 females. (Still sad that it's not 4.) More good news is that the quail moved to the garage a couple days ago & are doing fine adjusting to the cold. I did put out a 75W incandescent light to keep the water from freezing. I hope to move their cage to a shelf in the chicken run once they're more acclimated to the temps & we're beyond the threat of single digit lows. DD still treats them like house quail. She was cleaning their cage & had them running about the garage. I told her that she should no longer allow them to be lose because they may run away. So she stood up & walked about 6 ft & said, "Come here chick, chick, chicks." With that they ran right up to her feet. Very impressive, but I'm sure that's not normal quail behavior.

We got the ice storm here too. Had T-storms yesterday & then it turned into freezing drizzle overnight. A decent amount of ice accumulation by morning. DH decided to work from home today.

 

[Justjered]

Came home on lunch break to find a beautiful brindle Pit attempting to access our run... Thankfully it's dual layered with heavy gauge wire fence on the outside and 1" chicken wire on the inside... So she was denied access, thank god... first attempt she just mocked me and ran off... then she came running up to play and I grabbed her collar... Unfortunately this is the 2nd time we have caught her, 1st time her owners were looking for her, this time, she got a ride to the pound... No name or phone number, just city registration tags... but she should make it back to her owners...

beautiful dog, but dont screw with my silkies or you will find some rock salt in your behind... Eh hem...

We've lost 2 silkies from the hawks which is why the fence is so secure now, dont need a regular dog issue now too... Thinking maybe a layer of tacks around the outside of the run might be next in the coop/run securement project...

 

[carolbiggs1965]

Hi, I'm Carol from Galatia, Il. The southern I'll area. I'm looking forward to learn about raising chickens. I'll be starting a coop up this spring.

 

[Faraday40]

Hi, I'm Carol from Galatia, Il. The southern I'll area. I'm looking forward to learn about raising chickens. I'll be starting a coop up this spring.

Glad to have you join the thread. Feel free to ask ?s as you're setting up the coop & prepping for the chicks or hens.

 

[Justjered]

Hey! We're new too. Started with a small "tractor style" coop/run and now have a 20x20 completely enclosed run and 3 level coop.

My advice go bigger than you think you'll need. Our 5 is now 7 adults. 4 silkie chicks and a new breed for us seramas, one hatched and have 12 more in the incubator for feb hatch.

They are fun, entertaining and kinda addicting.

 

[Faraday40]

Hey! We're new too. Started with a small "tractor style" coop/run and now have a 20x20 completely enclosed run and 3 level coop.

My advice go bigger than you think you'll need. Our 5 is now 7 adults. 4 silkie chicks and a new breed for us seramas, one hatched and have 12 more in the incubator for feb hatch.

They are fun, entertaining and kinda addicting.

x2

 

[chickendreams24]

Hi, I'm Carol from Galatia, Il. The southern I'll area. I'm looking forward to learn about raising chickens. I'll be starting a coop up this spring.

Have you done research on breeds you're interested in? Let us know what you're hoping for from them and we can maybe give you some pointers or advice if you would like. Do you want pets, strictly layers? Dual purpose?

Glad to have you join the thread.  Feel free to ask ?s as you're setting up the coop & prepping for the chicks or hens.

Hey! We're new too. Started with a small "tractor style" coop/run and now have a 20x20 completely enclosed run and 3 level coop.

My advice go bigger than you think you'll need. Our 5 is now 7 adults. 4 silkie chicks and a new breed for us seramas, one hatched and have 12 more in the incubator for feb hatch.

They are fun, entertaining and kinda addicting.

Oh I would love love love a serama hen!

 x2

X3

 

[chickendreams24]

Everyone fingers crossed please. Prayers appreciated. This evening at lockup two birds were missing both are OEGB.

One of them is my prized black OEGB roo Mickey. The other is our silver duckwing OEGB hen, Ducky. I am hoping Ducky has just become broody and Mickey being the best roo/cockeral we have had bedded down with her somewhere.

We were home all day and never heard nor saw anything from the flock out of the ordinary to make us worry. Despite searching at lockup and again before bed we found no signs of them at all. No feathers and the flock seems fine and not agitated.

I'm praying they turn up tomorrow in which case I might have to throttle them. Jk but I am very worried. I don't think there's ever been a day where Minnie has gone to bed without Mickey. Don't know what I'd do if I lost my number 1 boy.