Illinois...

[Faraday40]

Sorry, been away for sometime. Work and health are keeping me away.
Beautiful chicks @Faraday40 . About the splash looking chick, I am not sure where would it get the 2nd blue gene from. Therefore I think its a recessive white (1 gene from Brick and 1 from Jewel (transferred by Oopsie). Lets see!

And agree with you that she must have been split to lavender as well. You have another treasure in Jewel. She will give you all colors depending on the rooster. Black, Blue, Lavender and even Mauve if you ever have a chocolate rooster.

BTW my scalped pullet completely recovered in about 3 weeks (with the help of turmeric and olive oil). The gap in her skin (about 1.5 inch) completely went away, however still had about 1 cm patch that was featherless. However, when she was 11 weeks old, just over a period of 3 days she grew wattles and became a cockerel instead. I was so disappointed. My kids had already named her Amber Rose and now we had to change it to Mike Tyson. Anyways Mr. Tyson was dropped off at Belmont Feed and Seed 10 days ago.

Hi old friend! Great to hear from you again!

Does the white gene need 2 copies to show up? Is it sex-linked? Last year from your eggs: All 3 of the mauves that turned white were female. This year, I hatched 4 mystery whites from Oopsie. All 4 had a light mauve-looking down, feathered in white, and grew up to be female. As far as Jewel's current mystery light chick, it's very possible that Brick could be the dad. I also got one choc cuckoo from her, so I already know that they mated.

Sorry to hear about Tyson. Your story of that chick's healing is what gave me hope about our Blue Buff Colombian.

After a fox attack:
Poor girl had a flap of skin that opened & sprayed blood when she shook her head. I simply flushed it & sprayed with Veterycin. It took 1.5 days to crust closed. I kept spraying with Veterycin & let her stay inside for 6 days.

Now she's perfectly normal:
(But I'm still undecided if I'm going to keep her. I really have no need for her, but she's bigger than my laced roo & very sweet.)

Excuse the feathers above. No it wasn't a hawk. Both white hens (Princess & Oopsie) are molting and that's their fav shade tree. As they shake after a dust bath, it snows feathers.

 

[Pandora]

I recently moved to a very rural area over 1.5 hours away from Chicago. Channahon IL. Never really thought that this small town of 10,000 would be anti-chicken. Other larger cities such as Chicago, Naperville, and more allow chickens. Yet this tiny village is too "urban" for such consideration. A true head scratcher since most people move here to avoid the urban restrictions and mentality.

We've progressed in getting this moved through petition meetings, but need all the advice and support we can get to help the vote sway in favor of chickens. I'm hoping that someone here can share a letter they've used for city council member outreach or similar. We have a petition site, but council members don't put weight in it. So feel we would have more success with individuals sending messages to each council member. To help make this happen I'd like to start with a template that people can use.

Thanks in advance!!

 

[Junibutt]

You can contact Martha Boyd and Jennifer Murtoff via the Chicago Chicken Enthusiasts group. Apart from the letter, they maybe able to give you transcripts from other council meetings they have been to or testified as experts. Probably it would be best to join the google group.

https://sites.google.com/site/chicagochickenenthusi/resources-links

I recently moved to a very rural area over 1.5 hours away from Chicago. Channahon IL. Never really thought that this small town of 10,000 would be anti-chicken. Other larger cities such as Chicago, Naperville, and more allow chickens. Yet this tiny village is too "urban" for such consideration. A true head scratcher since most people move here to avoid the urban restrictions and mentality.

We've progressed in getting this moved through petition meetings, but need all the advice and support we can get to help the vote sway in favor of chickens. I'm hoping that someone here can share a letter they've used for city council member outreach or similar. We have a petition site, but council members don't put weight in it. So feel we would have more success with individuals sending messages to each council member. To help make this happen I'd like to start with a template that people can use.

Thanks in advance!!

 

[Faraday40]

Sad News to report:
Mini Moose (aka "Mr. Nice Guy") died unexpectantly yesterday afternoon. Other than hot, he was acting normally at lunch. Yesterday morning, I did notice a touch of purple on his comb tips. I know the very large, cold-hardy breeds have trouble with the heat, so I suspect his death was related to the excessive heat of this past week. (I didn't see blood or feel a broken neck. Just a very purple comb.)

He truly was a "nice guy," never aggressive & allowed us to pick him up. He was my favorite out of all the male chicks we hatched this spring and just 4 days shy of his 6mo birthday. I was very much looking forward to watching him fill out and planned to breed him next spring. He had a great comb, good feather quality, & the body shape I prefer. Add in his sweet, gentle temperament, and he had the potential to be a great rooster.

As DH & I were digging a hole in the garden, we left his body in the yard. Mr Dummy stood guard over it & tried to wake him up. The rest of the flock went inside to bed, but Mr Dummy didn't seem to understand why his friend wasn't joining him. We had a backyard funeral & DS cried.

I suppose the silver lining in all this is that we did not retire Moose yet and still have chicks left from Sat's hatch. Chances are a couple will be roosters.

Not the best pics, but they were just taken a couple days ago.

One of my fav baby pics of the "Mini Moose"

 

[NotAFarm]

to you and your DS. So sad to lose our favorites.

 

[Faraday40]

I heard a lot of ruckus from blue jays & roosters, so I ran outside to check it out. (My "guard dog" was snoozing under a tree BTW) When I got to the mid yard I think I saw a hawk fly off & noticed there were chickens under bushes back there. The birds were OK. I checked on the tractor with the mamas & chicks, and then made the rounds through the usual resting spots. Just before going back inside, I saw my Welsummer running around with something big dangling from her beak. Leaf? Mouse? Nope! It was a hand!!!!

Spoiler: warning gross image of what chickens were eating

So 1st I had to catch her to steal her prize. Then I had to search the yard for the rest of the remains.

Found it!

Two arms & a tiny bit of fur was all that was found. No bones, no organs, no blood.

What do you think the animal was? An opossum, maybe? Could this have been the work of a hawk or do you think it's more likely from a fox? I'm not 100% sure I saw a hawk through the trees but I do know that the chickens were eating the remains of whatever animal. (I highly doubt they killed it, but I'll now think twice before falling asleep in the backyard! LOL Killer chickens!)

 

[chickendreams24]

How large is that leg?

I'm going to guess young possum but it's hard to say with only that much left. The fur color is right. Also I would say maybe hawk but more likely fox. Careful mature possum will kill birds they will also eat eggs.

 

[Faraday40]

The kids & I were invited to an ag sci expo. They asked us to set up a booth to highlight some of the educational things I do in the schools. I invited a few 4H friends to help out & hold chickens/chicks for people to pet. We put out our group's banner, some pamphlets, a "peck-n-play" with a broody hen & chicks, a few poultry-related project boards, and a rainbow assortment of eggs. (Most people never saw a blue egg, a Welsummer egg, or quail egg before) Let's just say we were the most popular booth.... and others were giving out candy, had games, & even small toys. We did donate some eggs & zucchinis as a raffle prizes.

The chickens were getting a little nervous around 7pm, so we started packed up a little early but the fans kept coming. I'm sure our chickens were all over social media last night.

Tomorrow we'll be at The Last Straw event in Westmont, IL. It's free & has a lot for the little kids to do.

 

[chickendreams24]

Hello my friends.

I just wanted to post and say that if you don't already know what happened in Vegas you should look into the mass shooting that happened yesterday.

These things can not be understood but I know that our thoughts and prayers can bring comfort and prayers for peace in the wake of this tragedy.

Please join me in putting those involved in our thoughts and prayers.

 

[cavemanrich]

I heard a lot of ruckus from blue jays & roosters, so I ran outside to check it out. (My "guard dog" was snoozing under a tree BTW) When I got to the mid yard I think I saw a hawk fly off & noticed there were chickens under bushes back there. The birds were OK. I checked on the tractor with the mamas & chicks, and then made the rounds through the usual resting spots. Just before going back inside, I saw my Welsummer running around with something big dangling from her beak. Leaf? Mouse? Nope! It was a hand!!!!

Spoiler: warning gross image of what chickens were eating

So 1st I had to catch her to steal her prize. Then I had to search the yard for the rest of the remains. View attachment 1147405 View attachment 1147406 View attachment 1147409
Found it!View attachment 1147407

Two arms & a tiny bit of fur was all that was found. No bones, no organs, no blood.

What do you think the animal was? An opossum, maybe? Could this have been the work of a hawk or do you think it's more likely from a fox? I'm not 100% sure I saw a hawk through the trees but I do know that the chickens were eating the remains of whatever animal. (I highly doubt they killed it, but I'll now think twice before falling asleep in the backyard! LOL Killer chickens!)

Opossum