Illinois...

[homeschoolin momma]

DH is baking a cake, so 3 more eggs got cracked.
First, a spitz egg

Then 2 orp eggs

I think they all look fertile. Agree?

 

[Faraday40]

DH is baking a cake, so 3 more eggs got cracked.
First, a spitz egg
View attachment 2026950
Then 2 orp eggs
View attachment 2026951
View attachment 2026952
I think they all look fertile. Agree?

Last one has me unsure. The spot's edge is very crisp

 

[Faraday40]

I'm making some egg bread to go with dinner. That pullet egg was definitely fertile!
Looks like the school will be able to hatch some chicks.

Speaking of chicks.......
I love it when the babies play piggy back.

The family is official and there's no pecking. Solo is cautious when eating at the same time as MaiMai & chick, but otherwise they all get along. The black orp looks very female to me. It will be very interesting when she grows bigger than her much older serama sister. I'm hoping the little black one will be her bodyguard when they get introduced back into the bantam flock.

 

[Faraday40]

Here's Mr. Potential today:
(He wears a crow collar so his hackle feathers are messy.)

 

[homeschoolin momma]

What do you think? Two little broodies?

 

[Faraday40]

What do you think? Two little broodies?
View attachment 2027314

Very cute. Poor Jasper looks bored. Both of his girls are ignoring him. I've read that serama roosters can sometimes help out with the chicks. That would be so cute!

 

[BReeder!]

The netting is down in the run again.
It seems that the small gaps in the netting are not sufficient to allow snow to easily pass through, at least not the large clumping snow flakes we got the other day. The weight of snow sagged the net and eventually caused it to rip right off the steel cable and zip ties holding it up.
I found a 25'x50' 2.5" gap net on Amazon for a reasonable price. It's also made of nylon string rather than plastic which is what I think the current net is made of. I'm not going to be able to get it installed though until next weekend. In the meantime the chickens and turkeys just are stuck with a net that hangs down and only covers the back half of the run. Let's hope a determined hawk or eagle doesn't show up over the next week.

 

[WhyDoILikeChickens]

We don't get many predators on the ground. The yard is fully fenced in so no coyotes, loose dogs or cats. Possums have made their way into the yard before by climbing over the fence. Raccoons are not a problem by us. We've seen a fox in the area before but they've never attempted to dig under the fence. Perhaps the scent of our dog keeps them at bay? Not sure. Hawks and eagles are the only real threat. The chickens run is covered with netting (which I need to upgrade to a better quality this year...) and they don't seem to bother the ducks at all. An eagle certainly could take down a duck, but they don't seem to go for them so i haven't covered the duck run. That said, if a hawk, eagle or possum did get into the duck run and through the duck door we keep open, they still couldn't get into the chicken area without opening the sliding doors. So the sliding doors are the real security risk right now IMO. I'm just going to add a barrel lock that keeps the doors from sliding and it will fix the security risk and the escape risk.

As for not going back in, my guess is our drake chased her out of the duck pen and wouldn't let her get back in that way if she wanted too. He's generally shy around people and good with the ducks, but he'll throw down with any other animal.
View attachment 2026355

Meanwhile a mile south

Several coyote tracks, several nights. They haven't tried the coop yet but they did chase a rabbit in the yard.

 

[homeschoolin momma]

I was in the coop with my DD washing the walls down while she talked my ear off, about well, EVERYTHING, when all of the sudden we heard rifle fire. Close rifle fire. I poked my head out and saw a coyote tearing off as fast as it could towards the woods and creek. (Towards Mr. Grumpy neighbor) Looked to the house to see my 15 year old standing in the doorway with the rifle aimed. It was very legends of the fall kind of scene. I personally think he grazed the coyote enough to scare it away from us, but not kill it. The rifle isn't powerful enough at that distance (about 100 yards). I don't think we were in any real danger, the coyote was in the garden area which is separately fenced in. DH has one side of the fence peeled back and open right now which is how it got in. I went around after and looked at the tracks. It was about 10 yards away from us. I have a great son.

 

[Molpet]

I was in the coop with my DD washing the walls down while she talked my ear off, about well, EVERYTHING, when all of the sudden we heard rifle fire. Close rifle fire. I poked my head out and saw a coyote tearing off as fast as it could towards the woods and creek. (Towards Mr. Grumpy neighbor) Looked to the house to see my 15 year old standing in the doorway with the rifle aimed. It was very legends of the fall kind of scene. I personally think he grazed the coyote enough to scare it away from us, but not kill it. The rifle isn't powerful enough at that distance (about 100 yards). I don't think we were in any real danger, the coyote was in the garden area which is separately fenced in. DH has one side of the fence peeled back and open right now which is how it got in. I went around after and looked at the tracks. It was about 10 yards away from us. I have a great son.

Usually that's enough to scare them away in the daytime, unless they get really hungry

Glad he was able to get a shot off.
He's a great guy