Illinois...

[SnootyHen]

True
One carries Lyme and the other West Nile.

You guys may know this but I am a HUGE Disney fan and go there as often as I can. I knew Disneyland has resident cats that help curb their mouse problem but I recently found out something really cool about Disney World. They keep random flocks of chickens all around the property. They are housed and fed and kept and their sole purpose is to check the mosquito population for viruses. I guess the theory is that chickens won't suffer from West Nile but testing their blood will reveal a west nile problem in the area. So they just keep chickens all over and periodically test their blood for mosquito born diseases so they know where to focus their attack to keep people from getting sick on property. That's kind of a cool job and I wouldn't mind being Mickey's chicken keeper. LOL!!!

 

[cavemanrich]

I guess the theory is that chickens won't suffer from West Nile

Not sure If I am correct here, but West Nile did kill off many crows, and blue jays.
I guess some species are more susceptible to more severe consequences.

 

[Molpet]

Not sure If I am correct here, but West Nile did kill off many crows, and blue jays.
I guess some species are more susceptible to more severe consequences.

Yes
Killed off mine and a few gray squirrel.
Took years before I seen blue jays again . This year is the first time I have seen crows since.

 

[Faraday40]

Took my son to the elementary school for a presentation today. The first graders were in awe of his knowledge of chickens. Poot (Spitzhauben) & Popcorn (Serama) did their tricks. We also brought my Lav Orp, BB, just to show the size differences.

Can you believe I forgot to take any photos?!

 

[NotAFarm]

But we NEED pictures.

 

[Faraday40]

But we NEED pictures.

Yes. I was hoping to add a cute photo about it for his community service. Oh well.

 

[SnootyHen]

Not sure If I am correct here, but West Nile did kill off many crows, and blue jays.
I guess some species are more susceptible to more severe consequences.

According to Dr. Google, chickens can become infected with it but will not suffer any actual symptoms or develop the disease. Their immune system knocks it out before it can do any damage. Magical little creatures!

 

[imacowgirl2]

My is so happy…dream of meat bird run/coop is complete! Complete with a rooster who is an absolute doll to his hens — up until yesterday he was basically untested with hens since he’s been living in the bachelor pad since since 8 weeks old, but he was tidbitting for them and showing them good nest sites and everything.

 

[Molpet]

View attachment 3432334
My is so happy…dream of meat bird run/coop is complete! Complete with a rooster who is an absolute doll to his hens — up until yesterday he was basically untested with hens since he’s been living in the bachelor pad since since 8 weeks old, but he was tidbitting for them and showing them good nest sites and everything.

Looks good
How does long does the net hold up....do you take it down for the winter.? I see the 2x4 s in the buckets would make that easier.

 

[imacowgirl2]

Looks good
How does long does the net hold up....do you take it down for the winter.? I see the 2x4 s in the buckets would make that easier.

I do not take it down for winter; website I got it from says that they have some of it up that is still going strong after 15 years, so we shall see — the stuff I bought last summer and fall still looks brand new, so I can believe that it lasts for years and years…

The 2x4 in bucket idea was because I didn’t want to mess with stringing a cable because that would have required digging post holes since I didn’t have any conveniently placed trees like on my other two runs — but now that you mention it, that will make it easier to take down if I ever need to…