It's true Jean - your husband's reality. As a business you can make money but for 10 hens at home each dozen eggs would be about $300 a pop until you paid off the coop at $899 and the freight to a home at $365, not to mention buying the chickens. Started 17 week old laying poulets are about $12 each but the shipping on them is $49 (they do come with their shots however). Then there is the feed and having to work it each day to keep everything extremely clean and fresh. You have to keep chickens away from wild birds and their droppings, not to mention the predators, but oh the romance of having a barnyard and a self sustaining life (without the hard work of course because you are rich enough to hire a few people to actually run the place). He he he... My co-worker had chickens and their chickens lived outside during the day and sometimes at night, but had a shed they could go into if they wanted. They lost some to predators and sometimes the eggs were just laying around on the ground and other times the hens would lay in thick shrubby growth at the edge of their woodlot (in the brambles). Betcha egg gathering was the pits there! She said they shot a opposum one time that was raiding a favorite hen's nest - the hen woke them up screaming her bloody head off and running to beat the band (they are fast she said) and with the flashlight they saw the possum on the nest eating the eggs. Boom - bye bye possie. Awww...... poor possie - he only wanted some fresh eggs too!

Claysmom, perhaps your son would be interested in making his property a Certified Wildlife Habitat? This is easier than most people might think. You just need to provide food, shelter and water for various types of animals. You can Google it and read all about the requirements online, and even print out an application for the official certification. Nicki's city yard is certified, so even those without rural property can qualify. I encourage everyone who is interested to check it out. (If I can managed to stay on the computer long enough, I'll see if I can find the link, but I'm having some unanticipated difficulties from my foot surgery, and won't be here very long.) Glad you guys enjoyed seeing this old post pop up again. I do love these birds, and am happy it was of interest to you. Marcia

i live just outside of Durango Colorado and i have gambel oak brush outside the door. The acorn woodpeckers like the small acorns and pinyon nuts but also carry off corn and sunflower seeds. The Lewis Woodpeckers don't come often but i got a photo of a male this week. The flickers come through in the fall and spring back and forth to the mountains, and the downeys come in the snow storms of winter. I had a pair of scrub jays nest in the oak brush this year and they had 2 young ones whoi are regular visiters. Since we got a few snow showers i have dozens of Juncos and finches and sparrows daily.

Paul, I put out a "woodpecker" mix from Wild Birds Unlimited in my tray feeder which works well at attracted all sorts of birds. I don't know what area you are in but, Nuthatches, Downy Woodpeckers, Hairy Woodpeckers, Cardinals, Red Bellied Woodpeckers, Blue Jays, Doves, Sparrows, Titmouse, Chickadees (all I can remember right now) all enjoy the woodpecker mix tray. If you haven't yet, I would give something like that a try.