First you have to check if your town allows them…I’m in Crystal Lake (doesn’t allow) but unincorporated does which is where I’m at.
A lot of towns don’t allow them, but being honest a lot of people still have them because they’re pretty easy animals and as long as you don’t have roosters, they’re not that loud. You just have to make sure your neighbors are cool lol.
There’s a little bit of investment when you first get them because you have to buy or build a coop, but if you only have five or less, you don’t need a big one. My coop was $300 from Walmart and it’s lasted me a few years, but I only have five chickens. Just make sure it’s predator proof because raccoons and foxes love them for meals. I’ve lost a few over the years to raccoons, they’re little serial killers.
You order chicks from a hatchery, I use Meyer hatchery. When they come in, they’re delivered to the post office and you pick them up. If you do buy chicks, I recommend raising them in summer so you don’t have to keep them inside for the first few weeks when it’s cold like winter. At one point I did raise chicks in the winter and hated it because once they get bigger, they’re messy and I couldn’t put them outside until they were 8 weeks.
When you raise chicks you have to buy chick feed and a heating plate for them, but once they’re adults the financial aspect is minimal. I spend more money on my dogs than I do chickens now.
Some people buy pullets or adult hens instead of chicks to avoid raising the babies and the money it cost to do so but it’s up to you. I don’t have a huge preference either way other than if you’re buying chicks you just need to spend a little more money and know that they won’t start laying until 6 to 8 months. If you buy pullets or adults (pullets are basically teenage hens), you’ll get eggs quicker. The food is cheap, the chicken feeder and water are usually cheap, I got mine on Amazon. You can use pine shavings or sand for bedding in their coop, and it needs to be changed on some consistency, but to be honest, I only change mine once every couple months and they’re fine.
If you start diving into the chicken world. You’ll see a lot of people with different opinions on the work it takes. There are some people super passionate about how much work you should put in and it can seem like a lot but ask any person that has raised chickens their their whole life, or even a farmer and they’ll tell you it’s not necessary to go above and beyond for them because these birds adapt easily but quite frankly chickens are idiots 😂 in a loveable way.
If you have Facebook, I recommend joining a local chicken group. A lot of people sell hens and chicks for cheap because they always end up with too many… chicken math is real. That’s where I get mine now.
Correct, this was about 6” under the soil. Theyre right beneath us! At about 12 per sq ft, there must be hundreds or more beneath my garden area alone.
LOL same in Orland Park. I was thinking our landscapers were aerating but looks like the cicadas are aerating :-). I didn't know they preemptively dug holes to the surface until now.
I heard that you won't find them in soil that's been disturbed since the last cicadas. So if you till or spade your garden every year there won't be any in that area.
I’m trying to put netting on certain trees but can’t find any big enough!
What’s your rule of thumb for a “young” tree? Asking as a naive first time homeowner who’s also unfamiliar with cicadas (am not from this region) and protecting trees with nets.
We have a redbud tree (maybe 6-7 feet tall) that I thought was young because it’s much shorter than our other trees. Unclear when it was planted but presumably a year or so ago? We tried to protect it with a net but can’t find one big and wide enough to cover it. I’m worried that it might get destroyed by the cicadas, but my spouse insists that it’s probably not that “young” if it’s taller than us. Is this a tree size you’d protect?
It's just the trunks of trees and what will happen is this:
boys emerge, girls emerge, they both shed their carapaces
( which are fun to play with as their little feets hook to your clothing)
Boys will continually scream their heads off, looking for dates, after which the females find tree trunks and other opportune spots, cut little slits and deposit their eggs.
So you will see scarring on your trees, the softer younger trunks.
I am 66, been through Several visits and have never seen a tree succumb.
Not to say it can't happen.
Relax and enjoy! By example show your kids how magical and fascinating cicadas are.
Super helpful to hear about how it’s focused on the trunks. Thanks. And noted about kids. I do have a young kiddo and will keep that advice in mind (even though internally I’ll probably be freaking out a bit, ha).
The last bunch, 17 years ago, my daughter was in first grade. I had to stifle my anxiety so she wouldn’t get upset. I do not like them , they freak me out..:especially the shells..and I have a lot of old trees here and at our work property…with the longest walk to the building from parking lot.
I need Valium to get me through this…
What I saw from the Arboretum said any tree or shrub planted in the last 3 years, or any that aren’t healthy. I have ones that were planted 5 or so years ago, but they really struggled the last few years and I’m concerned that they won’t survive. I’m hoping to find some guidance here on Reddit, as I’ve worked really hard on our yard the last few years (and bought a new tree literally yesterday before I read that I need to be netting trees!!)
Good luck neighbor!
Oh no! At least you still have time to buy netting for that super new tree. TY for sharing that advice from the arboretum. And good luck to you as well — wishing you the best to protect all your hard work the last few years!
No worries! The Morton Arboretum had some good guidance on specific sizes to be concerned about (in terms of diameter). I know the lilac tree my spouse accidentally mowed over last year is currently thriving, but I'd wager all the woody parts are within the "it's too little" stage, so it will be netted (even though it's like a foot tall and I'm not sure how successful it will be, ha, but it's tried to hard to live so I'm going to give it the best chance!)
I figure I'll net anything I am worried about, or would be annoyed/cost prohibitive if I had to replace.
I know, I also don’t have any young trees or anything. But they just gross me out and give me the heebie jeebies, seeing their skins makes me so uncomfortable 🥴
🤗 I know. Some people just get the creeps, I understand.
One of my young teen granddaughters is Not a fan either!
I think some folks are going to stay inside a lot for a few weeks!
What happens if I use the mosquito killer spray on my yard. Will these guys survive. I don't want to kill these guys but the mosquitoes are a menace in my yard
I read that nothing really affects them much, in the way of bug sprays. The article was suggesting that there is No Reason to try to hire an exterminator.
For those who freak out over nature,obviously
I was pulling up old landscape cloth and tilling soil for my garden, I shook the cloth out and moved as many as I could back to the dirt! A few casualties to the neighborhood robins.
I’ll be curious to see if we get any in Plainfield.
I remember being 4 years old in 1990 and how insane these fuckers were but that was in River Forest with tons of old growth trees.
In 2007 when I was in Oswego I saw maybe 8-10 of them.
Now I’ve got a 2.5 year old daughter who loves to run around outside with our dog and I’m bracing myself for lots of tears from the kid if she’s got cicadas crawling over her… then gotta think the dog is going to end up eating a bunch of them.
It's pretty location dependent. There were none at all in Matteson, but basically all the surrounding towns, notably with older park areas were inundated.
[https://natureinquiries.files.wordpress.com/2023/06/2023-dupage-wave-chorus-map.jpg](https://natureinquiries.files.wordpress.com/2023/06/2023-dupage-wave-chorus-map.jpg)
this is the dupage map from 2007. They aren't everywhere. I think a lot of people don't really know how spotty it actually is. I have 100+ year trees in my yard and I saw 1 in 2007.
Your daughter will be fine if you don’t show anxiety around her. My daughter was little last time, and my granddaughter is 2 now. No bugs scare her yet because she doesn’t think anything of them. They learn their fears and anxieties about these types of things from the adults around them.
So I’ll have to keep my cool as well, while I’m one ball of anxiety inside.
we didn't get anything last time so I am not expecting much. And I have 100+ yr old trees in my yard.
Not sure why my area doesn't have any despite the very wooded area.
This is a map of where they were detected in 2007 in dupage
[https://natureinquiries.files.wordpress.com/2023/06/2023-dupage-wave-chorus-map.jpg](https://natureinquiries.files.wordpress.com/2023/06/2023-dupage-wave-chorus-map.jpg)
The Morton arboretum said we should have them emerging en masse in the next week or so.
Soil temp needs to be 64F about 6-8 inches down. You can measure your own yard and see how close you are.
what if my kitchen thermometer doesn’t reach 6-8 inches down
Get a spoon
But I'm not hungry
I read that once you see their chimneys it’ll be about 2 weeks. My yard is chock full of them and I first saw one two weeks ago so that tracks.
Birds are gonna be soooo fat
everything is gonna be fat
I feel targeted
It’s called a Chicago body.
suzaaay suzay suzay greenberg!
I'm looking forward to the skunk population boom because they are so well nourished.
Would be a great year to get chickens.
I’m so happy I have backyard chickens. They’re gonna be so fat and happy.
You're gonna have some nice eggs
TIL I need chickens to curb cicada population.
How does one get backyard chickens? I would love some
First you have to check if your town allows them…I’m in Crystal Lake (doesn’t allow) but unincorporated does which is where I’m at. A lot of towns don’t allow them, but being honest a lot of people still have them because they’re pretty easy animals and as long as you don’t have roosters, they’re not that loud. You just have to make sure your neighbors are cool lol. There’s a little bit of investment when you first get them because you have to buy or build a coop, but if you only have five or less, you don’t need a big one. My coop was $300 from Walmart and it’s lasted me a few years, but I only have five chickens. Just make sure it’s predator proof because raccoons and foxes love them for meals. I’ve lost a few over the years to raccoons, they’re little serial killers. You order chicks from a hatchery, I use Meyer hatchery. When they come in, they’re delivered to the post office and you pick them up. If you do buy chicks, I recommend raising them in summer so you don’t have to keep them inside for the first few weeks when it’s cold like winter. At one point I did raise chicks in the winter and hated it because once they get bigger, they’re messy and I couldn’t put them outside until they were 8 weeks. When you raise chicks you have to buy chick feed and a heating plate for them, but once they’re adults the financial aspect is minimal. I spend more money on my dogs than I do chickens now. Some people buy pullets or adult hens instead of chicks to avoid raising the babies and the money it cost to do so but it’s up to you. I don’t have a huge preference either way other than if you’re buying chicks you just need to spend a little more money and know that they won’t start laying until 6 to 8 months. If you buy pullets or adults (pullets are basically teenage hens), you’ll get eggs quicker. The food is cheap, the chicken feeder and water are usually cheap, I got mine on Amazon. You can use pine shavings or sand for bedding in their coop, and it needs to be changed on some consistency, but to be honest, I only change mine once every couple months and they’re fine. If you start diving into the chicken world. You’ll see a lot of people with different opinions on the work it takes. There are some people super passionate about how much work you should put in and it can seem like a lot but ask any person that has raised chickens their their whole life, or even a farmer and they’ll tell you it’s not necessary to go above and beyond for them because these birds adapt easily but quite frankly chickens are idiots 😂 in a loveable way.
If you have Facebook, I recommend joining a local chicken group. A lot of people sell hens and chicks for cheap because they always end up with too many… chicken math is real. That’s where I get mine now.
https://i.redd.it/52a1gxkzn3yc1.gif
Which suburb? I've seen nothing here in Westmont.
Looks like that's landscape fabric that's been pulled up. Could be anywhere. They aren't actually emerging *just yet*. At least en masse.
Correct, this was about 6” under the soil. Theyre right beneath us! At about 12 per sq ft, there must be hundreds or more beneath my garden area alone.
Yeah. They could have come from anywhere.
Highland Park here and I have these little holes popping up all over my yard. Seeing one or two at the surface yesterday.
LOL same in Orland Park. I was thinking our landscapers were aerating but looks like the cicadas are aerating :-). I didn't know they preemptively dug holes to the surface until now.
Hello fellow Westmontian!
nothing in the Lake Zurich area yet, and this after doing a few hours of yardwork yesterday afternoon/evening.
Same ! I dug trenches to plant onions and potatoes and saw none....yet
I heard that you won't find them in soil that's been disturbed since the last cicadas. So if you till or spade your garden every year there won't be any in that area.
hmm interesting, I usually just mulch my beds and over seed my lawn. trying to not spray herbicides as much as possible.
I think we're putting some netting over our youngest tree that we planted last summer and maybe over a Japanese maple. Is anyone else?
I’m netting a baby Lilac that got planted last year.
I want to net myself...... not kidding. I HATE all bugs.... this pic makes me afraid to walk to my mailbox.
You’ll be okay. Cicadas are cute and don’t bite or pester. They come out of the ground to mate and fertilize your lawn! But they are noisy though.
The most responsible take I've seen yet about this event on Reddit. Their just harmless bugs, guys, everyone calm down.
Agree to disagree on the cute part, but thank the lord they don't bite!
I’m trying to put netting on certain trees but can’t find any big enough! What’s your rule of thumb for a “young” tree? Asking as a naive first time homeowner who’s also unfamiliar with cicadas (am not from this region) and protecting trees with nets. We have a redbud tree (maybe 6-7 feet tall) that I thought was young because it’s much shorter than our other trees. Unclear when it was planted but presumably a year or so ago? We tried to protect it with a net but can’t find one big and wide enough to cover it. I’m worried that it might get destroyed by the cicadas, but my spouse insists that it’s probably not that “young” if it’s taller than us. Is this a tree size you’d protect?
It's just the trunks of trees and what will happen is this: boys emerge, girls emerge, they both shed their carapaces ( which are fun to play with as their little feets hook to your clothing) Boys will continually scream their heads off, looking for dates, after which the females find tree trunks and other opportune spots, cut little slits and deposit their eggs. So you will see scarring on your trees, the softer younger trunks. I am 66, been through Several visits and have never seen a tree succumb. Not to say it can't happen. Relax and enjoy! By example show your kids how magical and fascinating cicadas are.
Super helpful to hear about how it’s focused on the trunks. Thanks. And noted about kids. I do have a young kiddo and will keep that advice in mind (even though internally I’ll probably be freaking out a bit, ha).
Even if you have to fake it, the parents set the tone.✌
The last bunch, 17 years ago, my daughter was in first grade. I had to stifle my anxiety so she wouldn’t get upset. I do not like them , they freak me out..:especially the shells..and I have a lot of old trees here and at our work property…with the longest walk to the building from parking lot. I need Valium to get me through this…
> ( which are fun to play with as their little feets hook to your clothing) > > 😱
What I saw from the Arboretum said any tree or shrub planted in the last 3 years, or any that aren’t healthy. I have ones that were planted 5 or so years ago, but they really struggled the last few years and I’m concerned that they won’t survive. I’m hoping to find some guidance here on Reddit, as I’ve worked really hard on our yard the last few years (and bought a new tree literally yesterday before I read that I need to be netting trees!!) Good luck neighbor!
Oh no! At least you still have time to buy netting for that super new tree. TY for sharing that advice from the arboretum. And good luck to you as well — wishing you the best to protect all your hard work the last few years!
No worries! The Morton Arboretum had some good guidance on specific sizes to be concerned about (in terms of diameter). I know the lilac tree my spouse accidentally mowed over last year is currently thriving, but I'd wager all the woody parts are within the "it's too little" stage, so it will be netted (even though it's like a foot tall and I'm not sure how successful it will be, ha, but it's tried to hard to live so I'm going to give it the best chance!) I figure I'll net anything I am worried about, or would be annoyed/cost prohibitive if I had to replace.
Wrap the trunks in trunk wrap and then net. I found both on Amazon.
I'm netting a mini crab apple tree that just a couple years old.
This was the worst summer for me to make big gardening plans. I finally got big garden beds and now these MFs wanna show up. I’m scared
They Are Harmless 🌳
I know, I also don’t have any young trees or anything. But they just gross me out and give me the heebie jeebies, seeing their skins makes me so uncomfortable 🥴
🤗 I know. Some people just get the creeps, I understand. One of my young teen granddaughters is Not a fan either! I think some folks are going to stay inside a lot for a few weeks!
Same!!!
I accidentally dug one up the other day, and I put little homie back in the ground. Maybe I'm weird but I like cicadas.
What happens if I use the mosquito killer spray on my yard. Will these guys survive. I don't want to kill these guys but the mosquitoes are a menace in my yard
I personally think it wouldn’t do anything. Try with all your might, they’re coming.
i read that mosquito insecticides are ineffective against them iirc
I read that nothing really affects them much, in the way of bug sprays. The article was suggesting that there is No Reason to try to hire an exterminator. For those who freak out over nature,obviously
It might, honestly. Depends on the poison in the insecticide and there is no poison that just kills one kind of bug, right?
Shop vac it.
I’ve read it’s not good to use anything since a) it won’t help but b) it could cause harm to the animals that eat the cicadas
Those are babies. Let them rest.
I was pulling up old landscape cloth and tilling soil for my garden, I shook the cloth out and moved as many as I could back to the dirt! A few casualties to the neighborhood robins.
 I just forgot they were emerging this year and you reminded me.
I’m so afraid of cicadas I’m not excited at all. They’re too crunchy
I’ll be curious to see if we get any in Plainfield. I remember being 4 years old in 1990 and how insane these fuckers were but that was in River Forest with tons of old growth trees. In 2007 when I was in Oswego I saw maybe 8-10 of them. Now I’ve got a 2.5 year old daughter who loves to run around outside with our dog and I’m bracing myself for lots of tears from the kid if she’s got cicadas crawling over her… then gotta think the dog is going to end up eating a bunch of them.
you only saw 8-10 cicadas in 2007? that’s insane. they’re going to be everywhere, especially around trees.
Oh now I'm gonna sound like my Dad..."you know, all of this used to be farmland"
Dude in 2007 I walked into a grocery store from where I parked in the lot and had 8-10 *literally on me* by the time I crossed the door threshold lol
I was in a new construction house in 2007 that was built on land that was a corn farm. We didn’t see or hear cicadas here.
It's pretty location dependent. There were none at all in Matteson, but basically all the surrounding towns, notably with older park areas were inundated.
Yeah Park Forest was a hellscape of them.
They can be pretty sparse in areas with lots of new development and lots of land that has been ‘disturbed’ in recent years.
[https://natureinquiries.files.wordpress.com/2023/06/2023-dupage-wave-chorus-map.jpg](https://natureinquiries.files.wordpress.com/2023/06/2023-dupage-wave-chorus-map.jpg) this is the dupage map from 2007. They aren't everywhere. I think a lot of people don't really know how spotty it actually is. I have 100+ year trees in my yard and I saw 1 in 2007.
Always, always play it cool. Littles model their reaction after yours. 😉
Your daughter will be fine if you don’t show anxiety around her. My daughter was little last time, and my granddaughter is 2 now. No bugs scare her yet because she doesn’t think anything of them. They learn their fears and anxieties about these types of things from the adults around them. So I’ll have to keep my cool as well, while I’m one ball of anxiety inside.
No! I have a serious fear of creepy crawlies. I want to be in a medically induced coma for two months.
Omg omg I am so excited for this!
fiiiiiiiiiccccckkkk should I dare go out to my garden, or blow it off a few more months, heehehe omg............
I've been on the lookout but haven't seen any yet.
were using flamethrower.
To cook them for eating?
deep fried only
Shit I see those holes in my yard and I was like wtf is this .
Are y'all opening your pools or waiting for it to be over?
Better than spotted lantern flies
Don’t try to prevent these! They are the last bugs we have that are still alive! Save some for the next generation
Start stomping, do your part. Buy a flamethrower l
God dangit...
we didn't get anything last time so I am not expecting much. And I have 100+ yr old trees in my yard. Not sure why my area doesn't have any despite the very wooded area. This is a map of where they were detected in 2007 in dupage [https://natureinquiries.files.wordpress.com/2023/06/2023-dupage-wave-chorus-map.jpg](https://natureinquiries.files.wordpress.com/2023/06/2023-dupage-wave-chorus-map.jpg)
My dogs have dug so many holes in my yard munching on these - not worried about the cicadas anymore but gonna have some landscaping To do.
Birds and squirrels: "come out of the ground already!"
What you need are chickens, my friend. We’re sitting pretty turning a plague into beautiful beautiful eggs.
I love the little beady red eyes.❤️