- Jun 28, 2011
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Jan, known to BYC members as 3goodeggs, has been a member of our community since May 2009. She will often be found in the Random Ramblings and Family Life forum sections, where she is known for her friendliness and support.
1. Tell us a bit more about yourself.
I have a husband that is very kind, and funny. We laugh a lot. I appreciate that.
I have a son who is a great kid. He is a senior in high school and a blacksmith, and an Eagle Scout. (I take no credit on that. He just popped out great, and we have enjoyed him immensely.) I think that is the best part of my life, those two guys.
I have three dogs. I love dogs. Dogs are great people.
They are the second best part of my life.
I was educated in scientific illustration. I got to take a lot of great classes. I enjoyed entomology and botany the most, even though I never got to do illustration as a full time job. My husband, however, got a degree in horticulture. When I married him I became a full time nursery grunt. It involves a lot of weeding and sticking cuttings.
But that’s okay. I guess, maybe. No. No it is not okay, I really do not enjoy weeding.
But I enjoy gardening, and flowers, and herbs, and my orchard, and my bees and chickens, if weeding is the price to be paid for those opportunities then it is okay.
One of the vegetable gardens with The Overseer and Sadie, me, and a cabbage. It was a really nice cabbage.
2. Why and when did you start keeping chickens?
We felt the recession approach a few years before it hit the general population. Nurseries were hard hit. We had only a whiff of an income. Because of that and some other issues that seemed to take us down at the knees, we were rather depressed.
When we first got married we had planned on getting chickens. TWENTY FIVE years later, we still had not gotten chickens. And because of the cost of fuel, fertilizer had gone up to the point where I was not sure I could afford to grow our own food. So we decided we would cheer ourselves up with some anniversary chickens. We ordered 25 Buff Orpingtons. We’d get fertilizer, and eggs, and fluffy anti-depressants all in one package.
3. Which aspect(s) of chicken keeping do you enjoy the most?
I enjoy a lot of things about the girls. I like how they gossip and cluck and how one will tell a joke and then another will just ‘’BALWK-Balwk-balwk’’, because she got it.
I like how they are interested in what we are doing and when I am weeding they will walk over and say, ’Hey! Whatcha got there?”
(Yes, they actually do talk to me, no, I am not on antipsychotics)
But I think the part that brings me the most joy is when they are free ranging and their fluffy bottoms are up in the air as they search for goodies, their petticoats ruffling in the wind.
I get a feeling of bucolic contentment.
4. Which members of your flock, past or present, stand out for you and why?
I bought an Australorp rooster from a BYC member who was hopeful that he was a she, but had to get rid of him when he wasn’t. We re-named him Reynard.
He was beautiful. He was charming, He was kind and gentle and treated the ladies like…ladies. He has moved on to the great farm yard of the sky, but we do still miss him.
We had a hen who prolapsed, and the other hens –well, let’s say aggravated the problem. We brought ‘Bootyache’’ home and kept her in a dark box so she would not lay any more eggs until she healed, and in the following weeks she sat in my lap in the evenings and watched TV with us. I earned the ‘crazy chicken lady’ name fair and square.
Reynard
5. What was the funniest (chicken related) thing(s) that happened to you in your years as chicken owner?
We have been relatively mishap free, thus the material for funny stories rather lean.
I think putting the chick order before the coop was at best interesting. No, it was just miserable.
When my husband started on the coop, The 15 year drought decided it was over. It rained for six weeks.
Every day the electric cords would get strung out to the chicken yard to start the construction and a deluge would start. The coop was not on schedule, but the chicks did arrive on schedule, and the peeping masses had to live in the house.
It was so wet and soggy the inside of our house was wet. The chicks were damp. The dogs were damp. My house was an eye watering Eau de Wet Feathers and Dog Fur.
Not funny, not then and not yet. Maybe one day.
6. Beside chickens, what other pets do you keep?
My dogs, a German Shepherd, a Rhodesian Ridgeback -sans ridge, and a Golden Retriever.
…And Bees. They are nice bees. The queen must have lovely genes. They let me work in their garden, weed and plant, and just hang out They pay me no mind. I love my bees. (They were our 30th anniversary present to us.)
Sadie and Jasper
Biskit
7. Anything you'd like to add?
Yes. I just want all of you to know how much I appreciate you. BYC is a fantastic place to find information on...everything! It is such a wonderful community of knowledgeable and kind people. You all have a great sense of humour, and I have enjoyed your friendships, your encouragements, and generosity.
Most of all, as a parent, I appreciate how well you all treat the children on this site. You do not talk down to them, you encourage them. The moderators keep this a safe and friendly site for the younger members. There are some great kids here. They will be great adults and wonderful members of society.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/u/32107/3goodeggs
See here for more about the interview feature and a complete list of member interviews: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/905602/introducing-vip-member-interviews/0_30
1. Tell us a bit more about yourself.
I have a husband that is very kind, and funny. We laugh a lot. I appreciate that.
I have a son who is a great kid. He is a senior in high school and a blacksmith, and an Eagle Scout. (I take no credit on that. He just popped out great, and we have enjoyed him immensely.) I think that is the best part of my life, those two guys.
I have three dogs. I love dogs. Dogs are great people.
They are the second best part of my life.
I was educated in scientific illustration. I got to take a lot of great classes. I enjoyed entomology and botany the most, even though I never got to do illustration as a full time job. My husband, however, got a degree in horticulture. When I married him I became a full time nursery grunt. It involves a lot of weeding and sticking cuttings.
But that’s okay. I guess, maybe. No. No it is not okay, I really do not enjoy weeding.
But I enjoy gardening, and flowers, and herbs, and my orchard, and my bees and chickens, if weeding is the price to be paid for those opportunities then it is okay.
One of the vegetable gardens with The Overseer and Sadie, me, and a cabbage. It was a really nice cabbage.
2. Why and when did you start keeping chickens?
We felt the recession approach a few years before it hit the general population. Nurseries were hard hit. We had only a whiff of an income. Because of that and some other issues that seemed to take us down at the knees, we were rather depressed.
When we first got married we had planned on getting chickens. TWENTY FIVE years later, we still had not gotten chickens. And because of the cost of fuel, fertilizer had gone up to the point where I was not sure I could afford to grow our own food. So we decided we would cheer ourselves up with some anniversary chickens. We ordered 25 Buff Orpingtons. We’d get fertilizer, and eggs, and fluffy anti-depressants all in one package.
3. Which aspect(s) of chicken keeping do you enjoy the most?
I enjoy a lot of things about the girls. I like how they gossip and cluck and how one will tell a joke and then another will just ‘’BALWK-Balwk-balwk’’, because she got it.
I like how they are interested in what we are doing and when I am weeding they will walk over and say, ’Hey! Whatcha got there?”
(Yes, they actually do talk to me, no, I am not on antipsychotics)
But I think the part that brings me the most joy is when they are free ranging and their fluffy bottoms are up in the air as they search for goodies, their petticoats ruffling in the wind.
I get a feeling of bucolic contentment.
4. Which members of your flock, past or present, stand out for you and why?
I bought an Australorp rooster from a BYC member who was hopeful that he was a she, but had to get rid of him when he wasn’t. We re-named him Reynard.
He was beautiful. He was charming, He was kind and gentle and treated the ladies like…ladies. He has moved on to the great farm yard of the sky, but we do still miss him.
We had a hen who prolapsed, and the other hens –well, let’s say aggravated the problem. We brought ‘Bootyache’’ home and kept her in a dark box so she would not lay any more eggs until she healed, and in the following weeks she sat in my lap in the evenings and watched TV with us. I earned the ‘crazy chicken lady’ name fair and square.
Reynard
5. What was the funniest (chicken related) thing(s) that happened to you in your years as chicken owner?
We have been relatively mishap free, thus the material for funny stories rather lean.
I think putting the chick order before the coop was at best interesting. No, it was just miserable.
When my husband started on the coop, The 15 year drought decided it was over. It rained for six weeks.
Every day the electric cords would get strung out to the chicken yard to start the construction and a deluge would start. The coop was not on schedule, but the chicks did arrive on schedule, and the peeping masses had to live in the house.
It was so wet and soggy the inside of our house was wet. The chicks were damp. The dogs were damp. My house was an eye watering Eau de Wet Feathers and Dog Fur.
Not funny, not then and not yet. Maybe one day.
6. Beside chickens, what other pets do you keep?
My dogs, a German Shepherd, a Rhodesian Ridgeback -sans ridge, and a Golden Retriever.
…And Bees. They are nice bees. The queen must have lovely genes. They let me work in their garden, weed and plant, and just hang out They pay me no mind. I love my bees. (They were our 30th anniversary present to us.)
Sadie and Jasper
Biskit
7. Anything you'd like to add?
Yes. I just want all of you to know how much I appreciate you. BYC is a fantastic place to find information on...everything! It is such a wonderful community of knowledgeable and kind people. You all have a great sense of humour, and I have enjoyed your friendships, your encouragements, and generosity.
Most of all, as a parent, I appreciate how well you all treat the children on this site. You do not talk down to them, you encourage them. The moderators keep this a safe and friendly site for the younger members. There are some great kids here. They will be great adults and wonderful members of society.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/u/32107/3goodeggs
See here for more about the interview feature and a complete list of member interviews: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/905602/introducing-vip-member-interviews/0_30
Great interview, wonderful sense of humor.....never go to the forums you frequent so don't 'know' you, that's what's so cool about these interviews.
