- Jun 28, 2011
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Linda, known to BYC members as lindalouly, has been a member of our community since July 2015 only, but has since then became a wonderful part of our community. Another of our great all rounders, she is known for her friendliness and good advice.
1. Tell us a bit more about yourself.
I am a newly, stay at home mother ( vs working mother) of four smelly trumpet heads aka boys. Ranging from 7 to 17 years old of age. I have recently just got married to the love of my life this last summer, the biggest animal loving man you can meet. Our house is a house of comical errors. At any given time we can have any where between two to fifteen children in this house. We have always held an open door policy to every child we meet. Maybe not the brightest idea because we started this when the boys were playing football... imagine 15 smelly football players jumping the fence to our house after practice to be fed and hugged.
My greatest hobby is watching football... and other tv. Yes, I know MIND BLOWING!!! LOL. I have a deep love for the Seahawks. I am the only girl in two football fantasy leagues and do a family pick league every season for the family. My kids have been well trained in knowing all things football.
I am also highly addicted to television shows... more entertaining than most movies that come out now a days.. I am quick to pick up on quotes and lines from my more favorite shows... such as Seinfeld, Always Sunny and Philedelphia and Bobs Burgers.... As you can see, I am highly educated on all things silly.
2. Why and when did you start keeping chickens?
Here is where my story begins... After the birth of my last child, I got hit hard with failing health and severe anxiety..and .. An abusive work environment. I felt hopeless, lost, and sick and bed ridden... But enough of that... Cause that is not my focus!!!!
Let's forward the clock six years.... 4 doctors later... Walking out of my job and for the last time, and for the first time in my life being put in the position of stay at home mom, friend and animal keeper. This is the beginning of my new and improved life.
I remember during one of the more horrible times of my illness I had grabbed a magazine from the grocery store called Backyard chickens.. I felt it necessary to fill my mind with information to help alleviate some of the anxiety I was struggling with at the time.. I was so impressed, seeing a life with a touch of country done in suburban America. I kept researching and researching the how to and the laws for our neighborhood... My dear husband would come home and the first thing he would say is no, we are not gettting chickens. Hahahahaha, I never asked.. he just knew.
One day we were out and about the town, doing random boring errands to keep the brood well fed and clothed... I told him I need to stop off the farm store, a local owned store on the other side of town, to look for a better dog food for the dogs... We walked in and within minutes.. Devin says, how many chicks are we bringing home... We came home with two Minorcas, two New Hampshires, and two White Jersey Giants... we lost one chick due to illness. With every struggle grows appreciation and finally at the age of 38 years old I knew what I want to be when I grow up.
I desire the farm life. My dream is to have a small plot to house my entire family of seven and all my precious animals with the addition of goats and gardens... Needless to say I am far from that.... But the changes I have made in my life have brought me happiness and better health (not healed but feel oh so better).
This was the year that my boyfriend and I decided upon our chickens. We created a coop out of scrap wood (with zero carpentry skill between the two of us) lol and retrained our dogs to accept and protect our free ranging/freeloading back yard suburban flock. This has truly been the best thing that has happened to us a family.
3. Which aspect(s) of chicken keeping do you enjoy the most?
My most favorite thing to do is to just sit and watch chicken tv.. out in the sunshine, on my lawn chair with cold beverage in hand. As you can imagine that doesn't happen often in the state of Washington. I love how they follow me around the yard and how they like to pack with my dogs.
I love finding treasures of eggs every morning in the nest boxes. I feed my entire family with those eggs and some extended family as well. The ladys are pets to me.. Although I am not against the use of birds for meat, I have not been able to grow the nerves I need to be able to do that yet. I absolutely hate changing the bedding in the coop but love turning it into compost and seeing it change into a nice rich soil. I love teaching myself how to use power tools I would never have thought of using before, in fact, I just put up a new fence for the birds on my own and had a huge sense of accomplishment. Every time I am forced to learn a new skill of chicken husbandry is like a jewel of knowledge and putting it into practice has given me great self worth.
Last year, I incubated my first batch of eggs in a homemade bator that the boys and I built as a science project. I hatched nine out of nine chicks in that little thing that Sally Sunshine has dubbed the nothingbutalightbulbator... I have since built a better and bigger incubator using sally's notes on her incubating with friends thread.
My hope is to one day be as knowledgeable as Sally Sunshine and Aart and as motivated as Attimus. One day, that will happen.
Nothingbutalightbulbobator.
My newly made Seahawkobator!!!!!
4. Which members of your flock, past and present, stand out for you and why?
My all time favorite bird is my little Minorca named Alice. She is such a sweetheart. I truly believe she thinks she is one of the dogs. She would rather sit with me and the dogs than hang with her sisters and Roo. If anyone of of them could find a way into the house it would be her. She has eveb learned to use the doggie door... another reason we put up the fence. LOL
I also have a rooster named Little Jerry Seinfeld. He does an amazing job at protecting his girls and is very giving to them. He has become human aggressive since we have put up the run. So I dont believe we will be keeping him much longer. He does pretty good in the presents of my dogs, I think he is scared of them so he doesnt do anything if they are around. He really dislikes men though and has tried to flog Devin and my Brother in law many times.
Each one of my girls is special to me though. They each have their own little personalities and are pretty gentle and beautiful. We have a total of eight girls now and one Little Jerry Seinfeld.
Little Jerry when he was younger.
Alice the Minorca.
5. What was the funniest (chicken related) thing(s) that happened to you in your years as chicken owner?
As I have stated before, I use to let my birds free range. They had access to every part of our backyard. The problem with free range birds and children running in and out of the house and the greater possibilities of the door from our mud room to kitchen being left open.
The funniest, yet most frustrating thing that has happened... and I wish I could say it was only once... but it happened numerous times was when we would leave for the day and come home to find Oly Girl and Rocco, my dogs, laying in the play room on their doggie beds with every single one of our chickens.... Imagine cleaning up that poopy mess... and like I said before... this has happened more than once. LOL
Thank God for the newly fenced run.
6. Beside chickens, what other pets do you keep?
We have four smelly monkeys.. ohhh wait, no those are my children.
We have two dogs. Oly Girl is a pure breed pitbull that is both wonderful with children and chickens. She is eight years of age right now and is getting a little slow. We also have Rocco, he is a chihuahua mixed with a Shibu innu. He will always be a mischievous toddler. We also have two Russian Tortoises... One girl named Lui Caliber and a boy Named Delirious... The kids named them.. what can I say. We also have a cicilid tank.... yes, there is never a dull moment around here.
When I buy my piece of property... Watch out world. That list will grow.
Rocco
Oly Girl
Lui Caliber and Delirious.
7. Anything you'd like to add?
I have never thought in a million years that I would end up on a website looking up chickens and become a part of a network that has so many amazing people on it.
There isn't a day that goes by that I do not stop by and make sure that my chicken friends who have now become family are doing well. I created life long relationships that I will always cherish... Although my home is at Granny's house..... on the grannys gone and done it thread... I have a thread called Making the most of it., that I started to be able to journal all the great things I have learned in this adventures of raising chickens. I now have brothers and sister, cousins and mentors that live all over the world and I am more than better off knowing each and everyone of you.
When I am sick, you guys are there for me... When I am down, you lift me up... When I am lonely, you talk to me. You all have given me many reasons to smile.
As a person that is dealing with a variety of anxiety issues, you have all given me the strength to get up in the morning.. The motivation to fill my days with accomplishments.
I am forever indebted to each and everyone of you... wish I could list theirs names but really there are too many to say. They all know who they are. I love you from the deepest depths of my soul.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/u/366017/lindalouly
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 am a newly, stay at home mother ( vs working mother) of four smelly trumpet heads aka boys. Ranging from 7 to 17 years old of age. I have recently just got married to the love of my life this last summer, the biggest animal loving man you can meet. Our house is a house of comical errors. At any given time we can have any where between two to fifteen children in this house. We have always held an open door policy to every child we meet. Maybe not the brightest idea because we started this when the boys were playing football... imagine 15 smelly football players jumping the fence to our house after practice to be fed and hugged.
My greatest hobby is watching football... and other tv. Yes, I know MIND BLOWING!!! LOL. I have a deep love for the Seahawks. I am the only girl in two football fantasy leagues and do a family pick league every season for the family. My kids have been well trained in knowing all things football.
I am also highly addicted to television shows... more entertaining than most movies that come out now a days.. I am quick to pick up on quotes and lines from my more favorite shows... such as Seinfeld, Always Sunny and Philedelphia and Bobs Burgers.... As you can see, I am highly educated on all things silly.
2. Why and when did you start keeping chickens?
Here is where my story begins... After the birth of my last child, I got hit hard with failing health and severe anxiety..and .. An abusive work environment. I felt hopeless, lost, and sick and bed ridden... But enough of that... Cause that is not my focus!!!!
Let's forward the clock six years.... 4 doctors later... Walking out of my job and for the last time, and for the first time in my life being put in the position of stay at home mom, friend and animal keeper. This is the beginning of my new and improved life.
I remember during one of the more horrible times of my illness I had grabbed a magazine from the grocery store called Backyard chickens.. I felt it necessary to fill my mind with information to help alleviate some of the anxiety I was struggling with at the time.. I was so impressed, seeing a life with a touch of country done in suburban America. I kept researching and researching the how to and the laws for our neighborhood... My dear husband would come home and the first thing he would say is no, we are not gettting chickens. Hahahahaha, I never asked.. he just knew.
One day we were out and about the town, doing random boring errands to keep the brood well fed and clothed... I told him I need to stop off the farm store, a local owned store on the other side of town, to look for a better dog food for the dogs... We walked in and within minutes.. Devin says, how many chicks are we bringing home... We came home with two Minorcas, two New Hampshires, and two White Jersey Giants... we lost one chick due to illness. With every struggle grows appreciation and finally at the age of 38 years old I knew what I want to be when I grow up.
I desire the farm life. My dream is to have a small plot to house my entire family of seven and all my precious animals with the addition of goats and gardens... Needless to say I am far from that.... But the changes I have made in my life have brought me happiness and better health (not healed but feel oh so better).
This was the year that my boyfriend and I decided upon our chickens. We created a coop out of scrap wood (with zero carpentry skill between the two of us) lol and retrained our dogs to accept and protect our free ranging/freeloading back yard suburban flock. This has truly been the best thing that has happened to us a family.
3. Which aspect(s) of chicken keeping do you enjoy the most?
My most favorite thing to do is to just sit and watch chicken tv.. out in the sunshine, on my lawn chair with cold beverage in hand. As you can imagine that doesn't happen often in the state of Washington. I love how they follow me around the yard and how they like to pack with my dogs.
I love finding treasures of eggs every morning in the nest boxes. I feed my entire family with those eggs and some extended family as well. The ladys are pets to me.. Although I am not against the use of birds for meat, I have not been able to grow the nerves I need to be able to do that yet. I absolutely hate changing the bedding in the coop but love turning it into compost and seeing it change into a nice rich soil. I love teaching myself how to use power tools I would never have thought of using before, in fact, I just put up a new fence for the birds on my own and had a huge sense of accomplishment. Every time I am forced to learn a new skill of chicken husbandry is like a jewel of knowledge and putting it into practice has given me great self worth.
Last year, I incubated my first batch of eggs in a homemade bator that the boys and I built as a science project. I hatched nine out of nine chicks in that little thing that Sally Sunshine has dubbed the nothingbutalightbulbator... I have since built a better and bigger incubator using sally's notes on her incubating with friends thread.
My hope is to one day be as knowledgeable as Sally Sunshine and Aart and as motivated as Attimus. One day, that will happen.
Nothingbutalightbulbobator.
My newly made Seahawkobator!!!!!
4. Which members of your flock, past and present, stand out for you and why?
My all time favorite bird is my little Minorca named Alice. She is such a sweetheart. I truly believe she thinks she is one of the dogs. She would rather sit with me and the dogs than hang with her sisters and Roo. If anyone of of them could find a way into the house it would be her. She has eveb learned to use the doggie door... another reason we put up the fence. LOL
I also have a rooster named Little Jerry Seinfeld. He does an amazing job at protecting his girls and is very giving to them. He has become human aggressive since we have put up the run. So I dont believe we will be keeping him much longer. He does pretty good in the presents of my dogs, I think he is scared of them so he doesnt do anything if they are around. He really dislikes men though and has tried to flog Devin and my Brother in law many times.
Each one of my girls is special to me though. They each have their own little personalities and are pretty gentle and beautiful. We have a total of eight girls now and one Little Jerry Seinfeld.
Little Jerry when he was younger.
Alice the Minorca.
5. What was the funniest (chicken related) thing(s) that happened to you in your years as chicken owner?
As I have stated before, I use to let my birds free range. They had access to every part of our backyard. The problem with free range birds and children running in and out of the house and the greater possibilities of the door from our mud room to kitchen being left open.
The funniest, yet most frustrating thing that has happened... and I wish I could say it was only once... but it happened numerous times was when we would leave for the day and come home to find Oly Girl and Rocco, my dogs, laying in the play room on their doggie beds with every single one of our chickens.... Imagine cleaning up that poopy mess... and like I said before... this has happened more than once. LOL
Thank God for the newly fenced run.
6. Beside chickens, what other pets do you keep?
We have four smelly monkeys.. ohhh wait, no those are my children.
We have two dogs. Oly Girl is a pure breed pitbull that is both wonderful with children and chickens. She is eight years of age right now and is getting a little slow. We also have Rocco, he is a chihuahua mixed with a Shibu innu. He will always be a mischievous toddler. We also have two Russian Tortoises... One girl named Lui Caliber and a boy Named Delirious... The kids named them.. what can I say. We also have a cicilid tank.... yes, there is never a dull moment around here.
When I buy my piece of property... Watch out world. That list will grow.
Rocco
Oly Girl
Lui Caliber and Delirious.
7. Anything you'd like to add?
I have never thought in a million years that I would end up on a website looking up chickens and become a part of a network that has so many amazing people on it.
There isn't a day that goes by that I do not stop by and make sure that my chicken friends who have now become family are doing well. I created life long relationships that I will always cherish... Although my home is at Granny's house..... on the grannys gone and done it thread... I have a thread called Making the most of it., that I started to be able to journal all the great things I have learned in this adventures of raising chickens. I now have brothers and sister, cousins and mentors that live all over the world and I am more than better off knowing each and everyone of you.
When I am sick, you guys are there for me... When I am down, you lift me up... When I am lonely, you talk to me. You all have given me many reasons to smile.
As a person that is dealing with a variety of anxiety issues, you have all given me the strength to get up in the morning.. The motivation to fill my days with accomplishments.
I am forever indebted to each and everyone of you... wish I could list theirs names but really there are too many to say. They all know who they are. I love you from the deepest depths of my soul.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/u/366017/lindalouly
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
