Dralix
Chirping
Hello, all. New to the site. Looking forward to learning from you all.
(1) Are you new to chickens / when did you first get chickens?
Fairly new. Purchased first pullets from local supply shop in May 2021. Fell in love with the girls and was hooked immediately. Purchased what we thought were four more pullets in September 2021 from the same shop -- one might be a roo in the making.
(2) How many chickens do you have right now?
Six
(3) What breeds do you have?
May 2021 purchase... a Buff Orpington (Fluffy) & Midnight Majesty Moran (Hennie). September 2021 purchase... I believe (as I wasn't with my family when they got them) one Americana (Motherclucker... forgive me... my 19 year-old son named her... I call her "mother" or "MC," as I can't quite bring myself to call her by her given name), two (what I think are) Cream Americanas (Turd Ball and Ding Bat... my oldest's girlfriend named them), and a Barred Rock (Chloe). But, I'm beginning to wonder if Chloe is a cockerel... maybe a Cletus.
(4) What are your favorite aspects of raising backyard chickens?
The chickens are inquisitive and each have their own personalities. I love the companionship they provide, and, of course, the delicious eggs. As with many who decide to raise chickens (I'd imagine), it started small and grew. We're in a suburb. At six chickens, we reached max capacity (and, truthfully, then some). Thank the powers that be our neighbors love the eggs, the chickens, and our borough manager is very understanding. We bought a much larger size (and 10x more expensive) coop (further customized with electricity) than our personally-customized original Amazon purchase. But the girls are worth it. While we let them free range for limited times almost daily (we have hawks, eagles, foxes, and cats in our area... and there have been instances already where a hawk and cat almost got one of our girls), the next step is to build or buy a larger enclosed run so they can be out of their coops even more than we can let them out now.
(5) What are some of your other hobbies?
I love hiking, biking, being outdoors, doing yard work, and now... taking care of the chickens... even as it gets a lot colder here in PA. They give to us. So, I feel it only necessary that they're cared for in return.
(6) Tell us about your family, your other pets, your occupation, or anything else you'd like to share.
The only other pets we have are a neon tetra and a hermit crab. My wife and oldest are severely allergic to pet dander. I grew up helping my grandmother on a farm and had a ton of pets (including chickens, which I never thought I'd be involved with ever again, as they'd make me clean the coop). I missed having real pets around. The chickens scratch that itch. No one's allergic to them. They're all friendly and, for the most part, don't mind being handled. Our lives are definitely better for having them.
(7) Bonus: How did you find BYC, how long have you known about BYC, and what made you finally join our awesome community?
I found BYC through a web search for information, at different points. One involved trying to figure out why our Buff was losing her fluffy butt (still haven't nailed that one down despite one aviary vet visit in the warmer months (and resulting Epsom salts baths... and anti-fungal cream in and around her vent, as we thought she had vent gleet... yeah, that was fun for a new chicken owner) and another aviary vet visit at the beginning of the fall season, where they said her featherless bottom was the result of molting and/or because she's too rotund). I disagree with them re: the molting, as Fluffy's picked her feathers, etc. well before molting season and still hasn't grown them back despite providing feather fixer, brand name fortified crumbles, ACV in all the hen's water, spray-on antibiotics for chickens, frequently-cleaned hen houses, and the like. They might have something re: the weight. At 7 pounds, she's a heavy (but otherwise healthy) chicken. I've moved on to safely dialing back her feed regimen in hopes of her losing some weight. The other search involved recipes for fermented chicken feed... I just started fermenting all the hen's food. The two oldest are on layer and feather fixer. The four youngest are still on chick feed. The final search (and the clincher for joining BYC) was a search for whether our Barred Rock is a hen or a rooster. There were a number of good comments on BYC. Folks seemed friendly in posts. So, I joined.
(1) Are you new to chickens / when did you first get chickens?
Fairly new. Purchased first pullets from local supply shop in May 2021. Fell in love with the girls and was hooked immediately. Purchased what we thought were four more pullets in September 2021 from the same shop -- one might be a roo in the making.
(2) How many chickens do you have right now?
Six
(3) What breeds do you have?
May 2021 purchase... a Buff Orpington (Fluffy) & Midnight Majesty Moran (Hennie). September 2021 purchase... I believe (as I wasn't with my family when they got them) one Americana (Motherclucker... forgive me... my 19 year-old son named her... I call her "mother" or "MC," as I can't quite bring myself to call her by her given name), two (what I think are) Cream Americanas (Turd Ball and Ding Bat... my oldest's girlfriend named them), and a Barred Rock (Chloe). But, I'm beginning to wonder if Chloe is a cockerel... maybe a Cletus.
(4) What are your favorite aspects of raising backyard chickens?
The chickens are inquisitive and each have their own personalities. I love the companionship they provide, and, of course, the delicious eggs. As with many who decide to raise chickens (I'd imagine), it started small and grew. We're in a suburb. At six chickens, we reached max capacity (and, truthfully, then some). Thank the powers that be our neighbors love the eggs, the chickens, and our borough manager is very understanding. We bought a much larger size (and 10x more expensive) coop (further customized with electricity) than our personally-customized original Amazon purchase. But the girls are worth it. While we let them free range for limited times almost daily (we have hawks, eagles, foxes, and cats in our area... and there have been instances already where a hawk and cat almost got one of our girls), the next step is to build or buy a larger enclosed run so they can be out of their coops even more than we can let them out now.
(5) What are some of your other hobbies?
I love hiking, biking, being outdoors, doing yard work, and now... taking care of the chickens... even as it gets a lot colder here in PA. They give to us. So, I feel it only necessary that they're cared for in return.
(6) Tell us about your family, your other pets, your occupation, or anything else you'd like to share.
The only other pets we have are a neon tetra and a hermit crab. My wife and oldest are severely allergic to pet dander. I grew up helping my grandmother on a farm and had a ton of pets (including chickens, which I never thought I'd be involved with ever again, as they'd make me clean the coop). I missed having real pets around. The chickens scratch that itch. No one's allergic to them. They're all friendly and, for the most part, don't mind being handled. Our lives are definitely better for having them.
(7) Bonus: How did you find BYC, how long have you known about BYC, and what made you finally join our awesome community?
I found BYC through a web search for information, at different points. One involved trying to figure out why our Buff was losing her fluffy butt (still haven't nailed that one down despite one aviary vet visit in the warmer months (and resulting Epsom salts baths... and anti-fungal cream in and around her vent, as we thought she had vent gleet... yeah, that was fun for a new chicken owner) and another aviary vet visit at the beginning of the fall season, where they said her featherless bottom was the result of molting and/or because she's too rotund). I disagree with them re: the molting, as Fluffy's picked her feathers, etc. well before molting season and still hasn't grown them back despite providing feather fixer, brand name fortified crumbles, ACV in all the hen's water, spray-on antibiotics for chickens, frequently-cleaned hen houses, and the like. They might have something re: the weight. At 7 pounds, she's a heavy (but otherwise healthy) chicken. I've moved on to safely dialing back her feed regimen in hopes of her losing some weight. The other search involved recipes for fermented chicken feed... I just started fermenting all the hen's food. The two oldest are on layer and feather fixer. The four youngest are still on chick feed. The final search (and the clincher for joining BYC) was a search for whether our Barred Rock is a hen or a rooster. There were a number of good comments on BYC. Folks seemed friendly in posts. So, I joined.
Glad you joined.
