Sent September 18th 2007
---------------------------------------------------------
Hi Friends,
To celebrate our reaching of 4,000 members in our BYC Forum a few days ago we'd like to do something a bit out of the ordinary with the BYC newsletter. We thought we'd take a moment to share some information about the BYC Staff members that keep the community humming and make sure certain members are behaved (you know who you are!). So without further adieu, here are you BYC Staff members:
Nifty-Chicken (AKA Rob Ludlow)
I'm the owner of the site
www.BackYardChickens.com and run all the back end techical mumbo jumbo. Managing this site is a hobby / labor of love for me (as it is for all the BYC staff). I have a full time day job during the day, so I've very grateful for the BYC Staff and forum members that make sure the boat stays afloat. I'm married (7 years last month) and have two daughters 4 and 1.5 years.
I was first introduced to chickens about 5 years ago. Our family had a family reunion and as one of the activities visited the local county fair. It was there that my brother bought 5 mixed breed chickens and brought them home for his family to raise. In time I caught the bug and started down the path of learning more about chickens, which is how I first discovered BYC. You can read more of my chicken story here:
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/new-chickens.php.
A few years later I noticed the BYC was gone so I purchased the BYC site and worked diligently to get it back up and running (see more details here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=9631). I'm so glad I had the opportunity to keep the BYC site alive. My current flock of 9 chickens and two ducks are thankful for all that the BYC community has taught me.
chickchair (AKA Cindi Wise)
I am Cindi. I was hatched, er born...with full knowledge of all things chicken. I live on a farm called Wise Acres, because that fits me to a tee. I love communing with my animals and am teaching my daughter the fine art of chickening. One of the first ever Chickenstocks was held at my farm and through that I was able to lead hundreds of otherwise innocent souls into the addiction. I have added other fowl to the farm, including turkeys and ducks.
I am a hatchaholic and I am famous for hatching roosters. My farm eggs are famous for containing male chick embryos as well. Need eggs? I hatched my first duck egg about 2 and a half years ago. However, my hatching curse was passed on to the egg and lo and behold ( but no surprise) a rooster chick popped out of the shell!! (Anything Terrie says about my frantic phone calls regarding this duck egg may be greatly exaggerated. By the way, don't call her. Her inconsiderate way of laughing til she drops the phone is just bad phone etiquette).
I enjoy canning and am famous for salsa that would send you to tears, not only from the heat, but from the wonderful flavor. I am involved in 4H which is my way of sneaking chicken addiction on the unwary youth of my community. I admin both BYC message boards and care deeply about all the members.
eggchel (AKA Chel)
My name is Chel and I live in California with my family. I love spending time with my kids and hang out with them as much as possible. We watch BBC and SCIFI TV, go to movies, search for the best Mocha Lattes, and a couple times a year, driving across the country and back. Besides poultry, I like any hobbies that involve fabric, yarn and furniture. I have a huge fabric stash. My two favorite fabric stores are in Sisters, OR and Carborro, NC. And, of course, I love hanging out at BYC and ezBYC to read what everyone posts about their lives with poultry.
I currently have a large flock of Sebastopol geese, Runner ducks, Australian Spotted ducks, Cochins (giant and bantam), rumpless tufted Araucana bantams, Ameraucanas, Silkies, Allen Setters, Welsummers, Penedesencas, and Tolbunt Polish, plus a few other breeds. Last year I gave my cabinet incubator and hatchers to a friend so that I would stop hatching so many eggs! I have just recently started showing birds and really enjoy meeting all the poultry enthusiasts at the shows.
I first found ezBYC a number of years ago when I needed help with a sick hen. Everyone was so friendly and helpful that I stayed and joined the fun.
I met Nifty when he first started posting at ezBYC and we became friends. We talked a lot about the possibility of him reviving the old and by then defunct Backyardchickens website (it was separate from the ezBYC forum) and when he finally was able to bring it back to life, he asked me to help him as a moderator. I was excited to join in and have been delighted to see the tremendous growth and success of the board. I truly love our two BYC communities.
hinkjc (AKA Jody)
My name is Jody and I am most well known for my buff colored breeding and addiction to chickens. I started out with chickens about 12 years ago and it really is more of a hobby that helps pay for the feed/housing. Our first chickens were Rhode Island Reds and we loved them dearly for their entire lives (even though my rooster attacked me every day I came home from work). We now have standard buff orpington, easter eggers and rumpless/tufted araucana, as well as bantam buff ameraucana and bearded buff silkies. Our goal is to continue perfecting the buff color and to create our own buff araucana here on our farm, which is a rare find in our country right now.
My husband also raises wild species (wild eastern turkeys, ringneck pheasants, bobwhite quail and chukars) for his enjoyment, but he loves the chickens as much as I do. We met 19 years ago and have 2 beautiful daughters, ages 10 & 18. I work full time in quality management, was recently named President of the board for our local swim team organization (which my 10 yr old is a swimmer for 4 years now) and also go to college pursuing my Bachelor in Science degree. Along with my busy schedule, we enjoy growing and raising our own food. Our gardens are plentiful and we enjoy the fruits of our very manual labor every year, as well as share them with locals.
I came across the EZBYC site about 5 years ago and have been on almost every day since. I love to read and educate people on what I have learned about chickens over the years. I always feel there is more to learn and I also enjoy sharing my knowledge with others. I was asked to moderate Egg to Hatch, Other Poultry and Breeds categories by our wonderful Chickenmistress Chickchair and I gratefully accepted. I think it is great that Rob got this BYC back online, so more people could find us and join in our passion. Backyard Chickens truly is a family community.
terrielacy (AKA Terrie Lacy)
My name is Terrie and I am Addicted to Quack.
I live in a rural area of Oregon City Oregon where I am slave to 20 chickens, 17 ducks and 3 geese who take up a significant amount of time, demanding treats and require that I sit outside watching them for hours instead of doing something useful, like cooking or cleaning or weeding the garden.
I am married to a wonderfully patient and supportive husband who is almost as addicted as I am. We have 2 cats, Boris the Carrot (his IQ) and Missie Marie.
I serve on the Board of Directors for The Duck Rescue Network, a national network of 200 + members whose primary objective is education and advocacy for waterfowl. For more info go to
www.duckrescue.org
I have always loved ducks and when we moved to our dream home, a friend gave us a dozen duck eggs, which led to my quest for duck information. My research for duck care and housing requirements led me to, among others, Backyard Chickens and the message board. I have made many friends there, online and off and my life has been enriched. I was invited to be a member of the moderator team and I am honored to be here.
I love to sew and quilt. I have taken over the dining room in our home with my machine-quilting frame and the den is also lined with shelves holding fabric. I participate in local Craft Fairs and Bazaars for fun and to feed another addiction of mine, fabric shopping. We try to grow and can a lot of our own veggies and try to be more and more self-sustaining as possible.
In my spare time, I work at a Supermarket, where I am the customer service manager.
adoptedbyachicken (AKA April)
Between Christmas and New Years in 2002 following a bad wind storm I found what I believe to be an ISA Brown hen cowering in my horse barn. Thinking she was lost in the storm I fed her and kept her safe while I searched for her rightful owners. She rewarded me daily with a fresh egg in the bedding in the corner of the stall. No neighbors claimed her and the first project of the new year was to build her her own coop. As the stores reopened and I got her the right feed I was told I simply could not have just one chicken, they liked to be in flocks, so ready to lay pullets were ordered in by my feed store.
I found BYC soon that year when I suddenly needed help as Cindy was acting eggbound and at the time had no idea what her symptoms meant. I had called several Vets and most had just laughed, others told me they had no idea what could be wrong or what to do about it.
So it began, I had no idea at the time of course but the addiction was fast and furiously taking me over. Soon I had over 160 layers, 6 coops each with their own run and a huge other fenced area where they could range alternately right on the boarder of the city limits. We have since moved to a very rural location and I have expanded into ducks and turkeys as well as letting them all free range under the watchful eyes of my newest rescue, a Maremma Livestock Protection Dog.
I still have horses and participate in horse rescue as well as pleasure and distance riding and basic training
allen wranch (AKA Carla)
Im Carla, and I live in the beautiful Texas Hill Country in a college town built on the banks of The San Marcos River.
I have one spoiled black Lab, two spoiled cats and 60 spoiled chickens. My wonderful husband is a former shop teacher who loves to build things and never complains when I need a new coop. However, every time I tell him I need to get some more chickens, he always says I have to get rid of some of the ones I have first. So far, I havent listened to him.
I became interested in chickens after reading a gardening magazine article about a family on the west coast who had a chicken coop in the middle of their garden. There was a picture of a beautiful garden, with some sassy barred rocks roaming through the paths between the vegetation. I had a garden, and the chickens seemed like something I would enjoy having too.
After buying Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens by Gail Dameron and researching the various breeds, my husband and I traveled 3 ½ hours from our house and brought home eight little chirping Marans chicks. Two weeks later I picked up two chicks each of a variety of breeds I ordered through a local feed store and four Ameraucana chicks from another feed store. I was hooked and the addiction was born! Over the next few years I picked up several other breeds and fell in love with the magnificent silver Appenzeller Spitzhauben. Except for the excess roosters, I still have most of my original chickens, and they are enjoying a leisurely retirement on the Allen Wranch.
I found Backyard Chickens surfing the Web trying to find out as much as I could about chickens. It has been my home every since.
A bit thanks to all the BYC staff and all they do!
Look in your inboxes for another newsletter in the next few weeks with some cool new BYC updates. We'll see you in the forum!
The BYC Team
