- Jun 28, 2011
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Ken, known to BYC members as kwhites634, has been a member of our community since October 2008. One of our BYC Friends, he will often be found in the incubating section, especially on the INCUBATING w/FRIENDS! thread.
1. Tell us a bit more about yourself. (Family, hobbies, whatever personal stuff you feel like sharing)
I'm married, have two grown children with families of their own, four grandchildren, and two great grandchildren. I'm retired, and my wife and I live on three acres in Frederick County, MD My hobbies, when I'm not engaged in chicken-related activity, are deer hunting, Crappie fishing, and duckpin bowling.
2. Why and when did you start keeping chickens?
I started keeping chickens in the 70's, when the kids traded goldfish for three chicks at the local carnival. They turned out to be a hen & two roosters, naturally. I had no proper facilities for them, so the hen was lost to a predator of some kind. The roosters had my daughter scared to leave the house, so I invited them both to supper. Fast forward to the 90's, when my daughter-in-law just couldn't resist dragging half a dozen chicks from TSC back here to the house while she and #1 son were here on vacation. My son hastily threw together a none-too-substantial chicken wire pen, and he & daughter-in-law went home to WI, leaving me to care for the chicks. Before I knew it, I'd built a walk-in chicken house attached to the barn, and we've had chickens ever since. The current flock of five RSL hens keeps us in eggs, and we generally have enough to supply the family and a few egg customers. I keep a BCM rooster with the ladies to ensure a supply of fertile eggs to hatch out for replacements.
3. Which aspect(s) of chicken keeping do you enjoy the most?
As I said earlier, the main reason I keep chickens is the eggs; the darker the better. As anyone who keeps layers will attest, store-bought can't compare to fresh ones. After retiring the large walk-in coop in favor of a smaller one closer to the house, where I can keep an eye on everyone and control predation more efficiently, I bought a kit coop last year, and had the pleasure of duplicating it with one of my own construction earlier this year. It felt good, and rather strange, to build something that turned out square and plumb...almost.
4. Which members of your flock, past and present, stand out for you and why?
I guess the standout members of the several flocks I've had would have to be the roosters I've owned. All the hens look the same to me, all of them being of the same breed, but each rooster has a unique look. My two most recent roosters stand out most in my mind. One was a RSL, which turned out to be human-aggressive to the extent that I gave him away, replacing him with my current BCM rooster generously offered to me by a fellow BYC member and now friend Auroradream26, in PA.
5. Beside chickens, what other pets do you keep?
We don't currently have any other animals other than the chickens.I raised bird dogs for forty years, and Tennessee Walking Horses for twenty of those years. We've had several house dogs and barn cats over the years, but put down our last dog, a Jack Russel Terrier, two years ago at the age of 14.
6. Anything you'd like to add?
I must add that I've made several lasting (hopefully) friendships among BYC members. I've thoroughly enjoyed actually meeting three of them. I've learned something from just about all of them, particularly @Sally Sunshine and the fine group of guys and gals that call her incubation thread "home"; their experience and insight are truly invaluable.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/u/17372/kwhites634
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. (Family, hobbies, whatever personal stuff you feel like sharing)
I'm married, have two grown children with families of their own, four grandchildren, and two great grandchildren. I'm retired, and my wife and I live on three acres in Frederick County, MD My hobbies, when I'm not engaged in chicken-related activity, are deer hunting, Crappie fishing, and duckpin bowling.
2. Why and when did you start keeping chickens?
I started keeping chickens in the 70's, when the kids traded goldfish for three chicks at the local carnival. They turned out to be a hen & two roosters, naturally. I had no proper facilities for them, so the hen was lost to a predator of some kind. The roosters had my daughter scared to leave the house, so I invited them both to supper. Fast forward to the 90's, when my daughter-in-law just couldn't resist dragging half a dozen chicks from TSC back here to the house while she and #1 son were here on vacation. My son hastily threw together a none-too-substantial chicken wire pen, and he & daughter-in-law went home to WI, leaving me to care for the chicks. Before I knew it, I'd built a walk-in chicken house attached to the barn, and we've had chickens ever since. The current flock of five RSL hens keeps us in eggs, and we generally have enough to supply the family and a few egg customers. I keep a BCM rooster with the ladies to ensure a supply of fertile eggs to hatch out for replacements.
3. Which aspect(s) of chicken keeping do you enjoy the most?
As I said earlier, the main reason I keep chickens is the eggs; the darker the better. As anyone who keeps layers will attest, store-bought can't compare to fresh ones. After retiring the large walk-in coop in favor of a smaller one closer to the house, where I can keep an eye on everyone and control predation more efficiently, I bought a kit coop last year, and had the pleasure of duplicating it with one of my own construction earlier this year. It felt good, and rather strange, to build something that turned out square and plumb...almost.
4. Which members of your flock, past and present, stand out for you and why?
I guess the standout members of the several flocks I've had would have to be the roosters I've owned. All the hens look the same to me, all of them being of the same breed, but each rooster has a unique look. My two most recent roosters stand out most in my mind. One was a RSL, which turned out to be human-aggressive to the extent that I gave him away, replacing him with my current BCM rooster generously offered to me by a fellow BYC member and now friend Auroradream26, in PA.
5. Beside chickens, what other pets do you keep?
We don't currently have any other animals other than the chickens.I raised bird dogs for forty years, and Tennessee Walking Horses for twenty of those years. We've had several house dogs and barn cats over the years, but put down our last dog, a Jack Russel Terrier, two years ago at the age of 14.
6. Anything you'd like to add?
I must add that I've made several lasting (hopefully) friendships among BYC members. I've thoroughly enjoyed actually meeting three of them. I've learned something from just about all of them, particularly @Sally Sunshine and the fine group of guys and gals that call her incubation thread "home"; their experience and insight are truly invaluable.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/u/17372/kwhites634
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
