- Jun 28, 2011
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Jon, known to BYC members as jtn42248, has been a member of our community since December 2013. He will most often be found in the Geese and Ducks forum sections, where he is known for his helpfulness and wonderful advice.
1. Tell us a bit more about yourself.
Hello everyone, my name is Jon and I am known here on BYC as jtn42248. I lived in Southern California for most of my life but I was born in Texas so, when I retired from my job there, I moved back home, worked for the State for another 17 years or so and retired in 2006. Eventually I ended up buying a little 3.8 acre farm about 13 miles North of Coleman, Texas. I remembered, growing up on my grandparents farm, that my grandmother would order a hundred chicks from the Sears Catalog for 8-10 cents each and how cute they were so I decided to get 5 or 6 chickens for their eggs. Well we all know where that leads.
2. Why and when did you start keeping poultry?
Those 5 or 6 chicken became 25 really fast but they were only 5 of each breed (see how insidious chicken math is).
Being new to all this I followed all the instructions I could find online and put together a brooder in an eve in the attic room above our garage. That actually worked out really well because I could actually go inside the brooder and sit with the chicks. We became very well acquainted that way and their trust and affection for me continues today.
Chicks then:
Chicks now:
Now anyone in their right mind, especially a city boy who had been off the farm for over 60 years would have stopped at that point. But, no, I saw some pictures of ducklings on BYC (that evil tempting place) and decided that we could fit in a few ducks as well. So once the chickens were secure in their new outside environment I ordered six ducks. Sadly only four of them survived but they were cute and funny, a real mess to brood, but I managed and they are today what I call my adult flock.
In addition to these three Khaki Campbells I have a single Crested Blue Swedish duck named Marion as in Marion the Librarian since that is who she looks like with her crest bobbing around.
That was followed by a desire to have geese. Why I do not know since my only experience with geese was when I was a very little boy being chased from my grandparents front gate to the front door by a monster goose they had everyday when I got home from school. But, I needed geese and they had to be the same age as the ducks who were now 4 months old.
I found a place that sold juvenile waterfowl, drove 300 miles to pick them up and ended up with a trio of Toulouse geese of unknown gender. That is where I entered the next chapter of my relationship with the membership of BYC. The chapter titled Guess the Gender of Jon's Geese.
A BYC member by the name of Miss Lydia replied that she could not tell but that another member whose name was servpolice had a reputation for pretty accurate sight-sexing of geese after a certain age. Miss Lydia contacted servpolice who pondered the poor quality pictures I posted and guessed they were two females and one male. As it worked out the guess was correct. So, their names became Lydia for one of the females, Sting (after the singer in the group Police) since that is all I could think of related to servpolice's name for the gander. And the last female I named Pauline after my 94 year old mother who wasted no words telling me I had lost what little mind I had left.
Well, those geese made me the proud goose-Grandfather of 8 beautiful little goslings a few weeks ago.
Again, any sane person would have stopped at this point. But not me! I was now a retired country gentleman and was firmly addicted to waterfowl. My ducks were so cute but I had lost two and I had read an article about how few breeding pairs of Cayuga ducks there were. And they were black ducks which was unusual enough for me. But that was reinforced when I learned that they lay black eggs. Well, faster than that proverbial speeding bullet, I was at the Post Office picking up my order of 16 Cayuga ducklings ( two males and 14 females).
I have given up on any breeding program for them but they have a job here on the farm as does everything else. They are adults now and the lay a predictable 14 eggs each day. Oh, and only the first few eggs are black. After that they are white, sometimes a pale grey. And, they are such voracious foragers and love themselves a bunch of bugs...especially grasshoppers. So, the Cayuga's and I have learned to be herded around our fields and into our garden and orchard where they are able to pretty much control the grasshopper problem.
So, you can see that there really has been a logical progression to every new bird added to our farm. They all serve their purpose. We get between 14 and 20 eggs a day from our chickens, we get 14 eggs a day from our Cayugas and another 3 a day from our adult flock. Our geese have produced beautiful goslings that, as it turns out, will not be sold after all since there really is room for them to stay here and be a part of our family. (There is that poultry math again.) We gave up trying to sell our eggs since we are at least 13 miles from the nearest town and as it turns out people don't want to drive that far to buy farm fresh eggs. So every week we take them in to town and donate them to our local food pantry which is something I highly recommend to those of you who have excess eggs laying around.
3. Which aspect(s) of poultry keeping do you enjoy the most?
It would really be easier to say what aspects I enjoy the least. I don't really enjoy cleaning up after them but it is part of job so it gets done. I don't really enjoy loading and unloading between 500 and 600 pounds of feed for them every month. Other than that there is really nothing I do not enjoy about them. Just as I did with those first little chicks I can sit with them for hours and just enjoy the fact that they seem to enjoy me. I love the way the chickens follow me around and chatter to me as I go about my poultry chores. I am eternally impressed at the miracle that happens when you/they add a little egg white and an egg yolk together, put it in a shell and sit on it for a month and suddenly little baby versions of themselves are running about.
There is something special about the trust of an animal and especially a bird. They get excited when they see me coming and even though I know it is just because they think they will be getting a treat I can pretend that they are happy to see me. And nothing is as relaxing to me as a couple of hours sitting under an old Oak tree watching poultry T.V.
4. Which members of your flock, past and present, stand out for you and why?
I am still new enough at this that there has not really been an outstanding moment for any of them. Except for that moment that I looked over the fence into the goose house and saw that first little goslings head poke out from under Lydia. I am not ashamed to admit that I jumped up and down, grinned like a fool, ran inside and called and emailed everyone I know about the momentous event. I would have handed out cigars if I had them.
5. What was the funniest (chicken related) thing(s) that happened to you in your years as poultry owner?
I would have to say it is/was Norman. Norman is our rooster. Norman was originally Norma but she changed her mind and her gender one day and she became he like magic. However, Norman was almost killed by another rooster that we had at the time and was left permanently disabled. Norman has a very serious limp. But he gets around and being with 23 hens I suspect he thinks that the other rooster killed him and he went to chicken heaven. Norman tries to mate with his harem and they tolerate him but he is not really good at it and usually ends up falling off the hen right on his head.
6. Beside poultry, what other pets do you keep?
We have seven dogs, all rescues, that have various handicaps or less than desirable breeds. But they are a part of our family and they also provide certain services to us out here in the country. Our smallest is also our oldest, an 11 year old Pomeranian that is the queen of the house. Our youngest and largest is a 2 year old Anatolian that was kept in a cage for the first year of his life until we took him in. He has proved to be the one that everyone and everything listens to. Our farm is safe in no small part to the presence of these dogs.
Oh, and a few months ago, I decided that I needed a hobby...like I don't already have a full plate! So what did I choose to be my hobby...more chickens of course. But these are chickens for their beauty. I have five beautiful Sebright Bantams, a silver male, two silver females and two golden females. Their beauty and their gentle personalities are amazing. And they lay four absolutely perfect little eggs each day.
7. Anything you'd like to add?
The only thing that I can add to the madness above is how grateful I am for BYC. Not only have the members of this group provided a welcome environment and countless hours of free help and advice but several of them have become lifetime friends. Virtual in nature yes, and friends that I probably will never meet face to face, but solid friends that will be a part of life from here on.
So, if you are new, don't hesitate to introduce yourself, ask questions and share your knowledge and advice with the rest of us. There is no better place that I can imagine or have found. I look forward to all my future BYC conversations and to meeting each of you online as time goes by.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/u/252219/jtn42248
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.
Hello everyone, my name is Jon and I am known here on BYC as jtn42248. I lived in Southern California for most of my life but I was born in Texas so, when I retired from my job there, I moved back home, worked for the State for another 17 years or so and retired in 2006. Eventually I ended up buying a little 3.8 acre farm about 13 miles North of Coleman, Texas. I remembered, growing up on my grandparents farm, that my grandmother would order a hundred chicks from the Sears Catalog for 8-10 cents each and how cute they were so I decided to get 5 or 6 chickens for their eggs. Well we all know where that leads.
2. Why and when did you start keeping poultry?
Those 5 or 6 chicken became 25 really fast but they were only 5 of each breed (see how insidious chicken math is).
Being new to all this I followed all the instructions I could find online and put together a brooder in an eve in the attic room above our garage. That actually worked out really well because I could actually go inside the brooder and sit with the chicks. We became very well acquainted that way and their trust and affection for me continues today.
Chicks then:
Chicks now:
Now anyone in their right mind, especially a city boy who had been off the farm for over 60 years would have stopped at that point. But, no, I saw some pictures of ducklings on BYC (that evil tempting place) and decided that we could fit in a few ducks as well. So once the chickens were secure in their new outside environment I ordered six ducks. Sadly only four of them survived but they were cute and funny, a real mess to brood, but I managed and they are today what I call my adult flock.
In addition to these three Khaki Campbells I have a single Crested Blue Swedish duck named Marion as in Marion the Librarian since that is who she looks like with her crest bobbing around.
That was followed by a desire to have geese. Why I do not know since my only experience with geese was when I was a very little boy being chased from my grandparents front gate to the front door by a monster goose they had everyday when I got home from school. But, I needed geese and they had to be the same age as the ducks who were now 4 months old.
I found a place that sold juvenile waterfowl, drove 300 miles to pick them up and ended up with a trio of Toulouse geese of unknown gender. That is where I entered the next chapter of my relationship with the membership of BYC. The chapter titled Guess the Gender of Jon's Geese.
A BYC member by the name of Miss Lydia replied that she could not tell but that another member whose name was servpolice had a reputation for pretty accurate sight-sexing of geese after a certain age. Miss Lydia contacted servpolice who pondered the poor quality pictures I posted and guessed they were two females and one male. As it worked out the guess was correct. So, their names became Lydia for one of the females, Sting (after the singer in the group Police) since that is all I could think of related to servpolice's name for the gander. And the last female I named Pauline after my 94 year old mother who wasted no words telling me I had lost what little mind I had left.
Well, those geese made me the proud goose-Grandfather of 8 beautiful little goslings a few weeks ago.
Again, any sane person would have stopped at this point. But not me! I was now a retired country gentleman and was firmly addicted to waterfowl. My ducks were so cute but I had lost two and I had read an article about how few breeding pairs of Cayuga ducks there were. And they were black ducks which was unusual enough for me. But that was reinforced when I learned that they lay black eggs. Well, faster than that proverbial speeding bullet, I was at the Post Office picking up my order of 16 Cayuga ducklings ( two males and 14 females).
I have given up on any breeding program for them but they have a job here on the farm as does everything else. They are adults now and the lay a predictable 14 eggs each day. Oh, and only the first few eggs are black. After that they are white, sometimes a pale grey. And, they are such voracious foragers and love themselves a bunch of bugs...especially grasshoppers. So, the Cayuga's and I have learned to be herded around our fields and into our garden and orchard where they are able to pretty much control the grasshopper problem.
So, you can see that there really has been a logical progression to every new bird added to our farm. They all serve their purpose. We get between 14 and 20 eggs a day from our chickens, we get 14 eggs a day from our Cayugas and another 3 a day from our adult flock. Our geese have produced beautiful goslings that, as it turns out, will not be sold after all since there really is room for them to stay here and be a part of our family. (There is that poultry math again.) We gave up trying to sell our eggs since we are at least 13 miles from the nearest town and as it turns out people don't want to drive that far to buy farm fresh eggs. So every week we take them in to town and donate them to our local food pantry which is something I highly recommend to those of you who have excess eggs laying around.
3. Which aspect(s) of poultry keeping do you enjoy the most?
It would really be easier to say what aspects I enjoy the least. I don't really enjoy cleaning up after them but it is part of job so it gets done. I don't really enjoy loading and unloading between 500 and 600 pounds of feed for them every month. Other than that there is really nothing I do not enjoy about them. Just as I did with those first little chicks I can sit with them for hours and just enjoy the fact that they seem to enjoy me. I love the way the chickens follow me around and chatter to me as I go about my poultry chores. I am eternally impressed at the miracle that happens when you/they add a little egg white and an egg yolk together, put it in a shell and sit on it for a month and suddenly little baby versions of themselves are running about.
There is something special about the trust of an animal and especially a bird. They get excited when they see me coming and even though I know it is just because they think they will be getting a treat I can pretend that they are happy to see me. And nothing is as relaxing to me as a couple of hours sitting under an old Oak tree watching poultry T.V.
4. Which members of your flock, past and present, stand out for you and why?
I am still new enough at this that there has not really been an outstanding moment for any of them. Except for that moment that I looked over the fence into the goose house and saw that first little goslings head poke out from under Lydia. I am not ashamed to admit that I jumped up and down, grinned like a fool, ran inside and called and emailed everyone I know about the momentous event. I would have handed out cigars if I had them.
5. What was the funniest (chicken related) thing(s) that happened to you in your years as poultry owner?
I would have to say it is/was Norman. Norman is our rooster. Norman was originally Norma but she changed her mind and her gender one day and she became he like magic. However, Norman was almost killed by another rooster that we had at the time and was left permanently disabled. Norman has a very serious limp. But he gets around and being with 23 hens I suspect he thinks that the other rooster killed him and he went to chicken heaven. Norman tries to mate with his harem and they tolerate him but he is not really good at it and usually ends up falling off the hen right on his head.
6. Beside poultry, what other pets do you keep?
We have seven dogs, all rescues, that have various handicaps or less than desirable breeds. But they are a part of our family and they also provide certain services to us out here in the country. Our smallest is also our oldest, an 11 year old Pomeranian that is the queen of the house. Our youngest and largest is a 2 year old Anatolian that was kept in a cage for the first year of his life until we took him in. He has proved to be the one that everyone and everything listens to. Our farm is safe in no small part to the presence of these dogs.
Oh, and a few months ago, I decided that I needed a hobby...like I don't already have a full plate! So what did I choose to be my hobby...more chickens of course. But these are chickens for their beauty. I have five beautiful Sebright Bantams, a silver male, two silver females and two golden females. Their beauty and their gentle personalities are amazing. And they lay four absolutely perfect little eggs each day.
7. Anything you'd like to add?
The only thing that I can add to the madness above is how grateful I am for BYC. Not only have the members of this group provided a welcome environment and countless hours of free help and advice but several of them have become lifetime friends. Virtual in nature yes, and friends that I probably will never meet face to face, but solid friends that will be a part of life from here on.
So, if you are new, don't hesitate to introduce yourself, ask questions and share your knowledge and advice with the rest of us. There is no better place that I can imagine or have found. I look forward to all my future BYC conversations and to meeting each of you online as time goes by.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/u/252219/jtn42248
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
