A long-term chicken keeper saying hello for the first time :D

[GreenRunner]

Hi everyone!

I stumbled across BYC yesterday because despite having kept chickens for years, I'm doing my first ever incubator hatch! I've always used a broody Silkie before, but I lost Georgia last year so was given an incubator for my birthday. It's wonderful but stressful. Thank god hatch day was the weekend - I've been watching the eggs for hours!

I fell in love with hens on my granddads farm when I was little, and managed to get a two silkies, two buff nankins when I was in my 20s. Hatching eggs came and I got rhode island reds and light sussex, but the flock dwindled over the years and when we moved some horrible oik broke into our new garden and snatched my last hen (seven years old and living out her retirement - what a way for her to go).

I rescued some ex-batts in May, and they're feathering up nicely. And then hubby decided to get hen-obsessed too so we've just hatched out some Polish bantams and a couple of Barbu d'anvers are on their way. We have limited space right now but want to do a self-build in a couple of years on my granddads old farmland - then chicken numbers are likely to soar!

Looking forward to getting to know you all

Geoff

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!

 

[mymilliefleur]

Geoff!

 

[GreenRunner]

Thanks BantamFan and MyMillieFleur. Happy to be here!

 

[N F C]

Hi Geoff, welcome to BYC!

You need to get in touch with @Yorkshire coop , she's in the UK and is a pro at incubating Polish. She has some gorgeous birds. There are also some very good articles about incubating in the Learning Center and a forum where you can post about hatching:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-and-raising-chicks
https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/5/incubating-hatching-eggs

Glad to have you here and if you have any questions, feel free to ask. There's a ton of information and some very friendly, knowledgeable members here.

Make yourself at home!

 

[GreenRunner]

Hi Geoff, welcome to BYC!

You need to get in touch with @Yorkshire coop , she's in the UK and is a pro at incubating Polish. She has some gorgeous birds. There are also some very good articles about incubating in the Learning Center and a forum where you can post about hatching:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-and-raising-chicks
https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/5/incubating-hatching-eggs

Glad to have you here and if you have any questions, feel free to ask. There's a ton of information and some very friendly, knowledgeable members here.

Make yourself at home!

Thanks!! You know, I've been keeping hens for years but just a few hours spent reading posts and articles on this site and I already know SO MUCH more!

 

[Free Feather]

What is an oik?

 

[drumstick diva]

Nice to meet your Geoff -welcome to Backyard chickens I would love to know what a oik is also. I thought foxes were the main predators in UK.

 

[GreenRunner]

An oik is a stupid, annoying and horrible......person! It's a British term - usually used to describe youngsters who hang around on streets being loud and obnoxious. The term seemed to suit.

Alas, if only it were foxes....I'd planned for them. I hadn't planned for someone coming over the fence and taking my single healthy and ancient hen.

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Hi Geoff from Yorkshire!!

Glad you could join us here!! I totally get the "Oik" I too worry about things like that and I have a few choice words about them but I think best kept to myself. We have dogs at the moment being taken from gardens, even when the owners are in. Sorry to hear about your last hen being snatched that is really horrible

Is your hatch done now? How many did you get? My new chicks are a week old now and I've already got itchy fingers to get the incubator back out again. I've got a broody polish at the moment and her eggs are due this coming weekend. Not going to be nice for her in the heat that is forecast. Should keep my addiction at bay for a while if her eggs hatch.

Good luck with your new chicks, would love to see some pics of them I can't get enough of polish they are a fabulous interesting breed to keep and very funny with their quirky ways.

Enjoy BYC and all the chicken chat