Chickens n Bees for me!
In the Brooder
Hi fellow chicken-lovers!
My name is Amy and I am a new member of the flock... finally! After reading more threads than I could count on this site for the past year I have finally JOINED your group!
Here are the answers to the suggested questions:
(1) Are you new to chickens / when did you first get chickens?
This is very interesting timing for me to join because my chickens just turned ONE: yesterday, today, and tomorrow! I incubated a mix of eggs from a friend's friend's flock. 8 Hatched: 4 males and 4 females... but in the end I only kept one Roo - a beautiful Black Copper Marin. I am THRILLED to have 4 hens and each lays a different colored egg!
Green: a mixed breed easter-egger of course named Chickerdoo
Cream: a white Silkie named Silkie.... named by my 6 year old boy
Dark Shiny Brown: a Black Australorp named Midnight
Light Dull Brown: a Cuckoo Maran named Dot-dot (also named by my boy)
(2) How many chickens do you have right now?
After hatching 6 batches of my own chickens' eggs I am up to about 50!
Each group of chicks is about a month apart in age... so I am CRAZY busy just keeping up with cleaning their roosting cages. So far I have only integrated the oldest hens into the main Mobile Chicken Coop flock. All the chickens already know one other from free ranging... but I have recently started keeping the older ones behind chicken netting in my pasture because of my predator sightings and fears. Eventually they will all be in the same flock and will roam inside the netted areas that will move with my coop over my large pasture.
(3) What breeds do you have?
My laying hens include: an easter-egger, a Silkie, a Black Australorp and a Cuckoo Maran. And my Roo is a Black Copper Maran. The Silkie refuses to mate with the Roo... so all of the chicks are a mix of the BCM and their moms. It is fun to see how the various traits are expressed.
(4) How did you find out about BackYardChickens.com?
Searching for information of course ;-)
(5) What are some of your other hobbies?
I love to surf, hike, and spend time outdoors studying all the critters I come across. I also love to catch honeybee swarms and rescue those who take up residence in structures that people want them out of. (roofs, walls, boxes, etc).
(6) Tell us about your family, your other pets, your occupation, or anything else you'd like to share.
I am a biologist who has worked with a WIDE variety of taxa from monkeys and mice to Mockingbirds/Thrashers and Cowbirds to Butterflies and Moths and all of their predators, parasites, and pathogens. I am also a honeybee keeper and am in the process of trying to revitalize my old family farm by starting a small organic egg & raw honey business.
My name is Amy and I am a new member of the flock... finally! After reading more threads than I could count on this site for the past year I have finally JOINED your group!
Here are the answers to the suggested questions:
(1) Are you new to chickens / when did you first get chickens?
This is very interesting timing for me to join because my chickens just turned ONE: yesterday, today, and tomorrow! I incubated a mix of eggs from a friend's friend's flock. 8 Hatched: 4 males and 4 females... but in the end I only kept one Roo - a beautiful Black Copper Marin. I am THRILLED to have 4 hens and each lays a different colored egg!
Green: a mixed breed easter-egger of course named Chickerdoo
Cream: a white Silkie named Silkie.... named by my 6 year old boy
Dark Shiny Brown: a Black Australorp named Midnight
Light Dull Brown: a Cuckoo Maran named Dot-dot (also named by my boy)
(2) How many chickens do you have right now?
After hatching 6 batches of my own chickens' eggs I am up to about 50!
Each group of chicks is about a month apart in age... so I am CRAZY busy just keeping up with cleaning their roosting cages. So far I have only integrated the oldest hens into the main Mobile Chicken Coop flock. All the chickens already know one other from free ranging... but I have recently started keeping the older ones behind chicken netting in my pasture because of my predator sightings and fears. Eventually they will all be in the same flock and will roam inside the netted areas that will move with my coop over my large pasture.
(3) What breeds do you have?
My laying hens include: an easter-egger, a Silkie, a Black Australorp and a Cuckoo Maran. And my Roo is a Black Copper Maran. The Silkie refuses to mate with the Roo... so all of the chicks are a mix of the BCM and their moms. It is fun to see how the various traits are expressed.
(4) How did you find out about BackYardChickens.com?
Searching for information of course ;-)
(5) What are some of your other hobbies?
I love to surf, hike, and spend time outdoors studying all the critters I come across. I also love to catch honeybee swarms and rescue those who take up residence in structures that people want them out of. (roofs, walls, boxes, etc).
(6) Tell us about your family, your other pets, your occupation, or anything else you'd like to share.
I am a biologist who has worked with a WIDE variety of taxa from monkeys and mice to Mockingbirds/Thrashers and Cowbirds to Butterflies and Moths and all of their predators, parasites, and pathogens. I am also a honeybee keeper and am in the process of trying to revitalize my old family farm by starting a small organic egg & raw honey business.
We're so happy you've joined us
It seems that chicken maths has got you firmly in its grasp - congratulations 
It is wonderful to have you here with us, best wishes! 
