Am I a chicken hoarder? :)

[shellyga]

Corvida... I used education as the reason to add my 10 egg Brinsea at school...lol.. I love living in the country.. where I can have whatever I am able to tend to.

Shelly

 

[Katydid2011]

Quote:
I can't imagine losing that many hens. It must have been absolutely devastating. It sounds like the guineas might at least be able to sound the alert for you. You have a wonderful attitude, by the way. I'm impressed by the way you're looking for a silver lining. I suppose we can always find one if we're only willing to look!

Hi,
Thank you for your kind words. It is devastating and I hope no one else has to go through that. Not only do we have to deal with the loss, now we have to worry about the predator(s). If it turns out it's the neighbor's dog then you'd have to deal with how to handle that...etc... at the same time how do you keep it from happening again...
There are so many things you have to worry about when you raise chickens, but they are such a joy to have and that makes it all worth it.

I fear the kind of loss you've suffered and I spend far too many sleepless nights worrying about the hens. What happened to you could happen to any of us. It comes with the territory. I remember when I was a girl and our dog was hit by a car. I cried inconsolably for days and determined that I would never, ever own another pet. Thankfully, that feeling didn't last. I still hate knowing that every living thing will die, sometimes cruelly. I hate it but I won't let it rob me of the joy of loving living things.

I am sending good thoughts your way. I truly hope that it was not your neighbors dog and if it was that they are reasonable and find another home for it away from chickens. Hugs to you for all you've gone through recently.

 

[Katydid2011]

Quote:
TOO FUNNY!!!! I have homeschooled for years and I can say with authority that it is educational, yes! It's also a FANTASTIC excuse. LOL! As for not counting your eggs... I think it's for the best.

 

[PortlandChick]

We've only been chicken parents for a couple months, but have already more than doubled our little flock. We meant to go pick up three chicks from our local urban farm store and ended up with four. A couple days ago we were about to move them outside to a coop that had never been in before and realized this was our chance to get a couple more and integrate them all into a brand new space. We came home with three pullets instead of two so our little flock of 3 urban birds is now at 7.

Our big problem is we love collecting all the different breeds. We have one each a white silkie, a red bantam frizzle, a barred rock, a black cochin, a mottled houdan, a gold-laced wyandotte and an ameraucana. They are a such a crazy, sweet looking little flock. I think I would be happy if I could just add a buff orphington...

 

[PortlandChick]

Not to mention our four rescue dogs, ten pond goldfish and little cat.

 

[Katydid2011]

Quote:
It sounds like a lovely mix. I hate to encourage a burgeoning addiction (not really! lol) but I definitely think you should add a Buff Orpington to the mix.

I see you're in Portland. Will you be attending the 2011 Tour de Coops? We're rural, not urban but I think we'll go give it a look. I love the idea of urban chicken-keeping and Portlanders are generally so eclectic and cool. They're sure to have some great set-ups.

 

[bucket04]

Quote:
Welcome Katy. I am Kristin and I am also a chicken addict.

*Joins a welcoming chorus of HI KRISTIN*

Hi, my name is Cathy and I'm a poultry addict.

I have 5 acres, we wanted some dual purpose hens and a rooster for eggs and meat. I was going to buy 9 hens and one roo, but the cost wasn't much more for 20 straight run instead. So I did the 20 straight run of EE's thinking that I'll need practice butchering extra roosters before it became a 'way of life' having to butcher birds that I raise from eggs. We ended up getting 21 chicks. 1 died after flying into my dog run. Another did the same thing about month later, and a rooster soon after that. The rooster lived for several months and then was eaten by a hawk. We were down to 9 hens and 9 roosters. We butchered 7 roosters for practice/food/noise reduction. We now have 9 hens and two roos.

I was asked by someone if I had any guineas, and I had never heard of them, but looked them up and thought they would be interesting to have so I agreed to go half and half with the guy on an order of 30. I got 32 in the order and started losing a ton of them (20 overall) so I waited to tell the guy that they were in because I wanted to know how many I would end up with. By the time I told him they were in (one week old) he had thought I forgot about him and bought some adults from someone else. So now I have 12 keets. I will keep 2 or 3 breeding couples and sell the rest.

Our plan since last year was to get our own heritage turkeys to raise, so I now have 6 (5 heritage : Bourbon Reds and one Giant White (out of two bought) for easing my family into the different look/taste of store-bought turkey to homegrown/heritage.)

Along with the 6 turkeys, 12 keets and 11 chickens, I tried my hand at incubating with 2 home made bators. I got 9 total EEs out of my two attempts.... and I've always wanted dark 'chocolate' eggs, so I bought 3 Welsummer (presumably female) chicks. I plan to breed them to my EE roo and hopefully get some nice olive eggers out of the mix too.

So currently I have 11 fullgrown EEs, 9 EE chicks, 3 Wellsummer, 6 turkeys, 12 guineas = 41 birds.
And I think my husband wanted "4".

 

[schellie69]

I miss the country some days so much. I walk out in the back yard and I hear cars and noise. I really want to hear the sound of animals being animals and the sound of clothes on the line. Just a place where there is only what and who I want around. Does this make sense to anyone else?

 

[Katydid2011]

Quote:
*Joins a welcoming chorus of HI KRISTIN*

Hi, my name is Cathy and I'm a poultry addict.

I have 5 acres, we wanted some dual purpose hens and a rooster for eggs and meat. I was going to buy 9 hens and one roo, but the cost wasn't much more for 20 straight run instead. So I did the 20 straight run of EE's thinking that I'll need practice butchering extra roosters before it became a 'way of life' having to butcher birds that I raise from eggs. We ended up getting 21 chicks. 1 died after flying into my dog run. Another did the same thing about month later, and a rooster soon after that. The rooster lived for several months and then was eaten by a hawk. We were down to 9 hens and 9 roosters. We butchered 7 roosters for practice/food/noise reduction. We now have 9 hens and two roos.

I was asked by someone if I had any guineas, and I had never heard of them, but looked them up and thought they would be interesting to have so I agreed to go half and half with the guy on an order of 30. I got 32 in the order and started losing a ton of them (20 overall) so I waited to tell the guy that they were in because I wanted to know how many I would end up with. By the time I told him they were in (one week old) he had thought I forgot about him and bought some adults from someone else. So now I have 12 keets. I will keep 2 or 3 breeding couples and sell the rest.

Our plan since last year was to get our own heritage turkeys to raise, so I now have 6 (5 heritage : Bourbon Reds and one Giant White (out of two bought) for easing my family into the different look/taste of store-bought turkey to homegrown/heritage.)

Along with the 6 turkeys, 12 keets and 11 chickens, I tried my hand at incubating with 2 home made bators. I got 9 total EEs out of my two attempts.... and I've always wanted dark 'chocolate' eggs, so I bought 3 Welsummer (presumably female) chicks. I plan to breed them to my EE roo and hopefully get some nice olive eggers out of the mix too.

So currently I have 11 fullgrown EEs, 9 EE chicks, 3 Wellsummer, 6 turkeys, 12 guineas = 41 birds.
And I think my husband wanted "4".

I love, love, love your last line, "And I think my husband wanted "4"."

 

[Katydid2011]

Quote:
It makes PERFECT sense to me. Before we moved back to the country, I used to drive out to rural areas and park roadside near pastures of horses or cows. If they would come to the fence I would talk to them and pet them. One time I buried my face in an old horses mane and just cried. I missed living in the country so much, it hurt.