- Jun 28, 2011
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Alexandra, known to BYC members as AlleysChicks, has been a member of our community since October, 2016. Another of our wonderful all rounders, she is known for her friendliness.
Tell us a bit more about yourself.
I live in a small town (its really considered a village) in southern Ohio. It’s kinda in the middle of nowhere, nothing special but it’s home. It’s beautiful out here though!
My parents have always been pretty supportive of my crazy ideas over the years. My mom is always my sidekick on my adventures to pick up new animals. You guys wouldn’t believe the road trips we’ve taken! My dad always helps me build anything I may need (those chicken coops keep multiplying somehow) and his truck comes in handy to haul supplies it too.
I read in my spare time and try to take some nature hikes when it’s nice out. I love taking pictures of pretty things I find.
I took this picture at Adams Lake a few years ago. They have trails and you can see some cool wildlife.
Why and when did you start keeping chickens?
How I ended up a Crazy Chicken Lady.
Well you see it started innocent enough. I wanted to have fresh eggs. Then I spiraled out of control.
I got my first chicks on the way back from a wedding. Yep you read that right! You see a couple years ago (2016 I believe) one of my close friends was getting married up north. Well I dragged my mom along as my +1. On the way back we stopped at a Rural King to “look” at chicks. Wouldn’t you know they had 5 bins of chicks! A friendly older man informed me to get a few more than I wanted because it was likely that a few wouldn’t make it. So I got 2 of each, & there we were in dresses trying to gather every possible thing we’d need for baby chicks! A sight to be seen I’m sure.
Here are my first chicks!
Of course every last one of those chicks grew up nice and healthy and all of a sudden I had too many bird (so I thought at the time) so I sold 4 and that left me with 6. A reasonable number I assured myself. Until I seen a young rooster for sale on Facebook. He was destined to be mine.
What was the funniest (chicken related) thing(s) that happened to you in your years as chicken owner?
He was a bit younger than the girls but that was ok, they got along great.
This leads me to my funniest moments so far in chicken keeping. I always loved crowing, a rooster crow was my goal. Of course I had to get the most backward cockerel there ever was. I’d stand outside the run talking to him, urging him to crow. Nothing. So I started playing him videos of crowing and even crowed myself! This went on a few weeks until he finally let out a squeaky crow! It made my day!
Winter had hit full swing by then and we got a good bit of snow and ice. I was trying and failing to walk with a bucket of water in one hand and a scoop of feed in the other out to the coop. I was sliding and staggering all over the place. Well apparently since I helped him get his big boy voice, he’d take lessons from me on wooing his girls since they ran to me straight away. So there I am day after day stumbling and sliding making my way to feed them. Then I see this blue cockerel stumbling around to the point he falls over! I thought he was hurt. He was fine, just copying me lol the girls weren’t too thrilled with him.
Here is Davey with a few of his girls.
Which aspect(s) of chicken keeping do you enjoy the most?
The best aspect of chicken keeping for me is the eggs. You put in so much work just to get that first egg. And you can do so much with them! You can cook them, sell them and even incubate them! Which is why I no longer have just those 7 chickens lol It’s just so easy to put some eggs in a incubator, then some more. And before you know it you have 40 chicks!
Which members of your flock, past and present, stand out for you and why?
What members of my flock stand out to me? Definitely Davey and Rudy.
Davey is beautiful, and he takes great care of his girls (now that he realizes food is a great motivator instead of stumbling around).
Rudy is such a sweetheart. She does her own hair often and gets along with everyone. She was my first silkie I hatched, from shipped eggs too!
Beside chickens, what other pets do you keep?
Other pets… I have 2 small dogs (Kat & Pippa), a turtle named Yertle, 2 guinea pigs (Stella & Andy), 5 cats, and recently 2 goats.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/members/alleyschicks.448246/
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
Tell us a bit more about yourself.
I live in a small town (its really considered a village) in southern Ohio. It’s kinda in the middle of nowhere, nothing special but it’s home. It’s beautiful out here though!
My parents have always been pretty supportive of my crazy ideas over the years. My mom is always my sidekick on my adventures to pick up new animals. You guys wouldn’t believe the road trips we’ve taken! My dad always helps me build anything I may need (those chicken coops keep multiplying somehow) and his truck comes in handy to haul supplies it too.
I read in my spare time and try to take some nature hikes when it’s nice out. I love taking pictures of pretty things I find.
I took this picture at Adams Lake a few years ago. They have trails and you can see some cool wildlife.
Why and when did you start keeping chickens?
How I ended up a Crazy Chicken Lady.
Well you see it started innocent enough. I wanted to have fresh eggs. Then I spiraled out of control.
I got my first chicks on the way back from a wedding. Yep you read that right! You see a couple years ago (2016 I believe) one of my close friends was getting married up north. Well I dragged my mom along as my +1. On the way back we stopped at a Rural King to “look” at chicks. Wouldn’t you know they had 5 bins of chicks! A friendly older man informed me to get a few more than I wanted because it was likely that a few wouldn’t make it. So I got 2 of each, & there we were in dresses trying to gather every possible thing we’d need for baby chicks! A sight to be seen I’m sure.
Here are my first chicks!
Of course every last one of those chicks grew up nice and healthy and all of a sudden I had too many bird (so I thought at the time) so I sold 4 and that left me with 6. A reasonable number I assured myself. Until I seen a young rooster for sale on Facebook. He was destined to be mine.
What was the funniest (chicken related) thing(s) that happened to you in your years as chicken owner?
He was a bit younger than the girls but that was ok, they got along great.
This leads me to my funniest moments so far in chicken keeping. I always loved crowing, a rooster crow was my goal. Of course I had to get the most backward cockerel there ever was. I’d stand outside the run talking to him, urging him to crow. Nothing. So I started playing him videos of crowing and even crowed myself! This went on a few weeks until he finally let out a squeaky crow! It made my day!
Winter had hit full swing by then and we got a good bit of snow and ice. I was trying and failing to walk with a bucket of water in one hand and a scoop of feed in the other out to the coop. I was sliding and staggering all over the place. Well apparently since I helped him get his big boy voice, he’d take lessons from me on wooing his girls since they ran to me straight away. So there I am day after day stumbling and sliding making my way to feed them. Then I see this blue cockerel stumbling around to the point he falls over! I thought he was hurt. He was fine, just copying me lol the girls weren’t too thrilled with him.
Here is Davey with a few of his girls.
Which aspect(s) of chicken keeping do you enjoy the most?
The best aspect of chicken keeping for me is the eggs. You put in so much work just to get that first egg. And you can do so much with them! You can cook them, sell them and even incubate them! Which is why I no longer have just those 7 chickens lol It’s just so easy to put some eggs in a incubator, then some more. And before you know it you have 40 chicks!
Which members of your flock, past and present, stand out for you and why?
What members of my flock stand out to me? Definitely Davey and Rudy.
Davey is beautiful, and he takes great care of his girls (now that he realizes food is a great motivator instead of stumbling around).
Rudy is such a sweetheart. She does her own hair often and gets along with everyone. She was my first silkie I hatched, from shipped eggs too!
Beside chickens, what other pets do you keep?
Other pets… I have 2 small dogs (Kat & Pippa), a turtle named Yertle, 2 guinea pigs (Stella & Andy), 5 cats, and recently 2 goats.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/members/alleyschicks.448246/
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
