@BigBlueHen53
Come say hello to @BigBlueHen53! She's been a member since March 2019 and comes to us from SE Missouri.
Come say hello to @BigBlueHen53! She's been a member since March 2019 and comes to us from SE Missouri.
1. Tell us a bit more about yourself. And is there a story behind your member name?
I'm a 68-yo grandma joyfully married to The Man, living in rural SE Missouri with my 15-yo grandson, The Kid, and sometimes his 20-yo sister, "GirlChild;" two obnoxiously noisy Shelties and two cats. Basically an aging hippie, I enjoy baking bread, making yogurt, and caring for my family. I have a blue apron I often wear when caring for my youngest chicks, which they imprint on, so I imagine they consider me the Big Blue Hen. [ETA: That's how I chose my user name for BYC!] I am partial to blue chickens but don't really have any at the moment. Would love to have some blue Araucanas but that's me having champagne cravings on a water budget, lol. Here is an example of some of my yeast bread.
2. Why and when did you start keeping chickens (or any other poultry you have)?
Yes, just chickens. This is my second chicken-keeping experience. Many years ago, in my 20's and 30's, I had chickens but I wasn't very involved with them or very knowledgeable about them. I don't even remember what happened to them. This time, when I moved to Missouri in 2010 to meet the man who became my husband, whom I had met on a Christian dating site, I discovered to my horror that this state has ticks! TICKS!!!! It was either get chickens or turn around and go back to New Mexico. So I bought a nice tight building, had a little run built around it, and got a dozen hens and a rooster from a sweet little lady at our church. And then I married my guy!
Here we are at Rockbridge Trout Ranch this past Thanksgiving.
3. Which aspects of poultry keeping do you enjoy the most?
I love being able to walk around my yard without becoming a tick magnet!
Okay, no, seriously, there is not much I do not enjoy about having chickens. The eggs, of course, are amazing. Just sitting on the back porch and watching and listening to them go about their little chickeny lives, is pure peaceful therapy. Watching them - they are so beautiful! Hearing them. I love the sound of the rooster crowing and the hens bragging that they just laid the world's most perfect egg. The way they purr and chirr and gossip and complain to each other as they peck and scratch. And at the end of their productive lives, we have them processed and enjoy the beautiful soup they become. Just knowing they had happy lives and we are eating meat that came from animals that were lovingly, healthfully raised and humanely processed is a gift. We just love everything about them.4. Which members of your flock, past and present, stand out for you and why?
Elvis, our first rooster. What a sweetie. Ms D asked us to take him because the other roos were beating him up pretty bad. I learned later he was a BJG, and I named him Elvis just because he was so strikingly beautiful, but it proved a good name, because he sang around the clock! We don't have near neighbors so it was fine. Right now I have an EE who earned the name Friendly as a week-old chick, and is still uncommonly friendly. I thought she was a cockerel as a baby. She always had to come up close to see what I was doing, or if I had any goodies. Maybe she just needs glasses!
5. What was the funniest poultry related thing that has happened to you in your years as an owner?
We had an Easter Egger that decided to "lay out." That is to say, she quit laying in the nests and hid a nest somewhere out in the yard when she was free ranging. The first we knew of it was when our little Sheltie Gracie placed an egg at my feet in the kitchen. We couldn't imagine where she got it so we told her she was a good girl and forgot about it. A few minutes later she brought us another. We were a little more amazed at this and started paying attention. I think she brought us three or four eggs before we started following her, and she led us to a nest with about a dozen eggs! We locked up the birds for about a week to reset the hen or hens that were laying out. As for the eggs in the nest, I float tested them to be sure none would stink, and scrambled them for Gracie (this was before Sammy). She got a little serving every day for a week. Good girl, Gracie!
6. Beside poultry, what other pets do you keep?
As mentioned in intro, we have two Shelties and two cats. One of the Shelties, my sweet Gracie, is the reason we have always been able to free-range. I have seen her chase off three coyotes at once. She is either incredibly fearless or frightfully stupid. That's Gracie on the left below, looking at me. She has the "talking-est" eyes! And that's Sammy on the right, looking at her. She's 11, he's 3. He's both brilliant and dumb as a box of rocks at the same time. A bunch of our neighbor's cows got out of the pasture and into our yard the other day, and Sammy, in a matter of seconds, once he realized they were out, chased them back through the open gate into the pasture where they belonged. And he wasn't just chasing them away from The Man, as I thought; he stopped chasing as soon as they went through the gate and went trotting back to The Man, grinning with his tail up. I was watching from the window and had to pick up my jaw from the floor. Gracie, meanwhile, was running around in circles, yelling, "The cows are out, the cows are out!"
7. Anything you'd like to add?
Yes. I an beyond delighted to have found the BYC Community, and my flock has benefitted more than I can express. People with years of experience and incredible knowledge, who are so ready and willing to share their expertise free of charge just to help novice and struggling chicken tenders like myself and their suffering birds - they are amazing. I depend on people like @azygous, @Eggcessive, @aart, @casportpony, @ChickenCanoe, @Shadrach, @Wyorp Rock, and many others. I know I am missing some!
Because of things I have learned here, when a dog got hold of one of my EE hens recently (named Blue, ironically, though I name few of my birds), and she already had a bit of flystrike before we realized she was injured, The Man and I were able to nurse her back to health. We already had a well-stocked first-aid kit ready to go. Had I not been a regular reader here, we probably would have mercy-killed her immediately. So I cannot thank the community enough.
Y'all are awesome and I love you to the moon and back! Thank you all, for all you do. And thanks also to the support staff that makes this all possible, and to the moderators who work so hard to make it safe and pleasant! Love you all!@BigBlueHen53
For more information about the interview feature and a complete list of member interviews:
introducing-vip-member-interviews.905602
For more information about the interview feature and a complete list of member interviews:
introducing-vip-member-interviews.905602
