@Cryss
Come say hello to Crystal! She's been a member since November 2017 and comes to us from Northwest New Jersey.
Come say hello to Crystal! She's been a member since November 2017 and comes to us from Northwest New Jersey.
1. Tell us a bit more about yourself. And is there a story behind your member name?
My name is Crystal. Occasionally someone calls me the nickname usually spelled “Chris”. I wanted to spell it like my actual name but “Crys”, well, that looks like I’m weepin! Hence “Cryss”.
I’m a retired Private Duty Nurse mostly worked with severe special needs children and with a quadriplegic gentleman that was more like a brother.
I’m a bit eccentric but who here isn’t? Some of my eccentric interests include tattoos (late husband was a tattoo artist, also an East Orange NJ police officer), tobacco pipes (collect them, smoke them, and I am the founder and president of our local pipe smokers club). More than any of that is my relationship with Jesus. I sing old hymn choruses to my chickens. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
I have 2 daughters, 1 son, 3 granddaughters, 3 grandsons, and 1 great-granddaughter.
I was widowed at 46. At 54 I married a man from England who is 24 years younger. I am currently 70 years old.
2. Why and when did you start keeping chickens? (or any other poultry you have)
Bern (hubby) and I try our hand at gardening every year. We decided we didn’t want the usual store bought fertilizers. We had talked about one day having chickens so it seemed a perfect solution. Fertilizer, Eggs, and if we rotated our flock stock at 3yo we’d have chicken and dumplings. It was October 2017 we realized if we got them young now that they’d start laying in spring. If we got them in spring they’d be ready to lay just in time for molting season. Therefore now was the time. We ordered 4 from a local breeder. They’d be ready by Thanksgiving. Wait! We need a coop. Tractor Supply to the rescue(??). (Photo taken after coop is several years older and altered a bit.)
(That’s a story better read following along my early posts. Lesson learned. Proper coop built.)
Eggs were very welcomed. Fertilizer too. Surprisingly we discovered the entertainment factor! We also discovered the love aspect. I have yet to be able to cull, let alone eat, one of my babies.
3. Which aspects of poultry keeping do you enjoy the most?
The entertainment! This was so unexpected! If we are feeling blue we just go to the coop for some chicken therapy.
I was also surprised at their beauty. I only thought of hens as boring white birds. I love mixing my flock breeds and colors as long as they aren’t aggressive types.
So imagine when I discovered egg colors!
Actually I knew about green from my father in law who raised them and gave them to my young daughter. She’s 50 now.
4. Which members of your flock, past and present, stand out for you and why?
My first flock of 4 was to be 2 Buff Orpington pullets and 2 Lavender Orpington pullets. I decided I never wanted roosters. One Lavender grew quickly and decided to crow. Yup. The breeder traded him back for 2 pullets of choice. Several weeks later the sweetheart of the flock, Lavender Orpington Repecca, also decided to crow and began to grow. Name change, Roopecca. Attitude change, meanest rooster ever known. But he grew to sooo beautiful I kept him in a bachelor pad.
Sadly he passed in his sleep this past December.
Currently Doris, a Blue Marans, jumps up onto the poop board and roost as I clean it and gets in my way until I sing with her. We do a pretty good duet. She just hatched our very first brood of 9 chicks.
I’ll get into Henry in the next question.
5. What was the funniest poultry related thing that has happened to you in your years as an owner?
@Brahma Chicken5000 asked me to foster a banty rooster for 3 months and, oh, could I also take a big red boy to keep the banty company, then he’s mine to do with as I wish. Remember I don’t want roosters?
I actually told BC5000 I was in love and if his plans fell through I’d be happy to keep them both! I did a serious happy dance when the plans indeed fell through! Henry the banty,
and his hatch brother Albert,
are the sweetest, most gentle boys I could imagine. The hens quickly taught them manners and Henry’s dance is to die for.
Henry has become the court Jester to Albert’s Ruling King. Albert tries to make Henry behave with the ladies. Henry just sneaks away to dance for the girls. He especially seems to like the Bigger Ladies. One morning I was letting them out of the coop when here comes a galloping Bronco (um…hen) bursting from the chute ( er…pop door) with rodeo cowboy (hehehe…Henry) hanging on, waving his 3 and a half gallon hat hollering “Yeeee-Haaawww”! Ok maybe not quite, but that image was so funny that my daughter and I were almost in tears. Henry is slick. Albert tries to chase him away from the gals but we’ve seen Henry perform full on parkour in his escape and I swear I saw him blow raspberries as he ran away laughing! Where Albert is regal, Henry is mischievous and cocky.
6. Beside poultry, what other pets do you keep?
I have a little rescue mix dog (possibly Brussels Griffon)
named Butters that knows she’s not allowed inside the run with the chickens. As soon as I say I’m going to go do chickens she comes running to lead the way and then lays down just outside the gate until I come out. On the other hand, grandson has Dude, (pictured here with Butters),
a Parsons Russel that tries to chase hawks flying overhead. Heck he tries to chase jets flying overhead! The chickens mostly ignore his barking at them through the fence. Henry however has taken on the job of facing the fence to “scare” the monster away, or at least protect the ladies even if they think they don’t need it. My cat Bella,
long haired calico (oh the knots in that gorgeous fur!) doesn’t seem to notice that there are chickens around.
I gotta be careful. Daughter and son in law have been making noises about getting goats.
7. Anything you'd like to add?
Not sure if I answered questions properly in proper order but I enjoyed myself. I love to tell stories (talk) especially about my chickens. For the record, my flock of 4 is now 13 hens (one is a BO original member Eggsmerelda),
2 roosters, and 9 quickly growing chicks (5 pullets 4 cockerels…I think!).
So many of the members here have been so helpful with tons of excellent advice. I’m thankful to be a part of this forum and maybe be able to pay it forward.
@Cryss
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
