DiYMama430 (also known as Jessi)
Jessi, known on BYC as @DiYMama540 has been a member since June 2019. She can often be found in the Duck and Geese forums as well as participating in the social forums where she is known for her friendliness and enthusiasm.
Hey y’all! My name is Jessi, and I’ve made this crazy thing called life work for my family and I in Virginia!
1. Tell us a bit more about yourself.
Around Valentine’s day, back in 2010, I was working as a Pre K teacher, minding my own business and enjoying the single life, when the father of one of my students asked me for my phone number! We talked for hours on the phone and got to know each other before I finally agreed to go on a date! Fast forward, and I’m happy to call my best friend, my husband! We have 3 boys, the 2 oldest are my stepsons (15 and 12, respectively) and the “baby” we had together in 2011, he will soon be 9!
Most of my days now are spent living the stay at home mom life, making sure everyone is fed! I feel like a taxi driver getting each of the boys to school, and then all the other activities they are into.
In MY free time I love to garden, craft, and hang out with my birds. My husband and I have a landscape business that stays busy and I also help with that! I can make other people’s yards look absolutely beautiful, but my own backyard has gone to the birds, literally!
Traveling, camping, fishing are all things we really enjoy doing as a family! Any time we can, we love to get away and get outdoors!
2. Why and when did you start keeping chickens and other poultry?
We did not start our own official flock until Spring of 2019! Before that I had helped various neighbors and family members tend to their flocks, but never really considered having one of my own. The boys finally convinced me that if we were to get some chickens…and ducks…and geese that they would do all the work! I was definitely skeptical, but I thought it would be a good opportunity to teach them all sorts of life skills they don’t get in school. The boys are still a big help with anything I ask them to do, but I’ve fallen head over heels and truly enjoy poultry tending myself!
3. Which aspects of poultry keeping do you enjoy the most?
I love the relationship and bond we are able to form with the flock. All my life I’ve been an admirer of the wild birds, but they were only using me for food! Now with my own flock, they use me for food, but I’m able to use them for fertilizer, entertainment, and of course, food!
4. Which members of your flock, past and present, stand out for you and why?
My geese, BB and Chance take the crown in my heart and mind! BB came as a surprise from the feed store when I sent my husband and son to get FEED! They returned with a goose, and another duckling. (We already had 2 ducks!) I immediately fell in love with that fuzzy gosling! So, I took to BYC to learn the best ways to care for my line gosling and learned she needed a buddy! So then Chance enters the picture! He was a rescue, but it didn’t take long at all for him to fill out and make his own place in the flock!
5. What was the funniest poultry related thing that has happened to you in your years as an owner?
Of course there have been plenty of poop related disasters, but the funniest thing so far was the first time my family and I heard the egg song coming from our backyard! Miss Piggy was the quietest of all the chicks, and here she was belting out a tune for all the world to hear! We laughed so hard because we rushed around to see what the commotion was, and she’s standing proud by the coop announcing her hard work!
Then there’s the geese and ducks…I’ve lost track at this point of all their ridiculous antics. They have so much personality and have given us plenty of giggles!
6. Beside poultry, what other pets do you keep?
I often refer to my house as the zoo!! Currently, we have 2 dogs and a cat. Gucci is a 9year old Great Dane, and Doodle is a 3 year old terrier mix. Doodle was a rescue, and so was our cat, Kitty. Animal rescue and rehabilitation has always been a big part of my life, and will always be near and dear to my heart. My Aunt is a veterinarian and all the family teases us that “animal whispering” must be genetic! I’m currently working on passing my animal whispering traits on to my niece who LOVES coming to visit my house and seeing all our pets!
7. Anything you'd like to add?
BYC has been such an amazing resource for me! I love the friendships I’ve made and the stories we’ve shared! The best way I feel to pay it forward is by being as helpful and supportive to other members! Even though it took many years to finally get into poultry keeping, I can’t imagine life without a flock now. Our 10 year plan is to move to the beautiful Outer Banks of North Carolina when my husband is eligible for retirement from the fire department. My flock will be coming with us, beach birds!
Whoever said fishing was for boys??
diymama540.544602
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For more information about the interview feature and a complete list of member interviews:
introducing-vip-member-interviews.905602
I told 
Love your photos too, you are such a wonderful BYCer, we'd be lost without you!! 
