@GodLovesU
Come say hello to Shelby who has been a member since June 2024 and comes to us from the SE part of the US.
Come say hello to Shelby who has been a member since June 2024 and comes to us from the SE part of the US.
1. Tell us a bit more about yourself. And is there a story behind your member name?
Hi! I’m Shelby. I’m a teenage girl and I raise button quail and chickens. I live in a small town in North Carolina. I have two younger sisters and one younger brother. We all play piano. I’m in high school and have been homeschooled since pre-K. I love music of any kind and enjoy writing. I’m pretty active in two churches that I’ve gone to throughout my childhood. I play volleyball and sing in the choir with the church I am more active in. My member name is GodLovesU because I wanted something that would spread the love of Jesus and show others that I am a Christian.
2. Why and when did you start keeping poultry?
My poultry-keeping journey started when I convinced my dad to buy me a dozen chicks. I was four years old and still have two of them! We bought three Buff Orpingtons, three Easter Eggers, Three Barred Rocks, and Three Rhode Island Reds. I also started keeping Button Quail less than a year ago and hatched them myself.
(Me and my siblings with the original twelve)
3. Which aspects of poultry keeping do you enjoy the most?
I love watching them live their little lives. Getting eggs from my hens is nice too.
4. Which members of your flock, past and present, stand out for you and why?
I have four all-time favorites: Beardie, Eyeball, Leia, and Stripette
(pronounced Stripe-ette).Beardie is #1 forever. She was one of the original twelve. She was a bearded Easter Egger and was always doing something crazy. One time she tried to sit on a nest of infertile eggs and came back to the house a month later. I thought she was dead, and she sure smelled like it after those eggs busted on her.
She was always subject to whatever games I wanted to play with her, and tolerated it very well. She died about 2-3 years ago from old age and the other chickens bullying her.
(Beardie as a chick)
(Me and Beardie)
Eyeball was Beardie’s son (I believe the father was an Columbian Wyandotte) and was the sweetest rooster I’ve ever had. He was very good with his ladies. I hatched him myself. When he hatched his eyes looked huge due to black down all around them, giving him his name. He also never had a tail due to the other chickens pecking at it.
He died about a year and a half ago from a stroke. Between the time he had the stroke and the time he died I was integrating some pullets, and he was so sweet with them.
(Eyeball as a chick)
(Eyeball)
Leia is my first bantam hen (she’s a Mille Fleur D’uccle) and the most spoiled chicken I’ve ever had. I received her and her male counterpart (Luke) from a friend who was no longer able to keep them. Leia has a minor cross-beak, so she gets special treatment. When I first got her she refused to get off of the wall of the coop due to fear of the other chickens. She would come in my room every once in a while. Over winter she lost a lot of weight and her beak broke. I brought her inside for a week and she put some weight on. Since then she has improved significantly and actually started laying eggs!
(Leia in my room)
Stripette is a Barred Rock and one of the original twelve. She was best friends with Beardie and Scarlet, a Rhode Island Red I used to have. One time Stripette decided she was going to sleep on top of the wheel of my neighbors bread truck. A few weeks later she managed to get INSIDE the truck and rode all the way to the bread store a whole town away!
She is enjoying retirement life with the other survivor from the OG twelve, an Easter Egger named Spot.(Stripette)
{Please keep in mind that I named Stripette, Spot, and Beardie when I was a small child
}5. What was the funniest poultry related thing that has happened to you in your years as an owner?
Probably when I left Leia unattended in my room and she jumped IN THE TOILET.
Also, she was ASLEEP. On the plus side, the broken part of her beak fell off while she was in there. I thought Stripette’s fiasco was crazy, but Leia took the cake! 6. Besides poultry, what other pets do you keep?
Between everyone in my immediate family we have seven dogs, a corn snake, a bearded dragon, a box turtle, a goldfish, three ember Tetras, two mystery snails, and four betta fish. This is in addition to my eleven chickens and three button quail.
(Biggie, Blue, and Bubs “The Button Boys”)
(My current flock)
(Iggy)
(Cupid)
(Tilly)
(Gabby and Zeke)
(Rhett and Lucy {parents of dogs below})
(Patsy)
(June and Conway)
7. Anything you'd like to add?
Feel free to ask me more questions! Also if you’d like to check out my articles I would really appreciate it! I love this community and am so honored that I was chosen for this interview. Thank you so much for reading! God bless you and have a great day!
@GodLovesU
For more information about the interview feature and a complete list of member interviews:
introducing-vip-member-interviews
For more information about the interview feature and a complete list of member interviews:
introducing-vip-member-interviews
