@Grammy60
Come say hello to Sue! She has been a member since July 2019 and comes to us from Tennessee.
Come say hello to Sue! She has been a member since July 2019 and comes to us from Tennessee.
1. Tell us a bit more about yourself.
I was born at Tyndall AFB, FL in 1960. My Dad was in the Air Force and I am the youngest of 5 children. Being military, we moved a lot. We were stationed at Chanute AFB, IL in 1962 when my Dad died in a car crash on Christmas Eve. Shortly before My 11th Birthday my Mom passed from Cancer. I became a product of the foster care system. I’ve moved so often I feel like a gypsy at heart.
Between 1971 and 1974 I moved from Illinois to Ohio, then to Florida and to Indiana. I lived in four different homes while in Indiana. One of them was my first introduction to keeping chickens and rabbits. It was also the first time I encountered an outhouse, boy did that give me a new appreciation for indoor plumbing. I also developed a dislike for the old school way of processing chickens and rabbits. My final stop was in 1975, when I found my forever foster family.
My first solo bus trip from Indiana to Colorado to visit my Sister and to meet my new niece.
It was July 1979 when two strange guys crashed my graduation party. I had never met them before had no idea who they were. My foster brother knew them as did several of my neighbors. Just prior to leaving the party they carried me first and then my foster Mom a block down the ally and threw us into the neighbor’s swimming pool. In February 1980, I married the taller of the two. We’ve been together for more than 41 years now.
On our Honeymoon From the Top of Lucy in NJ
Our 38th Anniversary Our 40th Anniversary
Bob (rjohns39) joined the Air Force in 1981. One of our favorite places is Germany. Our base was in the middle of farm country, so we got to see a lot of livestock. If you were out around 4:00AM on Monday morning, you could watch that weeks’ worth of meat walk to the butcher shop. We wound up in Northern VA, the DC Metro area in the fall of 1995 and that was our 23rd move. 20 years later we moved to the farm here in middle Tennessee. This will be our final home.
Us with our Son and Daughter
Me with two of our granddaughters
I’ve been a pre-school teacher since 1990. I enjoy doing paint and color by number as well as other artsy things. I love to read and explore history. When I was younger and had steadier hands I baked cakes and decorated them for various people in the military. And I like to collect elephants.
Some of my paint and color by number as well as digital
2. Why and when did you start keeping chickens?
July 2016. Our goal was to turn the farm into an operational farm selling eggs, meat, chicks, poults, ducklings, pullets, turkeys and ducks. Eventually, we wanted to add cattle and pigs to the equation and maybe rabbits, geese and quail. We wanted to grow as much of our food as possible and sell enough so we would eat for free. At our high point we had more than 200 birds who free ranged during the day and got locked up at night. Our first season, we put over 850 pounds of meat into the freezer. Unfortunately as free ranging goes, we found ourselves feeding the local wild life and had to move to a secure run. We are much smaller scale today as it’s just the two of us and Bob works full time.Our Granddaughters with our first egg
Hatching Barred Holland chicks Chicks in the brooder
Meat Birds Variety of Egg Sizes colors and types with a little asparagus we had just picked
Birds coming out to play
3. Which aspects of poultry keeping do you enjoy the most?
Watching the birds just be themselves. I talk to my birds and they talk back. Turkeys are incredibly curious and must supervise everything you do. Building the greenhouse was a riot and when the first hoop went up, the girls had to test it out as a perch. I love raising ducklings, poults and chicks. I’d love to have a yard full of turkeys and ducks again, but we have to do a lot of maintenance before that can happen.
Stumpy in the Brooder Chilling with the turkeys
4. Which members of your flock, past and present, stand out for you and why?
Our first 9 chickens were seven POL Isabella Leghorns (our granddaughter is Isabella) and two younger Marans. The leghorns were way too flighty for me, but the Marans were lap chickens. They loved to cuddle and always came running when I was out in the pasture. Then there was stumpy. Stumpy was the runt of our first batch of ducks. He and I spent a lot of time together as the others would chase him away from the food and water. He grew a lot and became unrecognizable but he was always happy to come running when I was out there. He was the first of the boys to grow a collar and get those distinctive drake feathers.
The Marans playing in the grass Stumpy
Stumpy
Ducks first bath
Stumpy in the brooder
Hammy
Then there was Hammy. He stayed with the best batch of meat birds we raised. Lowest mortality rate and highest feed to carcass conversion rate. We are convinced that he was responsible for that success. He was also an escape/break in artist. We know beyond a shadow of doubt that he’s responsible for our barnyard mixes, but have no idea how he got in and out of the breed pen.
5. What was the funniest poultry related thing that has happened to you in your years as an owner?
Well it wasn’t funny at the time but we laugh about it today. Our electronet fence got sticks and debris tangled in the bottom next to the gate. Bob knelt down and started working on cleaning it out. His favorite turkey came over to inspect the work and waited patiently for him to acknowledge her. Bob was focused on the tangle in the fence and didn’t even notice she was there. When she got tired of being ignored, she pecked him on the top of the head. It startled him so he instinctively looked up just to take the second peck in the eye. He tried to tough it out and not go to the doctor but by Sunday morning the pain was too intense. Doctors aren’t open out here on Sundays, so we had to drive into the city. The look and reaction we got from the doctor as Bob tried to explain to this city doctor how he got pecked in the eye by a turkey.
For me, it was a Delaware rooster and again it wasn’t funny at the time. He was about two years old when he went to freezer camp. He didn’t harass anyone else in the family, but every time I went into the pasture he would attack. I learned to carry a stick with me to fend him off. In hindsight some of my maneuvering to avoid those spurs was hilarious.
6. Beside poultry, what other pets do you keep?
Today all we have is our LGD named Todd. He’s very picky on when it’s appropriate to guard the chickens. Rain, thunder & lightning, snow and too hot are all on his list of “it’s time to go into the house.” When we moved here we had our daughter’s first husband’s cat Micci. She was an outdoor cat, but we couldn’t leave her behind in VA. We had to put her down about a year after we got here. And then there was Prancer our baby. She made to 12 year and 1 month before passing on her own terms from cancer. Prancer went everywhere with us. She was crazy about her tennis balls but wasn’t interested in sticks or any other kind of ball. She’d follow us into the pasture and hang out with the birds while we were in there. While we were building our greenhouse she laid in the pasture and supervised while the turkey’s inspected. One of our Royal Palms had a real affinity for Prancer and would follow her anywhere. When she laid down the turkey would groom her. She’d tolerate it for a little while then get up and move. This activity was a pretty regular occurrence. We’ve also had pigs (never again) which went well at first until they destroyed the fence and escaped. After we got them locked up in the barn we processed them. Processing a pig is more work than its worth.
Prancer
Todd
And then we have our local wild visitors in the front yard and the monster in a tree…
7. Anything you'd like to add?
Before my stroke, I thought of BYC about the same as FB. I viewed both as places to go either to play nice with others or act like you know everything and belittle people you don’t know. I just wasn’t a social media fan. While I was in rehab, I received cards and flowers from BYC members offering their get well/speedy recovery wishes. After I came home from the hospital I read the outpouring of support for Bob and I from so many members, it was overwhelming. I learned that what makes BYC different are the many caring people who support and care for others. I decided to hang out more and more and get to know these folks better. A decision I don’t regret. BYC people are more than caring and supportive, they are fun to be around, funny, sharing, open, smart and polite. They are real people and I’m happy to say that I’ve made some really good friends out here. Thank you BYC!
And here are some random pics from around the farm…
@Grammy60
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
