BYC Member Interview - Isadora

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Ursuline Chick said:
Wow, I had no idea y'all were so self sufficient. Are the guineas eatable as well as tickers? And the floofer is a beauty as is your rooster. Love your hen house as well. Thank you for an informative and enjoyable interview. :love
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They sure are! The only guinea we've eaten was one that had a slipped tendon that I wasn't able to correct. The meat tasted dark to me, which I love.
 
N F C said:
@Isadora

Come say hello to Isadora! She's been a member since March 2021 and comes to us from Indiana.​



1. Tell us a bit more about yourself. And is there a story behind your member name?
I grew up in upstate NY and spent a lot of time with the animals. Ever since I can remember, I was assisting or was fully in charge of the poultry. My parents had chickens for eggs and raised a flock of turkeys every year for meat. My wariness of roosters was begun by a gorgeous but fierce Buff Orpington named George. I couldn't even go into the pen without a stick or he would attempt to flog me. But many of the hens we had were super sweet and I adored them all.
But I don't only love poultry. I have a fondness for animals of all kinds and cats most especially. My dad used to call me "The Pied Piper" because if I went outdoors, all the cats we had would follow me around the property.
Fast forward to after my husband and I married and moved to VA. We moved a few times within the first few years, renting. We tried to buy a few homes in the first few years but it never worked out. It was incredibly frustrating at the time but I can look back and see God's hand in it all. He didn't want us in VA. He had other plans for us. We stuck with cats for pets during that time, though we dreamed aloud about getting a dog and farm animals some day.
We had the oppurtunity to travel to see other states and decided to make a trip that involved Indiana. We weren't planning on making an offer on this trip but the first place we stopped was IT. Literally everything we had on our "wishlist" for our homestead was there: creeks, hills, mature fruit trees, an outdoor building plus garage space for my husband, and the list goes on.
We made an offer on the place that very weekend and did end up purchasing it. This place is our dream come true. We jumped in with both feet, fueled by youthful enthusiam and a desire to make this piece of earth a haven for our four crazy kids and a place of rest and provision for us.


2. Why and when did you start keeping chickens? (Or any other poultry you have.)
Our first animal acquisition was a group of six pekin ducks. I had wanted ducks for years and years and I think God found it fitting they should be my first homestead animal. I have since added a bunch of indian runners to the flock, as well as a pekin/runner cross and four geese. The pekins are a meat source but we eat the eggs when I'm not incubating. The runners are our main eggs source and the geese were supposed to be a hawk deterrent. Who knows if they actually help in that regard but I may hatch more in the future anyway because I absolutely adore them. I have a gander named Vaughn who has quite the personality. I had wondered how a couple of my movable fence posts were becoming untied and assumed one of the kids was doing it. I happened to look out my bedroom window at the right time last week and saw Vaughn untying it! He also makes sure the other animals know he is a force to be reckoned with.
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My husband built me a gorgeous coop, an open air Woods style that I named the "Hickety Pickety Hotel". I like to joke with him that it's nicer than the house, since we live in a fixer upper. I should probably write an article on how we built it sometime.
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We purchased a batch of straight run chicks from our feed store, as well as a bunch of guineas. They are all completely free ranged, as I wanted them for tick control. I used to do tick checks twice a day on the kids and once a day on the dog and would find at least a couple ticks. It was so disturbing to me. Once we got the guineas out free ranging, the ticks became a thing of the past. Even now I only find them on the barn cats who range farther than my guinea thugs do.
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3. Which members of your flock, past and present, stand out for you and why?
I had initially had an order from Hoover's hatchery for Easter eggers but canceled it when we found the cheaper chicks at the feed store. But somehow the chicks still showed up at my house. So I have several of them too. Here are some of the ladies. Willa the red sex link, Clementine the Sapphire Gem, Marigold the EE, and a few others. Willa is a fan favorite with the kids. She is so calm and friendly. She couldn't care less that they pick her up and hold her often. She tried twice last summer to go broody, even disappearing for a few days into the woods. I thought for sure a predator had gotten her but she came back.
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Paco my rooster also needs to be mentioned. I swapped chickens with a fellow BYC member, @Adams Farmhouse , and he is the best boy ever. Nice to the ladies and ignores the human kids. He's such a quirky little fellow and amusing to watch.
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I can't fail to mention all the meat chickens we raised last year. I don't know the exact number but it was over 300. We eat a decent amount of meat, being a family of six, and we wanted extra on hand to sell. We raised Freedom Rangers and CX, using tractors out in the field that we moved daily. I have never tasted such flavorful chicken! We had to teach ourselves how to kill and butcher and at this point I think it's safe to say we are competent at it. Even our kids help out on butcher days.
We also processed ducks, one of my geese that had severe angel wing, turkeys, and three pigs. It's been quite the learning curve for us.
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4. Beside poultry, what other pets do you keep?
We also got our long awaited puppy, Maisy. She's been very good with the animals, even all the birds that are running around. She's a bit of a goofball and I adore her. It's been very rewarding training her.
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5. Anything you'd like to add?
I found BYC because every time I was trying to do research and find answers to my questions this was the first site that popped up. It only made sense to join! I thought it was a fabulous resource and wealth of information, and I was right. What I didn't realize was how many friendships I was going to make and how addictive being online here was going to be. Silly me.
I am a lover of fun, good natured ribbing, and laughter. If I can't have fun doing something I don't see the point. And for things that I have to do but don't enjoy, like cooking, I turn on some music with a good beat and dance in the kitchen. Life is too short not to have fun. I can't believe how much of it I have here.
Thank you @The Moonshiner for never failing to make me laugh.
Thank you to all the prayer warriors for being strong in the faith and prayers. And thank you to all of my other friends here who make my day a little better just by being themselves.
I was surprised when I was asked if I would be interested in doing an interview as I had assumed I was fairly under the radar. I'm honored to have been featured and hope you all enjoyed it.
Take care and I'll see you around,
Isadora



@Isadora

For more information about the interview feature and a complete list of member interviews:
introducing-vip-member-interviews.905602​
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I love your interview! Its great to get to know you more Isadora! :love
 

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