- Jun 28, 2011
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Jim, known to BYC members as jvls1942, has been a member of our community since October 2008. He is known on the Helpful hints for building coops thread for his great advice.
1. Tell us a bit more about yourself.
2. Why and when did you start keeping chickens?
3. Which aspect(s) of chicken keeping did you enjoy the most?
4. Which members of your past flock stand out for you and why?
5. What was the funniest (chicken related) thing(s) that happened to you in your years as chicken owner?
6. Beside chickens, what other pets did you keep?
7. Anything you'd like to add?
OK, I will answer the questions in no particular order.
my name is Jim, wife is Ann. have one son and two daughters
got married in 1963.
we built our house in 1968.
bought 100 meat chickens that first spring.
No coop ,fence, waterers or feeders.
we had a wooden box about 3 feet square. kept the chicks in that until they grew out of it, (in about a week) they went back to the box each night. a few fit inside and the rest spread out on the ground in front of it..they were free range from day one. somehow they almost all survived.
I eventually built an 8ft x 8ft coop.
we didn't go into egg producers right away..
we kept a couple of the meat hens and they did lay quite well for us.
we increased the flock to 200 meat birds for a few years as long as the kids were still home with us. My brother and his family helped us with the butchering in exchange for some of the chickens.
then when the kids moved out we only would order 25 or 50 meaties.. It was only Mom and me to do the butchering.
then we quit that. went for a few years without any chickens.
I went to a 4H swap and came home with 7 Buff Orpington pullets. that was my downfall. I was back into chickens for the next 15 years or so.
then it spilled over into other species of birds. at one time or another or sometimes all at once, we had quail, muscovys, turkeys, geese, ducks, guineas and peacocks..
one winter we had 200 assorted birds.
I bought feed by the palletful..
One day I told my wife. You know?
I just paid more for that pallet of food than what I could sell all of the birds for.
Major down sizing happened before the next winter came around.
........jiminwisc.......
we also raised a couple of beef for meat. had a pig named Jenny. kept her long enough to have one litter of 6 .
dogs showed up here often enough so that we were hardly ever without one or two. stray cats showed up too.
we went for a couple of years with goats. once people found out we had goats, we often were blessed with another free goat that somebody didn't want anymore.
I milked two goats before leaving for work and after supper.
got to liking goat milk. got rid of the last goats in 1977.
have not had a glass of cows milk ever since. I will eat it on cereal , though..
a few years ago I had a bronze tom turkey. he was the first mean bird I ever had. then at the same time a rooster decided to be like tom.. they were penned together . nobody dared turn their back to them.. they would attack viciously.
I decided to make a LARGE batch of soup. but a guy showed up to buy some call ducks and he really like the tom.
so I "reluctantly" sold him for $25.oo..LOL we ate the rooster.
we had a border collie from the pound. He was useless but a good pet. One of my tom Royal Palm turkeys and Mack would fight almost every day. they both enjoyed it. the only casualty was tom's beard. It never got to grow long..
I had one barred rock hen who I protected from her mates.
she used to fly onto my shoulder and ride along as I fed all the other birds and animals.
I also had a Royal Palm hen who liked to ride on my shoulder.
I put a stop to that when she got almost full grown..
as I said, we raised meat chickens.
I got some plans to build a Whiz Bang chicken plucker.
I built five of them. I made modifications and improvements on each successive one I built. I would build one, use it until someone would buy it and then build another one. I sold four of them and still have the last one I built. I am thinking of putting some finishing touches on it and selling it. we are not going to be butchering any more.. I am 77 and my bride is 74
I still do a bit of gardening. corn, pole beans, buttercup squash, and 8 tomato plants.
I modified a 3 point, two row cultivator to do several jobs.
I can cultivate, change the spring teeth around and use it like a chisel plow to get the garden plowed. then rearrange the teeth and add two discs and make raised beds, then remove the teeth and adjust the discs to hill potatoes..
I have bought old farm implements and reconditioned them
I bought a two row horse corn planter. had to cut down a tree that had grown up through it.. used up several cans of penetrating oil getting it to work again. reworked the hitch to pull it with my tractor. did the same with a one bottom trailer plow.. got it working, but never plowed anything with it.
I bought four horse drawn potato diggers and two planters.
sold all of those.
bought and sold a half dozen tractors.
the one I have now is an Oliver 55 built in 1955.
I completely tore it apart and put it all back together.
Painted it green and gold, just like the Green Bay Packers..
Made a hydraulic loader for it.
.....jiminwisc........
https://www.backyardchickens.com/members/jvls1942.17184/
See here for more about the interview feature and a complete list of member interviews:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/905602/introducing-vip-member-interviews/0_30
1. Tell us a bit more about yourself.
2. Why and when did you start keeping chickens?
3. Which aspect(s) of chicken keeping did you enjoy the most?
4. Which members of your past flock stand out for you and why?
5. What was the funniest (chicken related) thing(s) that happened to you in your years as chicken owner?
6. Beside chickens, what other pets did you keep?
7. Anything you'd like to add?
OK, I will answer the questions in no particular order.
my name is Jim, wife is Ann. have one son and two daughters
got married in 1963.
we built our house in 1968.
bought 100 meat chickens that first spring.
No coop ,fence, waterers or feeders.
we had a wooden box about 3 feet square. kept the chicks in that until they grew out of it, (in about a week) they went back to the box each night. a few fit inside and the rest spread out on the ground in front of it..they were free range from day one. somehow they almost all survived.
I eventually built an 8ft x 8ft coop.
we didn't go into egg producers right away..
we kept a couple of the meat hens and they did lay quite well for us.
we increased the flock to 200 meat birds for a few years as long as the kids were still home with us. My brother and his family helped us with the butchering in exchange for some of the chickens.
then when the kids moved out we only would order 25 or 50 meaties.. It was only Mom and me to do the butchering.
then we quit that. went for a few years without any chickens.
I went to a 4H swap and came home with 7 Buff Orpington pullets. that was my downfall. I was back into chickens for the next 15 years or so.
then it spilled over into other species of birds. at one time or another or sometimes all at once, we had quail, muscovys, turkeys, geese, ducks, guineas and peacocks..
one winter we had 200 assorted birds.
I bought feed by the palletful..
One day I told my wife. You know?
I just paid more for that pallet of food than what I could sell all of the birds for.
Major down sizing happened before the next winter came around.
........jiminwisc.......
we also raised a couple of beef for meat. had a pig named Jenny. kept her long enough to have one litter of 6 .
dogs showed up here often enough so that we were hardly ever without one or two. stray cats showed up too.
we went for a couple of years with goats. once people found out we had goats, we often were blessed with another free goat that somebody didn't want anymore.
I milked two goats before leaving for work and after supper.
got to liking goat milk. got rid of the last goats in 1977.
have not had a glass of cows milk ever since. I will eat it on cereal , though..
a few years ago I had a bronze tom turkey. he was the first mean bird I ever had. then at the same time a rooster decided to be like tom.. they were penned together . nobody dared turn their back to them.. they would attack viciously.
I decided to make a LARGE batch of soup. but a guy showed up to buy some call ducks and he really like the tom.
so I "reluctantly" sold him for $25.oo..LOL we ate the rooster.
we had a border collie from the pound. He was useless but a good pet. One of my tom Royal Palm turkeys and Mack would fight almost every day. they both enjoyed it. the only casualty was tom's beard. It never got to grow long..
I had one barred rock hen who I protected from her mates.
she used to fly onto my shoulder and ride along as I fed all the other birds and animals.
I also had a Royal Palm hen who liked to ride on my shoulder.
I put a stop to that when she got almost full grown..
as I said, we raised meat chickens.
I got some plans to build a Whiz Bang chicken plucker.
I built five of them. I made modifications and improvements on each successive one I built. I would build one, use it until someone would buy it and then build another one. I sold four of them and still have the last one I built. I am thinking of putting some finishing touches on it and selling it. we are not going to be butchering any more.. I am 77 and my bride is 74
I still do a bit of gardening. corn, pole beans, buttercup squash, and 8 tomato plants.
I modified a 3 point, two row cultivator to do several jobs.
I can cultivate, change the spring teeth around and use it like a chisel plow to get the garden plowed. then rearrange the teeth and add two discs and make raised beds, then remove the teeth and adjust the discs to hill potatoes..
I have bought old farm implements and reconditioned them
I bought a two row horse corn planter. had to cut down a tree that had grown up through it.. used up several cans of penetrating oil getting it to work again. reworked the hitch to pull it with my tractor. did the same with a one bottom trailer plow.. got it working, but never plowed anything with it.
I bought four horse drawn potato diggers and two planters.
sold all of those.
bought and sold a half dozen tractors.
the one I have now is an Oliver 55 built in 1955.
I completely tore it apart and put it all back together.
Painted it green and gold, just like the Green Bay Packers..
Made a hydraulic loader for it.
.....jiminwisc........
https://www.backyardchickens.com/members/jvls1942.17184/
See here for more about the interview feature and a complete list of member interviews:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/905602/introducing-vip-member-interviews/0_30
