Come say hello to Meg. She has been a member since January 2018 and comes to us from Montana.
1. Tell us a bit more about yourself.
As you can surmise from my handle, my name is Meg and I live in Montana. I've lived here my whole life, save for a cross country move to the East Coast about 15 years ago. Scary possums on the deck, cockroaches scurrying around the house in the dark, air you could drink...
made it four months there. My home state doesn't support those kind of terrors
I run a supply store during the day, but my heart is always home with my animals and family. We were blessed with our first grandbaby a couple of months ago and couldn't be happier! We love her to bits.
Things have changed a little since being diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis last summer. I'm still trying to figure out what that means for chicken keeping and life in general. (Feel free to PM me with any advice or words of wisdom!) Luckily, I married a man who is no stranger to picking up slack. Dealing with feed sacks and filling waterers isn't something that I can't do anymore, but it's harder than it used to be and he never grumbles about helping me out. Sometimes it's even done when I get home. He's the hardest working person I know.
2. Why and when did you start keeping chickens? (or any other poultry you have)
Our chicken adventures probably started like a lot of yours: the kids wanted chickens. So in about 2010 my husband acquired a roof from a demo job and built a coop underneath it. Around 2010.5 the kids decided they didn't want chickens anymore, so the chickens became mine and I never looked back! (I kid about the timeline...I really can't remember when it was
A few years later, we got another shed and set it up for a second coop. The run was extended and I now had two coops and one run that could be closed off in the middle if I was introducing new babies or new birds. Done! Finito! Plenty of room now! I'm sure everybody understands where this is going.
Our youngest boy had joined 4-H and committed to the pig breeding program, which is a three year project. Not ones to do anything half-way, we built a farrowing barn in our existing barn complete with heat, water, concrete and crates. After some years of raising pigs and selling them for 4-H and meat, we decided it was just too much work in the winter straw-ing up and taking care of pigs and cattle. The pigs went down the road.
Then there was a fully enclosed building with all of these amenities. What a great place to raise some chickens, eh? Heat, outlets, exhaust fan - it was the biggest brooder I'd ever had! Turned out they really didn't need that much room, so my husband built a wall to split it into two rooms: half coop/half warming room for calves. They were without roosts for a minute , but they made do!
In 2019, my Mama passed away from a short battle with Pancreatic cancer. Earlier that year, I had talked her into moving back home and living with us so we could spend as much time together as possible. In January, I ordered chicks for our birthdays (4 days apart in August) that we could rear together - I thought it would be some happy last memories for her and lasting memories for me. Our hearts were broken on June 1st, only four days after she'd arrived. Losing a parent is the worst thing I've ever gone through. Sadly, I'm sure many of you know the feeling.
My husband talked me out of cancelling the order of chicks, certain I'd regret it. We decided to build a new coop and run in honor of Mom and to make things easier on me when I was struggling with her loss. We spent that fall taking out the small shed-coop, tearing down the uncovered run and building new from scratch.
Raised in the barn with their new heat plate:
I'm so glad we got that done. The roofed run saves so much work! When you live where it snows and the coops aren't really big enough for everyone to just hang tight for six months until it melts, then you have to be outside after every storm shoveling the entire run out.
Of course, you also have to shovel a path to dust bathing area. Apparently I was too busy shoveling to take pictures
My husband and boys built the sliding/barn door style entrance to the run. The center is part of a wire spool: an ode to my wood hoarding haha. It is beautiful.
3. Which aspects of poultry keeping do you enjoy the most?
My favorite thing to do on a Saturday morning is take a cup of coffee and my girls (dogs) out to the bird yard and set the chickens free. Isn't it funny when you let them out and they act like they've been in a tiny box their whole life?? Everyone runs and flaps for the door and sails as far as their little wings will carry them! I just love that.
Watching the varying personalities of the chickens unfold, is another. At one point I would have probably said chickens were a bit "simple", but that just isn't true. They are so smart and wily and clever. It's such a joy to observe all of their interactions and the idiosyncrasies of individual chickens.
And who doesn't love a broody?
Can't forget the eggs, either:
4. Which members of your flock, past and present, stand out for you and why?
There have been quite a few standouts. One in particular was a speckled sussex rooster that I'd had for about 8 years. After his "brother" died, he got expelled from his coop by a younger and stronger rooster. He was a pitiful thing who'd gotten frostbite and looked like he had a mohawk. He seemed to have some hens during the day, but he slept in the barn by himself at night. He'd follow me around when I went outside, looking to be fed. He'd eat out of my hand or out of the feed scoop.
I went out one day and he was nowhere to be found. I was sure he was a goner. I made my rounds and went into the pig barn coop and there he was! He'd finally found himself a new home. There was a cockerel in there, but those two never seemed to have an issue. The goofy sussex boy never left that coop again. He wouldn't go outside during the day, he'd just strut around the coop seemingly happy as could be.
Sadly, only a couple months after he'd found his place in life, he was killed by a pair of semi feral dogs that went through the pop door. I sure wish he'd had more time. Big fella deserved a better ending, but what do you do. Makes me tear up thinking about him.
Then there was the cockerel-turned-rooster that I'll never forget: Cheap Shot Charlie. What a nightmare he was. I'd read so many stories on BYC about 'demon roosters' and always thought what a bummer that would be. Then I got one of my very own! Oh joy.
It wasn't long into his life that he started displaying aggressive behavior. I hoped and prayed he'd come out of it, but he never did. I suppose he was around 8-10lbs and when he hit you square - you felt it. I resorted to packing some sort of "weapon" every time I went outside...A flag, a broom, one of the plastic poop rakes
. Anything I could snap on the ground in front of him to make him think twice about attacking me.If anyone ever told me I'd be afraid of a 10lb chicken, I would've laughed in their face... But, that's exactly what happened. I used to love the sound of little chicken feet running up behind me, knowing they were so excited to get some meal worms! After Cheap Shot started his madness, I hated it. I'd get a rush of anxiety and adrenaline every time!
I don't know how many times I threatened to send him to the chopping block, but butcher day came and went and I just couldn't bear to do it. His favorite gal was one of my favorite gals, I suppose that's why. That fall he succumbed to what I can only assume was an internal injury inflicted by one of his offspring. Neither of which have shown human aggression in the slightest. Not long after, Charlie's girl started crowing. I only caught her doing it a few times, but thought it was interesting.
We had a trio of geese: the gander had his mate and another goose that tagged along with them. Out of the blue, the geese started trekking down to the pond, led by the female. It never crossed my mind that they would wander that far. It was quite the walk for a flightless bird. I followed them down one day, just to see what they were up to. They looked so happy! Green grass and running water, they'd found goose heaven.
After the leader goose passed, they never went down to the pond again. The gander is now very fond of my husband.
5. What was the funniest poultry related thing that has happened to you in your years as an owner?
Kind of a dog/chicken story...My best girl, Stoli, was soaking up some sunshine just inside the barn doors one day and Chick was wandering around with me taking care of chickens. Out of nowhere, here comes Cheap Shot, but he wasn't after me - he had his sights on Chick! She hadn't seen him either and it startled her so bad she tucked tail and ran straight to...Stoli. I was standing about three feet from her. She probably sensed and I was just as startled and figured Stoli was a better bet
Sure miss that girl. She was a good mama bear.6. Beside poultry, what other pets do you keep?
Two dogs. Nahla and Chick:
I lost my Newfoundland, Stoli, in March of last year. She was my baby. 11 yrs 8 months old:
Two geese:
Four goats:
Barn cats, shop cat and horses:
And a colorful herd of cattle:
7. Anything you'd like to add?
Well, if you made it this far, I sure appreciate you reading my story! I've met so many wonderful people on BYC and have learned so much in my time here. I hope to continue to do both of those things for many years to come.
@Meg-in-MT
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
I enjoyed reading, you have a good way of writing 
your giant slide door for the chicken run is amazing! You've been through a lot 
the picture of you (I'm assuming) and your mom is beautiful 
I loved the overload of pictures, too... especially your cattle 
