Come say hello to "Saffy" @Sapphire Sebright. She has been a member since June 2019 and comes to us from Maine.
1. Tell us a bit more about yourself.
Hm... not much to say (she said before writing goodness knows how many paragraphs of description).
My actual name is floating on this site somewhere, but in the meantime, you can just call me "Saffy," for short. I live in Maine, back in the sticks, but not as far back as some people might be. I don't think that I've ever left New England.
I was diagnosed several years back with Type 1 diabetes, and it's been quite an experience. Needles, blood sugar readings, carb counting, etc. -- it's annoying sometimes, but I think that, by this point, I wouldn't really want it any other way.
My hobbies are mostly unproductive. I like drawing, reading fiction, writing (mostly fanfiction, but I have some original works in progress, too), listening to music, photography, and occasionally trying to boot myself back towards learning Japanese. I would love to learn an instrument -- preferably the piano, but I'm too nervous to play the grand piano that we have, so I'm patiently waiting for an (cheap) electric keyboard. I also really like being outside, even in the winter -- maybe especially in the winter, actually, as it's my favorite season.
Productive hobbies include my love for cooking, and my occasional obsession with needlework.
(^ Needlework. The mask and shawl/hood were made by hand).
(^ Some artwork of mine. I mostly do manga, but sometimes do more non-linear things like the teardrop. The guinea-masked-nurse-girl is a self-portrait done for my RP character).
(^ Some cakes of mine, decorated with buttercream).
(^ Thanksgiving apple pie).
(^ Outside!).
I also laugh more than is probably usual for a sane person, but I also don't really claim to be sane, so... if you hear cackling, don't worry -- that's normal.
I'll be going into nursing in college. Diabetes education is likely, but I might also go into labor and delivery (L&D). At some point after graduating, I'll hopefully be able to take a trip to Japan with my sister-friend.
I've been a Roman Catholic for as long as I can remember, but it's only some time in the past few years that I think I've really started to think about it and pray regularly. I'm grateful for this religion and for the beautiful cathedral that we go to on Sunday, and I really hope that this quarantine ends soon so that more people can come to mass. Seriously helped with my diabetes, too. Lots to be grateful for!
2. Why and when did you start keeping chickens? (or any other poultry you have)
We got chickens for a second time almost five years (my goodness!) ago, after I was diagnosed with diabetes. I can't remember exactly what brought it up, but I think that I had just thought of them at some point after the diagnosis, and my parents bought me six ISA Browns from TSC in the spring. They're kind of like therapy animals, I think, as I tended to get depressed at times after my diagnosis, and the chickens offered a distraction. I still have three of the original now: Ran, Najika, and Yostuba.
The following year, we got six guinea keets. Only three of them made it to adulthood, however, because a weasel sneaked into their sandy-floored coop at about five in the morning. Horrible way to wake up.
3. Which aspects of poultry keeping do you enjoy the most?
Fluff, feathers, silly sounds, and hatching. Chickens are like walking pillows that cluck -- the banties squeak in the cutest way, too -- and the guineas are simply beautiful to look at.
The eggs are great, too, but I think that the softness and personalities of the birds themselves are my favorite aspects of keeping poultry.
4. Which members of your flock, past and present, stand out for you and why?
Most definitely Spook, my now-grown-up baby boy guinea. He hatched in 2019, the son of Moltres the guinea rooster and Zapdos the guinea hen, and I actually joined this site to ask a question about his brief and worrying habit of standing up, stumbling backwards, and falling down as a keet.
Spook (also known as "Spookie-boo," "Spooksie," and "Spookster") hatched out from beneath a very poofy and angry broody Najika. Kind of. It was my first time hatching an egg in any way, and I got worried and ended up helping him out of his shell. As such, I was the first thing that he saw, and he imprinted on me. He was the only baby bird in the house at the time (it was June, I think), so he got a lot of one-on-one love from his human momma (seriously, I spoon-fed him egg yolk and water at two in the morning for a time, he'd better be grateful for that love).
Spook lost his parents and his "anutie" Articuno (the third of the three survivors from the original guinea batch) back in the first half of 2020, and we got him three guinea keets from TSC to keep him company. He's taken to them, and seems to like them a lot. Thankfully, we got two hens and only one male in that trio of keets, so there shouldn't be any issues there.
(Below: Spook and the three youngsters -- Snidely, Bagpipes, and Tourettes).
Other than that... my first six chickens will always be fondly remembered, but I think that the still-living Najika is my favorite survivor from that batch. My actual favorite was Miki, who was... a character -- bossy, big wattles, sounded like a goose when she was a fledgling, swallowed a frog the length of my finger when she was about four months old. She is missed, definitely.
Najika has spurs, a massive comb, a good set of wattles, and the weirdest personality. She's bossy to the chickens, but the guineas seem to scare her, and I need to corner her to pick her up (or just run her down). I think that she's pooped on me more than any other bird.
(^ Najika brooding Spook's egg).
Zapraska was my cute little OEGB rooster. He and his "wife," Marshmallow the Porcelain Booted Bantam, are the parents of cute little feather-footed Baba Yaga. Zapraska was odd -- he squawked when you picked him up after finally cornering him or running him down, but then settled. He used to stay quiet and mellow, cradled on his back, for at least an hour, and was totally chill when held in one's palm upside-down on his back or right-side-up on his keel. Sadly, a hawk took him, and he is greatly missed. His genes are carried on by his daughter, Baba.
Marshmallow was always shy, but became even more so after a hawk almost carried her off. After that, she reacted -- and still does, I think -- to hawks and other large birds much more intensely than the others, and she was very flighty. She laid her first egg a whole year after getting her, and promptly started bossing Zapraska around. Soon thereafter, she went broody and hatched two little sisters within 24 hours of each other. Frau Pfefferkuchenhaus died from a hawk a few months after hatching, but her sister Baba Yaga is still clucking and fussing today. Baba is also starting to squat, so there will hopefully be eggs from her soon.
Other than that... Neutrophil is a goofy EE with a lovely boof. He's recently started crowing, and it is a very beautiful, deep, powerful sound. Zapraska sounded hilariously squeaky next to him. Despite how much larger he is than all the bantams, Marshmallow and even her daughter can still boss him around, all the while making intimidating little clucks that make me think of a cougar circling its prey.
He is a goofy gentleman, and takes good care of his ladies.
Macrophage ("Mackie," for short) is Neutrophil's EE lady, and her boof is even more incredible. She is very nervous, but beautiful, and I can't wait to see what color eggs she'll lay.
Poppy is a nervous Sapphire Gem that's a few days older than Zapraska was. Poor thing was part of a batch of chicks that had two hens (Poppy and Marshmallow) and five roosters! Poppy used to be mated a lot by the bantam roosters -- she used to have bare patches on her wings! Now she has molted and gotten in a full coat of feathers, and is absolutely gorgeous.
Erythrocyte is a pullet who is nearing her point of lay. I don't know what breed she is, but she is very beautiful. I think that she's special to me because she's been in the house so much after surviving a hawk attack. She had some skin on her throat torn off, but she didn't go into shock or freak out or anything -- after the first fifteen minutes, she was glancing around curiously, and after the first hour, she was perching on the counter and clucking quietly. She is a tough little pullet.
(^ Her injury the day of the attack).
(^ Erythrocyte this morning).
Lastly, Shade and Eclipse were two unknown mixes that were labelled as "Southern Ramblers" in their TSC bin. They were definitely not SRs. I think that they were some kind of black Sultan mix because of their five toes and their crest. Whatever they were, they sadly disappeared without a trace back in the early summer. I miss them dearly, and I would love to get them again. This is the most recent picture that I have of them:
(Eclipse was the cockerel, and Shade was the pullet -- they died before reaching six months. If anyone knows what breed they might have been, please tell me if you have a minute).
5. What was the funniest poultry related thing that has happened to you in your years as an owner?
Probably that time that Spook decided to follow me all the way down our quarter-mile-long driveway while I was on my walk. He is the friendliest thing.
6. Beside poultry, what other pets do you keep?
None, at the moment. We used to have a sweet Lab/Husky mix named Socks, but we had to put her down when she got old and her bowels stopped working right.
I would love to have a dog again at some point, but that probably won't be happening for several years.
7. Anything you'd like to add?
I'm an English stickler! I still make mistakes, but I think that proper grammar, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation are all very important and should be taught seriously.
Other than that, I think that there are many things in life that people can often overlook as they go about their days -- little things that can brighten up our lives. I believe that we can't always look at dark things in life, because that just makes our lives dark and dreary. Turn off the news, go for a walk, and cuddle a chicken every now and then. Do something that you enjoy.
All the same, we shouldn't ignore things, either -- we should look around at the world around us and try to understand it for ourselves.
Rarely does looking through the narrow view of a telescope give us everything in a sight -- instead, we must put the telescope down, stand, and walk forward to see what surrounds us for ourselves, understanding it and seeing it. A tiny flower on its own is beautiful, but the mountain range in which it grows is truly breathtaking when viewed as a whole.
And with that little tangent, stay safe, stay healthy, and stay positive!
@Sapphire Sebright
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
You keep a wonderful assortment of flock members, your photos are fabulous! Thank you for sharing your story with us. 
