@Tstraub
Come say hello to @Tstraub who comes to us from Indiana and has been a member since April 2023.
Come say hello to @Tstraub who comes to us from Indiana and has been a member since April 2023.
1. Tell us a bit more about yourself. And is there a story behind your member name?
My user name is pretty boring it’s just my first initial and last name. By day I am a husband to my wife of 25 years and a father to my 4 grown or mostly grown boys. My oldest is 24, he is married and moved out of state immediately after graduating college. The middle son is 21 working full time and still lives with us. The twins are 19 one in college and working part time the other is working full time and still lives with us.
By night I work as a yard dog at a grocery warehouse. If you’re unfamiliar with the term yard dog it basically means I drive a spotter truck and move semi trailers to and from the dock doors of the building so the people inside can unload or load the trailer. I work 3 12 hour shifts every week leaving me 4 days a week to take care or the chickens, garden, or whatever else needs to be done.
2. Why and when did you start keeping poultry?
We got our first chickens in March of 2023. We have had small gardens for a long time. When the Covid pandemic hit we got more serious about growing our own food and started watching a lot of YouTube videos on gardening. A lot of the gardening people also have chickens. Every time they did a chicken episode we would watch it and joke about getting chickens. When a highway project forced us out of the house we were renting we bought a 2 acre property and expanded our garden space and added chickens into the mix.
3. Which aspects of poultry keeping do you enjoy the most?
I like breeding chickens. I’m currently working on breeding for egg colors. I would like to expand into breeding to a standard but I’m doing my best to take it slowly and understand how to breed and keep healthy chickens first I’ll worry more about trying to fix very specific traits once I’m comfortable with the basics.
4. Which members of your flock, past and present, stand out for you and why?
I like my Olive egger Blue. I got her as an egg from a local breeder and hatched her out in my modified toaster oven incubator.
I’m also partial to her daughter Smoky. Smoky was also hatched out in my toaster oven incubator. She is currently brooding six chicks and doing great as a new momma hen.
5. What was the funniest poultry related thing that has happened to you in your years as an owner?
When I had a chick that accepted me as her mother hen I thought she was just the friendliest chick I ever had. My wife said she wanted to hold a chick so I picked up the one that I knew was the most calm and willing to be held and handed her to my wife. The chick immediately started screaming like she was being murdered and trying to get away. The chick broke free of my wife’s hands and flew directly to me and perched on my shoulder. It turned out that the chick only liked me specifically not being held in general.
6. Beside poultry, what other pets do you keep?
We have a toy poodle/cocker spaniel mix named Luna.
7. Do you have any plans to add other animals in the future?
I don’t have any immediate plans for additional animals but recently my wife has been joking about getting a goat and I have been joking about quail and rabbits. The whole chicken thing started as a joke so who knows. I gotta stop watching so many YouTube videos.
@Tstraub
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For more information about the interview feature and a complete list of member interviews:
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I wish you all the best with all your poultry adventures!
Thank you for sharing with us
