@TX Chick Noob
Come say hello to @TX Chick Noob who comes to us from Central Texas and has been a member since April 2022.
Come say hello to @TX Chick Noob who comes to us from Central Texas and has been a member since April 2022.
1. Tell us a bit more about yourself. And is there a story behind your member name?
Howdy y’all.
My name is Heidi. I am 59 yrs old and live in Central Texas on 20 acres with my husband, Bobby. I work from home (in the technology department for a major bank). I love to hunt (which shocked me and my whole family, lol) and used to shoot rifle competitions. I was the women’s national champion in Pistol Cartridge Lever Action Silhouette about 10 years ago, and last time I checked I still hold national records in air rifle silhouette. My other hobbies over the years have included reading, leatherwork, sewing, and making chainmaille (mostly jewelry and accessories). I love music, and when I was young used to play piano, clarinet, bass clarinet, harp, guitar, and baritone ukulele.One of my other passions has always been horses. I don’t have any now, but I used to do barrel racing and other timed events, and show in both Western and a little bit of English.
When I found this website, I was a “total noob” when it came to chickens, so created the member name “TX Chick Noob”. I had some on order but not yet received and was trying to learn everything I could. Never realized how much I would enjoy this forum, or how many years I would continue to be active on it,
. I have thought about changing the name, but worried people wouldn’t recognize me with a new name.2. Why and when did you start keeping poultry?
TLDR version: In 2022 and because they were so cute.
Long Version with pics (what’s my word and picture count limit again???
:I have always been an animal lover. My family used to call me Ellie Mae because I had so many pets. At one time when I was a kid I had a dog, a cat, a rabbit, gerbils, parakeets, a fish tank, and a snake.
For many years I have loved seeing the baby chicks in feed stores, but never seriously considered getting any. In early 2020, during COVID, my husband and I started staying full time at our “hunting property”, both because it was more relaxing and because I had the opportunity to start working from home. We built a small run-in style barn for my horse, Boo, and two elderly llamas, MacArthur and Miss Z. In late 2021, at age 29, Boo broke his leg and had to be put down. When chicks started showing up in the feed stores a few months later, my husband kept encouraging me to get a few. He had shown chickens many years ago in high school and knew I would enjoy them. So, we converted the horse stall side of the barn to a chicken coop, which is a pretty generous size at 10’x12’.
Then the search began for what kind of chickens to get. I ended up ordering 5 ISA Browns and 5 “assorted colored egg layers” from Hoover’s (through Tractor Supply).
Here they are the day I picked them up from the post office.
The ISAs I named Crystal, Sassy, Hazel, Buffy, and Goldie. The others seem to be a mix of Olive Eggers and Easter Eggers of one type or another. I named them Jasmine, Coco, Scarlet, Ruby, and Dottie. Here’s another pic as they got a little older.
The only ones still living are Buffy, Jasmine, Coco, Ruby and Dottie. Most passed due to reproductive related issues, which is how I learned the sad facts about the mortality rate of production egg layers. I try now to get dual purpose breeds when I can, but the production breeds sneak in on occasion.
A few months after the initial 10 arrived, we were in a feed store and they had two chicks that were almost two weeks old. They were labeled as Barnevelders, but they ended up being Wellsummers, and I named them Bonnie and Speedy.
Sadly, we lost Bonnie to a snake a few weeks later. This was the first chicken I ever lost, and it was very sad because the snake apparently spit her out as too big to eat, but she was already dead.
This started the never-ending process of improving the coop to make it more safe, secure, and comfortable. We have gone from dirt floors to concrete. Added thermostat controlled fans (which we had to add cages around to get the chicks to stop roosting on them) and ceramic heat lamp. More nest boxes. More roosts, and “roosting shelves”. Several different types of feeders and waterers, and heated waterers. Had to add paneling between electrical conduit to get chicks to stop roosting there. It is a never-ending process. I could post a ton of pictures of both the coop and run areas as they have evolved, but will have to do that in a later post.
Both llamas had lived with chickens with their previous owner, and loved watching them. I swear they also “guarded the coop” at night. Many times I would go out and see them laying down facing opposite directions in front of it. Sadly they both passed away a few years ago. That is when we finally added an outside run for the chickens. I will try to find and post pics of them watching the coop later.
In late 2023 we added 4 Blue Laced Gold/Red Wyandottes. Nicknamed the Flutterbots because of how the flew all over the place, especially out the coop door any time it was opened.
They are named Jet, Henrietta, Indigo, and Blue.
We lost Jet earlier this year, most likely to a rattlesnake bite. I have had 3 sudden deaths of young hens this year that I suspect were caused by rattlesnakes, because we have killed 4 small ones near the coop/run lately. It is so hard to keep them away in this area.
The summer of 2024 I fell in love with some “Sapphire Olive Eggers”, and since the store only had 3 left they gave them to me at a discount and without making me add a 4th chick. One of them we suspect is actually a Sapphire Gem. They are my Firecrackers, since we got them the week of July 4th, and I named them Glory, Liberty, and Spangle. Sadly, Spangle was another of the suspected snake victims this year.
This spring, chicken math ambushed me in a big way. I had not intended to get any more at all, unless I happened to find the Lavender Orpington pullets which I have been wanting since the first time I saw a pic of BY Bob’s, Hattie. But on a visit to TSC, we agreed to take home several chicks (and two ducks) that they did not think were going to survive (due to being picked on or a post office mishap). I knew I had at least 1-2 broody hens at home that I could try to get to adopt them. And of course, we had to also get a few “healthy” chicks so that we didn’t end up with 1-2 chicks all alone. So suddenly I had a box of 9 chicks and 2 ducks to take home. Pearl (we think she is a Sapphire Splash), Sydney and Sheila (Black Australorps), Nestle and Hershey (Chocolate Orpingtons), Lucy and Ethel (Crested Cream Legbars), Baby Huey (Cornish X who was later rehomed), and a Silkie who didn’t live long enough to get a name.
I was able to get one of our broody hens to adopt the chicks. Indigo ended up being a wonderful first-time mom. Here she is with several of the chicks at the beginning, and one when they were older.
We did also lose 1 duck almost immediately, which meant we headed back to TSC and got 3 more ducks so it would not be alone. Cypress (drake), Willow (hen), and Aspen (hen) are Rouens. Lucky (hen) is a fawn/white Runner. The reason we named her Lucky is because of the post office mishap. When TSC picked up their chicks that week, the post office forgot there was also a box of ducks. Those poor ducks sat at the post office for 2 days with no food, water, or heat. Out of the box of 25, all but two had died when we went to the store that day. Lucky is the only one who ended up surviving. It was touch and go those first few days. A couple of times I went to the brooder and found her flipped on her back, cold and almost lifeless. I was able to get her warmed back up each time and hydrated with some electrolytes. Now she is a friendly little beggar. All four ducks will follow us around and eat out of our hand.
My husband could tell I was heart-broken about losing the Silkie. So, the great Silkie hunt began. Somehow, over the course of two weeks this ended up with us bringing home 4 Silkies (Cotton, Ivory, Snowball, and Ebony), 2 Golden Laced Cochin Bantams (Belle and Beauty), 1 Silver Laced Sebright (Cassie), and 1 Porcelain D’Uccle (Angel). Snowball was another of our suspected snake victims this year, but the rest are still doing well.
And then, as fate would have it, a month later I happened to walk in and find the Lavender Orpington pullets that I had wanted for so long. So, home came 5 more little chicks. Orchid, Lilac, Iris, Violet, and Heather. After an initial failed attempt to get Coco to accept them, several days later I noticed she kept hanging out by their brooder and talking to them. SomI opened it up, and she went right in and started trying to tuck them underneath.
So….somehow, with all the losses and additions, I have ended up with 30 chickens and 4 ducks.
It should be no surprise, since 11 of the chicks we took home were straight runs, that I have ended up with 2 (possibly 3???) roosters. Nestle (Chocolate Orpington) and Cotton (Silkie) are definitely roosters.
The jury is still out on Cassie (Sebright). I think I caught she/he crowing, but only once , about a month ago. But I also have not had any white eggs at all. As red as her comb and wattles have been for over two months, I highly suspect she is a cockerel in disguise.
3. Which aspects of poultry keeping do you enjoy the most?
I really enjoy their different personalities, and how they can be so entertaining. They are so much fun to watch I have ended up putting in several webcams, so that even when I don’t have time to go out to the coop, I can get a quick “chicken fix”. Having chickens is a roller coaster, with lots of ups and downs. But they can bring so much more joy than I ever imagined.
4. Which members of your flock, past and present, stand out for you and why?
That one is so hard to answer because I have had many favorites. Here are a few.
Speedy – Who went from being a little speed racer to being the easiest to catch because she squats almost immediately if you approach her.
Sassy – Who was the first to jump up on me voluntarily. Of course it was on to my back when I leaned over, and her expression when she did it is what earned her the name Sassy.
Scarlett – Who was my frequent shoulder chicken through all 3 years of her too short life.
Angel – is a little diva. She was sooo tiny when we got her, and after a few days I realized she wasn’t doing very well. Her wings looked too big for her little body (she got her name because of how much they looked like angel wings). The Cochin Bantams were larger, and it seemed they kept knocking her over and she wasn’t eating enough. So I used some hand feeding bird formula and fed her some twice a day. I had to mix it a little watery, hold her and dip her tiny beak in it over and over to get her to swallow some. Finally, she got stronger and ended up bonding with my husband. She figured out he would protect her when he was in the coop and wouldn’t let anyone keep her away from the food or treats. She loves to sit on the brim of his hat. Almost every morning she awaits on the roost for him to come pick her up and carry her outside. If I go out alone, she looks down at me with an expression of annoyance and usually flies down herself. Here she is, with Belle and Beauty in the last photo.
5. What was the funniest poultry related thing that has happened to you in your years as an owner?
Oh my. I’m really not sure. I know they have made me laugh so many times, but can’t think of anything in particular at the moment. Although the first time Angel ran up my husband’s bare back was pretty funny.
6. Beside poultry, what other pets do you keep?
Currently I have a dog (Rufus, a 4 yr old German Shepherd/Belgian Malinois cross), and two cats (Frogger, a 9 yr old Maine Coon mix who lives in the house with us, and Squeak, a 5 yr old DSH who lives in my little office building on the property).
7. Anything you'd like to add?
Just how very grateful I am that I found this site. I have learned so much and know several of my chickens would not have survived without having so many helpful people here. And I have made friends from all over the world who share the same passion as I do.
I don’t manage to get on the forum as often as I used to. But you will see me drop by BY Bob’s thread, Fluffy Butt Acres, as often as I can. And I pop into other locations on occasion.
@TX Chick Noob
For more information about the interview feature and a complete list of member interviews:
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For more information about the interview feature and a complete list of member interviews:
introducing-vip-member-interviews
You are quite talented!
