@U_Stormcrow
Come say hello to @U_Stormcrow! He's been a member since June 2020 and comes to us from Florida.
Come say hello to @U_Stormcrow! He's been a member since June 2020 and comes to us from Florida.
1. Tell us a bit more about yourself. And is there a story behind your member name?
While I can’t for the life of me imagine why my biography might be of interest here, I can certainly offer a few quick highlights to get some sense of my experiences. I’ve begun my second half century, and am happily married almost thirty years, with two grown daughters, both now moved away. One is smarter than I, the other much wiser. We are very proud of them both.
The wife and I are currently “gainfully unemployed” building a homestead on a piece of land in Florida we purchased, which we anticipate never leaving. She was an electronics tech with a degree in psychology, I have held some number of jobs in numerous fields, consequence of quickly learning and as quickly becoming bored. Highlights include architectural drafting, civil engineering (assistant and lab work), “rocket science” (refueling piping, pad 39b), retail sales, restaurant management, and decades in a tiny corner of law. Somewhere in there was a college stint - computer science, “pre-printing press” history, religion, philosophy, English lit. I’m from a moderate sized family with a huge extended family, with a lot of skills between them. It was expected that the family would come together to help one another out, so I’ve done basic carpentry/framing, plumbing, electrical, tile work, roofing, way too much painting, and concrete work – very poorly.
Systems fascinate me. How and why do the individual actions, components, circumstances come together as a cohesive whole. I like complexity, and the patterns that arise out of complexity, in a way few seem to.
My member name is one I’ve used for online gaming, though certain readers of fantasy might recognize “Stormcrow” as a pejorative directed at Gandalf the Grey by Grima Wormtongue. I have a bad habit of telling people what they don’t want to hear, out of the best of intentions - particularly when they pin their hopes on the simple. Empathy is not one of skills I’ve had any success developing this lifetime. Amusingly to me, at least, the selection of “Stormcrow” as part of my online persona was not conscious choice – I was reminded of the Tolkien tie-in perhaps a decade after I had adopted it.
My avatar, btw, is a “Tengu”.
A sort of monster-spirit from Japanese and Chinese mythology – I selected it initially because Tengu are often depicted as red-faced long nosed demons, and a large nose has always “graced” my face. The hooded bird-demon, their alternative representation, seemed fitting here. To the extent it matters – and it shouldn’t - my ancestry is Mediterranean basin, by way of recent centuries in England. I consider us to be American by nationality, and mutts by birth. Also, a coffee addict.
2. Why and when did you start keeping chickens? (or any other poultry you have)
Keeping chickens was always part of the plan when we bought the property and started the homestead. Ducks, too. No one told us they shouldn’t be raised together. We’ve found a way to make it work, but the size of the property deserves most of the credit.
We began with a dozen chickens (for eggs) and four ducks (for meat). Breeds were determined by what TSC had available (often none by the time I completed the drive into town) and some mistakes on my part, such as my selection of Dark Brahma in the knowledge that they become big birds, and my ignorance that it takes them two years to do so).
From there, the flock has grown to more than 90 birds, and is slowly being pared back to more reasonable numbers as the freezer makes room for new campers. At the time I type this, we are down to 57, inclusive of 13 ducks – so it is like feeding 65 or 70. I hope to enter what passes for winter around here with numbers much closer to 5 or 6 ducks, and perhaps 35 chickens.
3. Which aspects of poultry keeping do you enjoy the most?
Mostly, to be honest, I ignore them. Very “hands off” as an owner. The birds free range a small number of acres, are fed by me once daily in the evenings, and culled every ten days to two weeks for table. Our breeds really aren’t optimally suited for homesteading down here, so I have derived the most enjoyment from a culling project started almost two years ago. You can follow it here.
Basically, I allow Nature to do her part in a chaotic mixing of the genetics (its entirely impractical to attempt breeding and free ranging at the same time with birds who easily jump 4’ fences), predator pressures to remove the weakest/most stupid (I lose one or two birds to aerial predation each year), and then I select from what’s left following @Ridgerunner ‘s advice. “Keep the ones you want to eat and eat the ones you don’t.”
My goal is a patterned (preferably penciled) bird with a gold base (tending towards orange, not the deep crimsons) which free ranges effectively on my clay soils and is well suited to our heat and humidity. We’d like a 5.5# male at 12 weeks, and some moderate rate of early lay of medium to medium-large light-toned eggs. Tall order, I know. We’ve made some progress at it, with the help of other posters on BYC I much respect and expect to be at it another 5-7 years before I’m mostly happy with the flock and can begin the even slower process of refinement into a recognizable landrace of hopefully local interest.
So far, we have the rate of lay, the egg size and coloration, birds of quite varied appearance, and male weghts from 4.5# to 6# at the target age. We'll get there. Eventually.
Two of the next most recent hatching, aged about 12 weeks. The most recent hatching was largely “less promising”, but very tasty and tender. We’ve eaten about half of them and will cull most, if not all, the others this weekend.
I also have a love/hate relationship with feeding the birds. BYC introduced me to the great disagreements about how best to do so and lead me to some initial research on the subject. I’ve used that as a jumping off point in efforts to determine both how to cost effectively feed, and how to improve my pasture for their free ranging in ways that require minimal efforts from my wife and I to maintain. Self-sustaining is the goal, our backs aren’t what they used to be, and we rely on no heavy equipment. So, our biodiverse polyculture (our ”acres of weeds”) was born as a concept. Like the culling project, it is a work in progress.
I have a less developed thread on it, here.
Thankfully, we have good climate, though very poor soil, so it has not been a complete bust. As I type this out, I know I should be out back, pulling weeds... The dog fennel takes constant effort to keep under control, but it breaks up the clay soils and provides shade for other plants to move in. Part of one of those systems I mentioned above, allowing opportunist species to prepare the soils, then following up with more valuable, less hardy species, to displace them.
4. Which members of your flock, past and present, stand out for you and why?
When we got our start, chickens and pekin ducks were being brooded together, fresh from TSC. “Mistakes were made.” One of the dark Brahma began to associate with the ducks, instead of the chickens, and for the longest time, was part of the raft of ducks in the pasture, rather than one of the cliques of chickens. ”Chuck, thinks he’s a Duck, the Chicken” got his name - and a Facebook following. Many friends of mine around the nation log on each morning to look for ”Chic Pics”, the most popular subject of those photos is Chuck.
I am “not allowed“ to cull Chuck and have promised to keep the bird until the end of its natural life, or in the alternative, rehome it closer to one of them. So sayeth numerous Facebook friends. When Chuck was named, we were very bad at sexing birds (still are). ”Chuck” is actually Charlene.
“Chuck” as a baby, its obvious why she so quickly captured hearts -
5. What was the funniest poultry related thing that has happened to you in your years as an owner?
Nothing really strikes me as funny, in the way that Monty Python, ”Dogma”, ”Stripes”, or a Mel Brooks flick does. Nor George Carlin, Lewis Black, or even Jeff Dunham. I’ve experienced all the usual chicken behaviors of course - chickens in the hair, chickens riding a box tortoise across the pasture, chickens stealing cookies from the goats, chickens playing games with the dogs and the cat. None really tickle my fancy.
6. Beside poultry, what other pets do you keep?
I feel like I just lead into this. We have two rather elderly dogs, brother and sister, in declining health. Mutts. We have a young stray cat, another mutt, who was supposed to be semi-feral and a good choice for the barn. It spends all day sleeping on the couch, and most evenings sleeping at my wife’s side. Some feral kitten...
We have four goats, Parsley, Black, Tan (brothers, both wethers), and Peppercorn (intact). Black and Tan’s sire, Sage, went to freezer camp back in March, I believe. Their elder brother, Thyme, went to freezer camp the beginning of August. Parsley is likely pregnant again. We also have three rabbits, Snu Snu, Peanut Bunny, and Blackberry Jam. By the time this interview is published, its likely there will be some number of kits. Peanut Bunny is tearing up the pasture like a goat, and shoving mouthfuls of green under a shed on the property - having once again escaped her pen.
7. Anything you'd like to add?
Three things.
First, think of me as a curmudgeonly old grandpa type. Occasionally useful, sometimes entertaining, and always best in small quantities. I’m not very good at ”human” and have moved to the middle of nowhere both because I enjoy my privacy and to limit my need for social interaction. I do mean well, but sometimes struggle with perceptions. Places like BYC allow me to control when, and on what subjects, I engage – which allows me to put some of my talents to beneficial use while limiting the appearance of others of my less welcome character traits. If something I type appears as deliberately hurtful, its unintended – rare that I care enough to intend injury.
Second, I’ve only been doing this poultry and homesteading thing for a little while. Everything I know about it I’ve learned in the last three years. Anyone, with a bit of focus and some time, could achieve or exceed my perceived command of the subjects I most commonly comment on here at BYC. I merely type with confidence. BYC’s own experts have been responsible for much of what I do know, and for introducing me to resources from which I might learn more. For that, I must thank a host of others who welcomed me to BYC not so very long ago, or chimed in to comment on my chicken journey along the way. In no particular order, and no doubt forgetting at least a few, it is appropriate that I recognize @cmom ,@aart , @3KillerBs , @Ridgerunner, @saysfaa, @RoostersAreAwesome, @NatJ, @JacinLarkwell , @MysteryChicken, @Molpet, @Sally PB, @Iluveggers, @casportpony, @Krugerrand , @Lauravonsmurf, @Florida Bullfrog, @21hens-incharge, @Kiki, @Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay, and a host of others, some of whom I find myself routinely disagreeing with.
Third. ”There is no One Right Way. If there was, everybody would be doing it [except that one guy, because there’s always that one guy.]" There are, however, thousands of wrong ways. If it seems too cheap/easy to be true - it likely is. Life is Complicated.
I’m happy to share my mistakes, so others need not make them (unless they choose to). Its my hope that will be helpful to those seeking the right way for their needs, their resources, and their circumstances. If you think I’ve repeated a wrong thing, call me on it – I'm happy to explain my thinking, link my sources, and maybe learn something new. Everyone benefits.
@U_Stormcrow
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 do not routinely disagree with moi.
