- Jun 28, 2011
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Vikki Papesh, known to BYC members as WalnutHill, has been a member of our community since March, 2014. She will most often be found in the Random Ramblings forum section, hanging out with BYC friends.
1. Tell us a bit more about yourself.
I was born in the northern suburbs of Detroit, and moved with my parents to the "country" in third grade. We had a little 20 acre hobby farm with egg and meat chickens, beef cattle and horses, and I spent all my time either outside or reading books. I have way too many hobbies to recount, but love to do a lot of things outside of work, and have a challenging job in the IT industry to keep me busy.
2. Why and when did you start keeping chickens?
My parents started it, with about 25 evil Rhode Island Reds and annual batches of Jumbo Cornish Cross birds. Caring for all the livestock was one of my chores. I moved out, got married, bought a house on a subdivision lot, and gave up on livestock. Then I fell in love with an old, decrepit farmhouse on an acre surrounded by former farmland (owned by developers) and got a couple of chickens for fresh eggs. Chicken math hit, and we had about 25. Then we went from addition to multiplication, and had about 100. Then the subdivision came, we went to court and won under the Michigan Right to Farm Act, and it became a serious business enterprise. We now maintain about 125 layers and seasonally 50 heritage turkeys with a breeding flock of 6. After 22 years of maintaining our flock, we have a wonderful system and have now been able to expand into Ayam Cemani for interest.
3. Which aspect(s) of chicken keeping do you enjoy the most?
The variety of breeds is amazing. I've raised probably 25 different breeds over the years, and change some up every year or so depending on how they perform. Since we are commercial, that definitely influences the selection. We sell fresh eggs and live turkeys on preorder.
4. Which members of your flock, past and present, stand out for you and why?
My tom turkey Scooter and his gal Gray Girl are my favorites now. They are our farm ambassadors and are very good about being petted, talking to visitors, and managing the mixed flock.
OG, son of Scooter and a Broad Breasted Bronze hen, was my most beautiful. He was an Oregon Gray tom, and while not the sharpest turkey in the coop, was 35 pounds of sweetness. He's moved on to be a pet at someone else's homestead as he and daddy didn't see eye to eye on sharing the girls.
5. What was the funniest (chicken related) thing(s) that happened to you in your years as chicken owner?
Hard to say which was the funniest, as they do silly things ALL the time. But the saddest were the day the district court ruled against us and we thought we were going to lose our farm, and the day a stray Malamute ripped his way through kennel panels and killed 26 of our flock.
6. Beside chickens, what other pets do you keep?
We have one old green anole, three turtles (red eared slider, map turtle, and yellow bellied slider), and two dogs, one a new mixed breed puppy.
7. Anything you'd like to add?
I'd like to advise anyone setting out on this journey to spend months doing homework and making a plan. Chicken math can catch you unawares. Check your ordinances, plan your pens and coops, ensure you have a realistic budget, and start with a few hardy backyard birds. If you plan to breed, don't do it for the money, do it for the improvement of the breed. You won't make your money back, but it's a wonderfully rewarding endeavor. Plan on what to do with surplus cockerels and old birds before you need to. And don't skimp on the incubator if you aren't using broodies.
OG
Scooter
https://www.backyardchickens.com/members/walnuthill.266206/
See here for more about the interview feature and a complete list of member interviews: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/905602/introducing-vip-member-interviews/0_30
1. Tell us a bit more about yourself.
I was born in the northern suburbs of Detroit, and moved with my parents to the "country" in third grade. We had a little 20 acre hobby farm with egg and meat chickens, beef cattle and horses, and I spent all my time either outside or reading books. I have way too many hobbies to recount, but love to do a lot of things outside of work, and have a challenging job in the IT industry to keep me busy.
2. Why and when did you start keeping chickens?
My parents started it, with about 25 evil Rhode Island Reds and annual batches of Jumbo Cornish Cross birds. Caring for all the livestock was one of my chores. I moved out, got married, bought a house on a subdivision lot, and gave up on livestock. Then I fell in love with an old, decrepit farmhouse on an acre surrounded by former farmland (owned by developers) and got a couple of chickens for fresh eggs. Chicken math hit, and we had about 25. Then we went from addition to multiplication, and had about 100. Then the subdivision came, we went to court and won under the Michigan Right to Farm Act, and it became a serious business enterprise. We now maintain about 125 layers and seasonally 50 heritage turkeys with a breeding flock of 6. After 22 years of maintaining our flock, we have a wonderful system and have now been able to expand into Ayam Cemani for interest.
3. Which aspect(s) of chicken keeping do you enjoy the most?
The variety of breeds is amazing. I've raised probably 25 different breeds over the years, and change some up every year or so depending on how they perform. Since we are commercial, that definitely influences the selection. We sell fresh eggs and live turkeys on preorder.
4. Which members of your flock, past and present, stand out for you and why?
My tom turkey Scooter and his gal Gray Girl are my favorites now. They are our farm ambassadors and are very good about being petted, talking to visitors, and managing the mixed flock.
OG, son of Scooter and a Broad Breasted Bronze hen, was my most beautiful. He was an Oregon Gray tom, and while not the sharpest turkey in the coop, was 35 pounds of sweetness. He's moved on to be a pet at someone else's homestead as he and daddy didn't see eye to eye on sharing the girls.
5. What was the funniest (chicken related) thing(s) that happened to you in your years as chicken owner?
Hard to say which was the funniest, as they do silly things ALL the time. But the saddest were the day the district court ruled against us and we thought we were going to lose our farm, and the day a stray Malamute ripped his way through kennel panels and killed 26 of our flock.
6. Beside chickens, what other pets do you keep?
We have one old green anole, three turtles (red eared slider, map turtle, and yellow bellied slider), and two dogs, one a new mixed breed puppy.
7. Anything you'd like to add?
I'd like to advise anyone setting out on this journey to spend months doing homework and making a plan. Chicken math can catch you unawares. Check your ordinances, plan your pens and coops, ensure you have a realistic budget, and start with a few hardy backyard birds. If you plan to breed, don't do it for the money, do it for the improvement of the breed. You won't make your money back, but it's a wonderfully rewarding endeavor. Plan on what to do with surplus cockerels and old birds before you need to. And don't skimp on the incubator if you aren't using broodies.
OG
Scooter
https://www.backyardchickens.com/members/walnuthill.266206/
See here for more about the interview feature and a complete list of member interviews: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/905602/introducing-vip-member-interviews/0_30
I get out to MI almost never these days, but would love to meet your Turkey Ambassadors.
