Orangestang07
Hatching
- Mar 4, 2019
- 1
- 15
- 9
Hi, I am Anna, aka "Orangestang07" -this is pronounced Orange-stang 07, unlike Oranges-tang like I get often. This handle I chose because it's the color of my 2007 Mustang GT, Orange. It's easy for me to remember!
I started raising bantam breed chickens 2 summers ago. It all started when my boyfriend asked me to pick up 2 white chickens to use as bait in a trap, however when I got to the local Agway, I fell in love with all of the chickens they had in the coop & ended up buying about a dozen different breeds to raise. Needless to say, the white ones I bought didn't wind up as bait but part of the chicken family I started!
Since then I have added more, mostly out of curiosity of breeds & an interest in having a variety, & partly because hawks have gotten a few here & there for lunch or dinner.
At any rate, that has given me the opportunity to experiment with a variety of breeds, & perhaps one day I'll find my favorite one or 2 breeds & focus on those. But for now, I'm having a blast with the flock of almost 90 chickens!
My flock includes many mixed breeds that I cannot identify, but there are several that are straight breed: bantam breeds are Americauna, Aurecana, Sumatra, & many mixed breeds. Also, I have standard breeds: Dominique, Brahma, Bearded, and Cornish Cross.
I have a homemade coop that my boyfriend made for his chickens several years ago. It's pretty large & has a nice loft where they can roost. He just installed several more perches to give them more space. The coop has several nest boxes for the hens. My chickens are free range- we have 2 acres of residential property & 20 acres of farm where they can roam free. They love it! Several love to walk down to the green houses & pick the insects off of the plants, as well as scratch in the dirt dropped on the floor.
I am a birdwatcher, so I think it's not surprising that I like chickens. I love watching them interact with each other and with visitors. I have a few hens who are very tame & love to greet visitors. I used to have a Polish Crested hen named Dalilah who loved to sit on my lap, shoulder, just about anywhere she could. Unfortunately she passed this fall. I have a Black Sumatra hen that I hand raised & she's very tame. She loves to sit with me on the lawn chairs during the nice weather. She greets me every morning at the coop door & follows me around. She's also the first to come running to me when I come home from work! To get my attention if I'm paying attention to the other chickens, she jumps up & pecks my hand or arm. She is very vocal too!
The chickens aren't my only pets. I have 2 indoor cats, Buddy & Mollie, who are 15 years old this June. Mollie still acts like a kitten & loves to play! I have a Jack Dempsey ciclid that over took the 30 gallon tank & caused the other fish to meet their demise. He's an interesting fish & very pretty. We also rais Bobwhite quail & ring neck pheasants for pleasure. Several of those have become somewhat tame & hang around our house, mostly for food I believe. A pheasant rooster decided to make our yard his home & hangs out with the chickens.
Chickens aren't my only hobbies either. As I mentioned previously, I birdwatch. I also hunt, swim for exercise & fun as well as go to the gym regularly, kayack, hike, garden & like to attend live concerts whenever I can.
I'm sure you think by now that my career may have something to do with animals, birds or a related field, but I actually work for our state department of environmental protection as a biologist in the freshwater monitoring bureau. I look at bugs all day. LOL! At one time I considered a career in wildlife biology/zoology, but events took me down this road & I've been working there for 20 years.
I found BYC accidentally, when browsing online for some information about chickens. I frequent the site whenever I Google a topic/subject about chickens & this site is usually in the top 5 results. I always check it out. Today, I decided to join so I can ask questions if I have any or add input to forums.
I recommend this site to people I know who have chickens or have questions that I can't answer.
Thanks BYC!!
I started raising bantam breed chickens 2 summers ago. It all started when my boyfriend asked me to pick up 2 white chickens to use as bait in a trap, however when I got to the local Agway, I fell in love with all of the chickens they had in the coop & ended up buying about a dozen different breeds to raise. Needless to say, the white ones I bought didn't wind up as bait but part of the chicken family I started!
Since then I have added more, mostly out of curiosity of breeds & an interest in having a variety, & partly because hawks have gotten a few here & there for lunch or dinner.
At any rate, that has given me the opportunity to experiment with a variety of breeds, & perhaps one day I'll find my favorite one or 2 breeds & focus on those. But for now, I'm having a blast with the flock of almost 90 chickens!My flock includes many mixed breeds that I cannot identify, but there are several that are straight breed: bantam breeds are Americauna, Aurecana, Sumatra, & many mixed breeds. Also, I have standard breeds: Dominique, Brahma, Bearded, and Cornish Cross.
I have a homemade coop that my boyfriend made for his chickens several years ago. It's pretty large & has a nice loft where they can roost. He just installed several more perches to give them more space. The coop has several nest boxes for the hens. My chickens are free range- we have 2 acres of residential property & 20 acres of farm where they can roam free. They love it! Several love to walk down to the green houses & pick the insects off of the plants, as well as scratch in the dirt dropped on the floor.
I am a birdwatcher, so I think it's not surprising that I like chickens. I love watching them interact with each other and with visitors. I have a few hens who are very tame & love to greet visitors. I used to have a Polish Crested hen named Dalilah who loved to sit on my lap, shoulder, just about anywhere she could. Unfortunately she passed this fall. I have a Black Sumatra hen that I hand raised & she's very tame. She loves to sit with me on the lawn chairs during the nice weather. She greets me every morning at the coop door & follows me around. She's also the first to come running to me when I come home from work! To get my attention if I'm paying attention to the other chickens, she jumps up & pecks my hand or arm. She is very vocal too!
The chickens aren't my only pets. I have 2 indoor cats, Buddy & Mollie, who are 15 years old this June. Mollie still acts like a kitten & loves to play! I have a Jack Dempsey ciclid that over took the 30 gallon tank & caused the other fish to meet their demise.
He's an interesting fish & very pretty. We also rais Bobwhite quail & ring neck pheasants for pleasure. Several of those have become somewhat tame & hang around our house, mostly for food I believe. A pheasant rooster decided to make our yard his home & hangs out with the chickens.Chickens aren't my only hobbies either. As I mentioned previously, I birdwatch. I also hunt, swim for exercise & fun as well as go to the gym regularly, kayack, hike, garden & like to attend live concerts whenever I can.
I'm sure you think by now that my career may have something to do with animals, birds or a related field, but I actually work for our state department of environmental protection as a biologist in the freshwater monitoring bureau. I look at bugs all day. LOL! At one time I considered a career in wildlife biology/zoology, but events took me down this road & I've been working there for 20 years.
I found BYC accidentally, when browsing online for some information about chickens. I frequent the site whenever I Google a topic/subject about chickens & this site is usually in the top 5 results. I always check it out. Today, I decided to join so I can ask questions if I have any or add input to forums.
I recommend this site to people I know who have chickens or have questions that I can't answer.
Thanks BYC!!
Glad you joined.
Best wishes and have lots of fun with your flock! 
