Every called me LaBella, Bella or Bells. Obviously, new to the forum. I wandered here by way of homesteadingtoday. In a nutshell, I'm close to living out my dream of having a farm. Well a mini farm at least, and since chicken is my families main source of protein, I am definitely going to have a bunch of chickens. I haven't quite figured out how I'm going to do it. Heck, I haven;t even bought my land. But it's a fait accompli. It WILL happen. I am a changeling child. Somehow I was switched at birth. I don't care how much I look like my father's mother, lol. Home has never been the city where I was raised. Home has always been chickens clucking and scratching in the yard, the scent of horse and cow, and the contented buzz of fat bees humming in their golden combs. My chicken experience is limited. Being raised in an alternative religion, I have helped process chickens. Being the animal whisperer, I am the one that got to care for them. That's my only experience, aside from school embryo projects. I've done a lot of reading before now. Actual books. I think I might be the only kid that skipped school and went to the library, and for sure I utilized even college libraries in my quest for knowledge. But I kind of gave up on this farm dream of mine. Not totally, but I tucked it away, and now I suddenly find that the chance to live my dream is there, and I realize that all the studying I did, all the hard gained book knowledge I earned, I have lost, or forgotten. So I'm here to re-educate myself. I will ask you all to bear with me. I'm a little out there when it comes to how my brain works. I have a somewhat twisted sense of humor, and I don't play the political correctness game. I'm not mean, but I can be blunt, which some mistake for being mean. I'm practical in my actions, yet fanciful in my thinking. I'm going to ask questions that will have people shaking their heads, and I don't have a problem with debating, though that is not why I am here. I am here to learn from all of youl that have the knowledge and experience I lack, the ones that have made this journey ahead of me, I'm glad to be here at the start of this journey of mine, and I hope one day to be a contributing member of this community,
Greetings from Kansas, LaBella, and ! Happy you joined our community! That was a quite an intro! BYC is a great place to learn new things and remember things you may have forgotten. Peruse the various forums and ask questions - that's what we're here for! Most importantly, have fun!!
Welcome to BYC from the Western Sierra Foothills! For most of my life, I didn't know I had a "small homestead" in my future. I thought I would someday go back to the Oregon coast in my dotage and sit in a rocker watching the tides rise and fall... Didn't happen. I got some chickens when I was 56, living in one of two houses on an acre - my very accepting landlady lived in the other house. But that was a rental, and she disapproved of ducks when I got a couple of 'em two years later. So I looked for some property and found a small, vacant, foreclosed house on two-thirds of an acre which I managed to purchase with the proceeds of my sister's life insurance. (I had just purchased my first 8 chicks and was brooding them in my rental house bathroom at the time she died unexpectedly.) I am now 59 and my flock has grown to nearly 50 chickens, two geese, three turkeys, and a slew of ducks. Although I did retire early and do have a rocking chair on my porch, it's far more likely for me to sit on a stump in the yard to enjoy watching my flock mill about. I love hand-feeding them their treats. My BYC friends include many people i haven't ever met in person but we also have quite twisted senses of humor, rail at "political correctness" and expose our ignorance with "out there" questions (and replies!) - you're gonna fit in here just fine! I have never met some of my very good friends - they're here on BYC all over the country.
Welcome to BYC. Search the forums, study threads, ask questions and you will be successful in your upcoming poultry venture. Good luck!
Thank you for the kind welcome everyone. gryeyes, it sounds like this forum will be my nirvana, lol. Right now I am entranced by As the Worms Wiggle (giant mealworm thread, 506 pages only on 77 OMG!!!). I am reading it page my page, because it's just so entertaining. When I finish the thread, I promise, I will get down to serious studying and question asking. I'm so far behind, I need to pick the breed of chicken to start with. I had picked a breed, but now I'm not sure if it's a breed that will thrive in the climate I'll be moving to... I had thought I had a state picked out, but now I'm going to end up a few states further south, lol. So mealworms first,and then to the chicken studying!
