Hello and welcome to BYC!
Nice introduction! Make yourself at home here!
Nice introduction! Make yourself at home here!
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Welcome! Your place sounds amazing!Hi, y'all!
I've heard about BYC from my aunt who has raised chickens for many years. Looks like a fun and informative place.
I started raising my own flock a few years ago with her help. I have a RIR/Black Australorp cross Rooster named... Sweet William. His current harem consists of 3 three year old BAs, 3 two yo RIRs, and 4 one yo BA/RIR crosses that my aunt hatched in her incubator last year.
My BA/RIR crosses are sisters to Sweet William.
I've been around my aunt's chickens for most of my life. Besides the FRESH eggs, which my husband Loves, we appreciate the insect control, the fertilizer, and the entertainment. Watching a rooster guard, guide, and love his harem is a regular past time. In imitation of my aunt, I taught our dogs NOT to chase chickens but they are an excellent alert system when any predators show up. We use portable electric fence around the coops at night and let the flock free range in the daytime. That system has kept my aunt's flocks safe even in the wilds of northern PA.
Our flock is a food source, not pets. They are not afraid of us, especially when we bring out the day's scratch, but they don't look for petting. Sweet William is not aggressive toward us and the other day he actually let me stroke his feathers a little bit before moving away. That was a first.
We share a homestead with my aunt's family in Upstate SC. There are many like minded folks around here. We hear three other roosters every day. There's an active cow pasture beyond the back fence. I love living in a rural area. We did our 'city time' already and can now enjoy some space.
We are busy getting the garden started for the season. It took three years of composting and adding organic material to turn this red clay into decent soil for the raised beds, but last year's production showed significant improvement. This year we will be adding more blackberry plants, a few blueberry bushes and a fig tree to the property.
Signed,
Just a girl who loves chickens