- May 16, 2020
- 4
- 23
- 71
Hello and thank you for welcoming me to your great group!
I was introduced to chickens, pheasants and my first goose as a kid over 40 yrs ago. Didn't have much to do with the chickens or pheasants but Tristen, the goose, Shilo, my Sheltie, and I spent a lot of time together as I grew up. I left for college and they lived out their lives together on our place.
When Tristan finally passed that ended my avian experiences until about 2 years ago.
Now I'm the proud owner of a couple Easter Eggers, Blue Marans, Araucanas & 55 feathery hens as well as 3 Cream Legbars pullets. With an additional 3 - 55 feathery pullets and one 55 cockerel who plan to join us after Covid-19 restrictions get lifted in our area. They are friends with a wide variety of colored Muscovy ducks (with more on the way) and a dozen Dewlap Toulouse Geese.
I really enjoy the daily interactions with my birds and the individual personalities they have. They've also regenerated my interest in genetics and breeding for specific attributes/characteristics. Their eggs are important to us as well though. We actually started with poultry for egg whites to use as a protein source for our cat, who was in the early stages of kidney failure (she's still doing good
).
I'm lucky to have lots of help with our birds. My husband and our two outdoor cats always conduct a rat patrol every morning when he releases the birds from their coop areas. Then the cats supervise my husband's water bucket and pool filling/cleaning & feeding of the birds. If they aren't to busy they'll help with egg collection. In the evening one will probably go out in the pasture to help bring in stragglers, but I think that's because Shawn will normally carry him back in. They aren't very good when it comes to herding, but they like to perform quality control checks on the water, so the ducks will often follow them in their coops. Our cats act like part LGD as they allow the birds to walk all around them and ignore them plus they work at guarding the nests and hens from the rodents. As great as they are they don't get free time with our babies
though!
I found this awesome group when I was searching for information prior to getting my birds two years ago. I actually believe it may be one of the top Google sites for poultry answers. Since it seemed like every time I asked a question one of places it listed for help was this site I've visited here a lot since then and continue to learn more and more with each visit. This year I'm starting to try hatching duck and goose eggs with an incubator. That was the final push I needed to join the group and get to know you all better.
I was introduced to chickens, pheasants and my first goose as a kid over 40 yrs ago. Didn't have much to do with the chickens or pheasants but Tristen, the goose, Shilo, my Sheltie, and I spent a lot of time together as I grew up. I left for college and they lived out their lives together on our place.
When Tristan finally passed that ended my avian experiences until about 2 years ago.
Now I'm the proud owner of a couple Easter Eggers, Blue Marans, Araucanas & 55 feathery hens as well as 3 Cream Legbars pullets. With an additional 3 - 55 feathery pullets and one 55 cockerel who plan to join us after Covid-19 restrictions get lifted in our area. They are friends with a wide variety of colored Muscovy ducks (with more on the way) and a dozen Dewlap Toulouse Geese.
I really enjoy the daily interactions with my birds and the individual personalities they have. They've also regenerated my interest in genetics and breeding for specific attributes/characteristics. Their eggs are important to us as well though. We actually started with poultry for egg whites to use as a protein source for our cat, who was in the early stages of kidney failure (she's still doing good
).I'm lucky to have lots of help with our birds. My husband and our two outdoor cats always conduct a rat patrol every morning when he releases the birds from their coop areas. Then the cats supervise my husband's water bucket and pool filling/cleaning & feeding of the birds. If they aren't to busy they'll help with egg collection. In the evening one will probably go out in the pasture to help bring in stragglers, but I think that's because Shawn will normally carry him back in. They aren't very good when it comes to herding, but they like to perform quality control checks on the water, so the ducks will often follow them in their coops. Our cats act like part LGD as they allow the birds to walk all around them and ignore them plus they work at guarding the nests and hens from the rodents. As great as they are they don't get free time with our babies
though!I found this awesome group when I was searching for information prior to getting my birds two years ago. I actually believe it may be one of the top Google sites for poultry answers. Since it seemed like every time I asked a question one of places it listed for help was this site I've visited here a lot since then and continue to learn more and more with each visit. This year I'm starting to try hatching duck and goose eggs with an incubator. That was the final push I needed to join the group and get to know you all better.
Welcome to BackYard Chickens!
