RaintoRoots
Chirping
Hey there! It's great to finally be a member of the BYC community! I've been following threads on this site for quite some time and finally decided to make an account. Heres a little info on me and my backyard.
My name is Alyssa and I'm a 28 yo entrepreneur located in San Diego, CA. I grew up as an only child on a farm in the south and relocated to start a business and life for myself in California about 8 years ago. As the saying goes, you can take the girl out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the girl. I grow succulents for a living and am in the process of transforming my exotic garden into a sustainable backyard using permaculture practices. I adopted two black dogs (Whiskey and Rye), a pot-bellied pig (Kiwi), and recently decided to take up backyard chickens as a new hobby since I enjoyed it so much as a child. I enjoy composting and learning new ways to be eco-friendly. The neighborhood kids all know me and frequently come over to see my animals, calling my house the "Cardiff Farm."
The first chicken I adopted about 3 months ago is a Silky Roo (mix?) named Sammy boy. I randomly saw his photo on the Nextdoor app and could resist, but I didn't have a coop for him so I had to improvise. I waited until he was bonded to me, which took exactly one day of constant attention, then allowed him to free range in the backyard while slowly introducing him to the other animals. It didn't take him long to become acclimated to the back yard. I set up one of the dog's crates in the garage for him to sleep at night and it still surprises me how he just goes in there at the end of the day and puts himself to bed at night like a good boy. These days he comes running when I call him if he's not already begging at the door to come inside. He loves my attention and prefers to be wrapped up in a blanket and snuggled for long periods of time while I'm researching on the computer. He has never pooped on me, and I appreciate that. I'm not sure if it's normal for roosters to act more like a dog than a chicken, but I sure hope his personality doesn't change once the baby chicks are old enough to join him in the backyard!
Since adopting Sammy has so enjoyable I *pre-ordered* 5 chicks from a local breeder for $15/each, only to find that my local feed store had silkies available for $5/each. Now I have 5 bantams hatching this morning from my preorder and 7 silkies in the brooder from the feed store. Currently I have 2 buff silkies, 2 white silkies, 2 gray silkies, and a newly purchased premature black silkie who I didn't purchase at first, but noticed when I went back for more feed 2 weeks later. He was almost totally bald and his feathers were all plucked out. He looked stressed, so reluctantly I purchased him and thankfully the other chicks were very accepting of him. Poor thing didn't move much the first two days and held his head very low, it was sad. I think being at the feed store for 2 weeks with large standard sized chicks forced him to be constantly moving in order not to get pecked and he finally felt safe enough in my brooder for much-needed rest.
The chicks I preordered just hatched this morning and I'm going to pick them up on Saturday. I'm not sure which breeds I'll pick out yet, waiting to see the stock they have available and since I preordered I get first pick! I wasn't planning on having this many chickens, but the new additions are bantam and my neighbors are cool with the rooster, so what the heck!
I joined this community to educate myself on the ins and outs of chicken husbandry and connect with like-minded people in order to create the best living enviorment for myself and my backyard chickens! Learn with me - I would LOVE to hear feedback from all of you!
My name is Alyssa and I'm a 28 yo entrepreneur located in San Diego, CA. I grew up as an only child on a farm in the south and relocated to start a business and life for myself in California about 8 years ago. As the saying goes, you can take the girl out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the girl. I grow succulents for a living and am in the process of transforming my exotic garden into a sustainable backyard using permaculture practices. I adopted two black dogs (Whiskey and Rye), a pot-bellied pig (Kiwi), and recently decided to take up backyard chickens as a new hobby since I enjoyed it so much as a child. I enjoy composting and learning new ways to be eco-friendly. The neighborhood kids all know me and frequently come over to see my animals, calling my house the "Cardiff Farm."
The first chicken I adopted about 3 months ago is a Silky Roo (mix?) named Sammy boy. I randomly saw his photo on the Nextdoor app and could resist, but I didn't have a coop for him so I had to improvise. I waited until he was bonded to me, which took exactly one day of constant attention, then allowed him to free range in the backyard while slowly introducing him to the other animals. It didn't take him long to become acclimated to the back yard. I set up one of the dog's crates in the garage for him to sleep at night and it still surprises me how he just goes in there at the end of the day and puts himself to bed at night like a good boy. These days he comes running when I call him if he's not already begging at the door to come inside. He loves my attention and prefers to be wrapped up in a blanket and snuggled for long periods of time while I'm researching on the computer. He has never pooped on me, and I appreciate that. I'm not sure if it's normal for roosters to act more like a dog than a chicken, but I sure hope his personality doesn't change once the baby chicks are old enough to join him in the backyard!
Since adopting Sammy has so enjoyable I *pre-ordered* 5 chicks from a local breeder for $15/each, only to find that my local feed store had silkies available for $5/each. Now I have 5 bantams hatching this morning from my preorder and 7 silkies in the brooder from the feed store. Currently I have 2 buff silkies, 2 white silkies, 2 gray silkies, and a newly purchased premature black silkie who I didn't purchase at first, but noticed when I went back for more feed 2 weeks later. He was almost totally bald and his feathers were all plucked out. He looked stressed, so reluctantly I purchased him and thankfully the other chicks were very accepting of him. Poor thing didn't move much the first two days and held his head very low, it was sad. I think being at the feed store for 2 weeks with large standard sized chicks forced him to be constantly moving in order not to get pecked and he finally felt safe enough in my brooder for much-needed rest.
The chicks I preordered just hatched this morning and I'm going to pick them up on Saturday. I'm not sure which breeds I'll pick out yet, waiting to see the stock they have available and since I preordered I get first pick! I wasn't planning on having this many chickens, but the new additions are bantam and my neighbors are cool with the rooster, so what the heck!
I joined this community to educate myself on the ins and outs of chicken husbandry and connect with like-minded people in order to create the best living enviorment for myself and my backyard chickens! Learn with me - I would LOVE to hear feedback from all of you!
Good luck with your expanding flock!
Best wishes and have lots of FUN! 
