Growing up from naive kid to chicken lady

[KikiDeAnime]

From a really young age, I never actually knew that everyone could own their own chickens if they wanted to. I also assumed you had to live on a huge piece of land just to own them. Even though our dad lived on a farm up until he met our mom, he didn't really explain a lot about raising chickens.

2007 was the year we began our journey of raising chickens in town. I was 10 years old when this happened. I was excited to raise chickens for their eggs.

It wasn't until 2015 when I was 18 that I decided to take over caring for the chickens since our dad and mom were working during the day. My younger & older brother weren't much help at all so I had to mostly do everything myself.
I had and still do have a lot of fun with raising these birds.
2015 was also the year I got myself a 'pet' chicken to keep indoors that I named Rusty because of her coloring. Rusty was a Red Bantam Cochin and she got to free roam outdoors during the day(I actually have some videos posted on my channel of her!)

2016 was a sad year, we lost many birds including Rusty. Rusty was accidentally killed by our dog, Mooshu on July 21 2016. I sat by her side comforting her as she drew her last couple of breaths. I didn't blame or hate our dog as he didn't know what he did. I knew Mooshu was only trying to play in the yard and didn't realize his energy may cause him to trample her. Rusty was a great hen even if she didn't lay any eggs at all. She was very protective of me and actually attacked our then pregnant cat, Spooky, when I was cuddling with her in the grass.

2017 was when we began to start raising some chickens for meat. We first got Cornish X before we realized our mistake in getting those.

Spring 2018, our Silkie/Cochin mix named Mouse decided to go broody in March so we bought her some chicks. April, we gave her some more chicks to raise and she accepted them. 3 of those chicks that she raise managed to stay alive.

Early Summer 2018, I bought 4-5 'slow white broiler' chicks to raise instead of cornish x. We lost most but managed to keep our last 2 alive. Last night we butchered one and the other one is currently sick but will be butchered once she is back to perfect health.

Spring 2019 plans. I'll be picking up 4 Silkie chicks very soon. 2 of them won't be used for breeding as they have mild crossbeak(I'm getting them for free). I also plan on buying Polish chicks for my mom's birthday in February. For my 22nd birthday in March, I plan on doing a fundraiser for a chicken rescue on Facebook.

More to be posted soon!

Youtube videos from 2016:

2017 Video:

 

[HuffleClaw]

I’m definitely following this thread!

 

[KikiDeAnime]

Dog Section.
My brothers and I grew up around 3 Rottweilers, and in my opinion are the best breed, but sadly it would last.

Our oldest, Carl, was the first dog we got. He was very protective of my brothers and I whenever we were in the backyard. He would patrol the yard to make sure it was safe for us. I don't remember what year it was but when I was very young, Carl accidentally bit my hand while he was barking at the fence. Somehow I ended up sticking my hand near his mouth and he bit down on it. I could tell that he felt terrible about biting me as he stayed at a distance while he followed after me back to the backdoor. Luckily I didn't lost my hand or fingers. I just have a scar where they stitched it up!
Carl was around 15 years old in 2012 when we had to put him to sleep.

Sadie was our second oldest and we got her after we got Carl. She was a great dog! My parents bred her with Carl and they had a lot of puppies together! We kept one puppy from the litter. I'm not completely sure how old she was when she passed away. I know she passed away right before we put Carl to sleep but I'm not sure when.

Koda, Carl & Sadie's son. He loved to follow us around the house or outside in the backyard. He loved to sit by my dad as he cut up meat for dinner. He was the first one to pass away. The dog food we got had been poisoned but we didn't know until Koda passed away. I was the one who had found him the morning he passed. Not long after he had passed away, we had found Sadie had passed away, and then we put Carl to sleep to end his suffering.

It was a very sad year! I didn't get over their deaths until a couple months later.

Ruby, our Boxer/Basenji mix. We got her as a puppy and we still have her. She was our hardest to train around the chickens(until we got Mika). Ruby is currently 7 years old but will be 8 years old this year.

Mooshu, our German Shepherd. We got him when he was a puppy and we still own him. He's currently 6 years and will be 7 years old this year. He's a good dog and knows to leave the chickens alone. He's scared of my cat, Nyx.

Hailey, our German Shepherd. She was 6 when we rescued her from an abusive owner. She bonded to me first and then was finally content to be around the others. We owned her until she passed away July 1st 2018. I woke up at 2:35am to Hailey breathing weirdly and once I figured out what was happening, I stayed by her side until she passed at 2:45sm. I didn't cry until right after I woke my parents up.

Mika, our German Shepherd/Lab Mix. She will be 7 months old tomorrow. We're still training her to leave the chickens alone. We got her when she was 7 weeks old.