I am Susie - diligently doing my research on possibly adding some chickens to my household plethora-of-pets. I raised two chickens when I was in 4th or 5th grade for a class science project - two eggs were hatched from an incubator my Mom rented from OMSI for my class. I was tasked with the weekend chick-sit responsibility, and to give them a permanent home as they got older. We never went for getting eggs out of the chickens - heck, they may have been roosters - we didn't know as they went back to the Southern Oregon farm we got the eggs from (my Mom's friend owned it) once they reached the two months old.
Currently I don't have any chickens yet, but I hope to in the near future. It was pretty easy and fun 35 years ago and I figured if I was successful when I was 8 or 9 years old (and knew nothing about raising chickens) I could be successful again... this time, I'll just be a bit more informed. Thus, one of my reasons for joining the forum.
I live in Vancouver, WA, and of course, we have a 3 bird limit we are allowed to keep. Compared to my neighbors across the river in Portland, Oregon, my fenced yard is HUGE (100 x 130). I know I have enough room to give some girls a good healthy life - lots of buggies and room to roam. I want to be mindful of the logistics of the Coop and my neighbors. Also, I have a cat and dog that are included in the mix. Both are 12 years old, mellow, and tolerant of everything - even of the wild bunnies
I've bought a few books to read, and have recently stumbled upon the Urban Farm Store in Portland - thankful I have some excellent resources at my disposal. I've been poking around BackYarkChickens for a while and decided to add it to my 'tool-box'. Plus I love checking out all the pictures of Coops folks have built - the ideas are great and the information has been invaluable.
Enjoying myself already,
Susie
