This site is such a FANTASTIC resource! I've been finding useful information on practically every question I have.. you all rock! (1) Are you new to chickens / when did you first get chickens? With the exception of unexpectedly getting a few fighting roosters from a friend in FL back in mid-80's, I'm pretty new to all of this! He came over one day, with chickens in his truck and said, "Hey! Here are some fighting roosters for you!" He put up a make-shift fence around a few palm trees that I had behind my cottage and said he'd bring me left-over greens and such that he would get every week from the local grocery store for his horse. Of course, it didn't take too long before the roosters kept getting out of the make-shift area and eventually met their demise (2) How many chickens do you have right now? I'm working on building a coop/run out of a truck topper that's been laying around my yard since one of my sons totaled my old Dodge pick-up truck, over a year ago. I also have accumulated some scrap landscape timbers and 2x4's that I'll be putting to use for it. Over the last several weeks, I've been feverishly researching everything chickens! I'd like to have it up and ready in the next 2-3 weeks. (3) What breeds do you have? I will be getting 6 Lavender Ameraucanas from a friend who's been raising chickens for almost 2 years, and I just found out this evening that my landlord, who also has 8 chickens and said he wants to get rid of 2 rock chickens before winter comes, so I think I'll be getting those, as well. (4) How did you find out about BackYardChickens.com? Practically everything I've been researching on chickens brings up this site - usually at, or near, the top of the SERPs! (Pretty good SEO going on here ) (5) What are some of your other hobbies? I work from home, and tend to do a lot of it. When we can coordinate it, my 2nd son and my 4 yr old grandson go out on his boat fishing - we love fishing! I also do a little, very little, gardening, as I like to grow grape tomatoes and purple basil in containers every year. I once had several big gardens in another state. However, I'm getting older, have been single for about 7 yrs, (definitely now and forever hehe...), and have backed off from it over the last few years...it's just too much work any more and my old bones can't keep up with it! (6) Tell us about your family, your other pets, your occupation, or anything else you'd like to share. I became a city-dweller again about 6 yrs ago, have 3 sons, 35, 26, 21 and 1 grandson. One son lives in a duplex on my left with my grandson and his Dad (an X of nearly 15 yrs), one lives in a duplex on my right, and my oldest recently moved here and lives with me - he'll be doing all of the actual building - I'm tasked with making all of the plans! I also have a 9 yo chihuahua that likes to go out in the fenced back yard during the day and bark at anything that moves! I'm still not sure what she's gonna think about the chickens when we have it all set up! So, that's my story. I look forward to spending time here browsing and if I run into any problems that I just can't seem to find good answers to, I'll certainly ask here. Thanks for having me! P.S. This is the only forum that I have officially "joined" since running several of my own over 10 years ago! They were on different, yet in a small way similar, topics related to raising babies and toddlers
Hi and welcome to BYC - great that you have joined us. Thanks for your introduction - very interesting. I have grown purple basil in the past, but it tasted nothing like the real deal - I've switched to Greek basil - more of a bush, which is easy to deal with. You'll find lots of threads that may interest you here - not just chickens, so please make yourself at home and enjoy being a member of a forum where you can just be a member Do let us know (with pics, of course) how your coop and flock are doing. Best wishes CT
Thank you CTKen! I've never tried Greek basil.. may have to try that! I do love the flavor of the purple. I use it in my family's favorite summer pasta salad and dry it for stews, sprinkle it on my Thanksgiving turkey and in its basting butter and on other meats. And, when grown right in the pot with my grape tomatoes, they pick up the flavor it and are so darn good. Plus, I love the color of the bush! I've been taking some videos of the progress on the build and it will be interesting to see how it all pans out! I'll surely share some images once everything has come together. Thanks again for the welcome!
Thank you drumstick diva! I've been browsing here and getting some great info for the last several weeks.. totally enjoying it
Greetings from Kansas and ! Happy you joined our flock! I love the various ways people have gotten into chicken raising! Loved your intro. Have fun with your flock and enjoy BYC!!
