Welcome to BYC!(1) Are you new to chickens / when did you first get chickens?
Yes, very much so. My sister and I got chickens four months ago, and this is our first flock.
(2) How many chickens do you have right now?
We have 19 beautiful babies but are having to sell 5 of them as we have too many roos. (Ended up with 11 hens and 8 roos)
(3) What breeds do you have?
The predominant breed in these our flock is Ameraucana. Fourteen of our chickens are mixed and their parents' breeds include, Apenzeller Spitzhaubens, Wyandottes, French Copper Marans, Easter Eggers, Olive Eggers, and others. We do have 5 purebreds. They are Opal Legbars, Ameraucanas, and one Barnevelder.
(4) What are your favorite aspects of raising backyard chickens?
We don't have any eggs yet but it has always been a dream of mine to wake up each morning to the sound of crowing and collect eggs from my very own girls. Whenever I imagine a perfect house I see free range chickens wandering the lawn. While we do not free range our chickens 24/7, it is wonderful to see that dream come true. I also love seeing all the personalities come out in each of the chickens. How one breed can be flighty but they love cuddling up to you, so long as you don't try to pick them up.
(5) What are some of your other hobbies?
I enjoy anything to do with art really. I love drawing, painting, and sculpting. I also love reading and writing, and I am in the middle of writing my own book. And, as Tolkien says it, "where our hearts truly lie is in peace and quiet and good, tilled earth. For all hobbits share a love for things that grow." I would say that quote relates to me and my family perfectly.
(6) Tell us about your family, your other pets, your occupation, or anything else you'd like to share.
Speaking of family. Both my parents grew up on a farm and it has always been their dream to have a farm of their own one day. As soon as my mother discovered, however, that it was either a farm or travel, she set her thoughts on travel whole heartedly. My siblings and I grew up with my dad's love for animals and have always wanted a farm for as long as we could remember. Right now we have 19 chickens, two cats and a dog. However, over the years we have had more animals, we used to have two dogs, the other one passed away a few weeks ago, we also had another cat before the two we have now. We also had two beautiful rescue horses, and five sugar gliders. We are hoping to get sheep and more dogs, but my mom needs a bit more persuasion. My dad loves the quote from the hobbit and everything to do with hobbits and The Lord of the Rings in particular. We have a patch of potatoes, sunflowers, squashes, and zucchinis growing in our front yard as well. I am a full time student, if that counts ha ha, and unfortunately cannot spend as much time with my babies as I wish.
(7) Bonus: How did you find BYC, how long have you known about BYC, and what made you finally join our awesome community?
Whenever we had any questions about the chickens we would come on here and it has been very helpful. I decided to finally join however because of a more sad reason than I would wish. Our chickens are sick and we are frantic to find a solution.
Hope you all enjoyed reading a little bit about me and my flock. I would love any comments and to hear about your stories too!!
