Hello from a new member!

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dootsie

dootsie

Hatching
5 Years
Jul 27, 2014
9
3
9
near northbend state park in west virginia
hi everyone, my name is dinah (username: dootsie) and i joined this site not long ago. please excuse my lack of using caps as i tend to be lazy about hitting the shift key : )
anyway, i'm originally from mississippi and moved to west virginia about 15 yr.s ago.
for years i raised quite a few different species of animals (ostrich, horses, longhorns, dairy goats,wallabies and, of course, chickens) and animals were pretty much my life. being a vet tech often helped but along the way i discovered there were many better alternative ways to approach animal husbandry.
a bout with br. cancer several years ago (am fine now) caused a huge lifestyle change but, i recently bought a few broilers to raise off, for the first time in years.
it's funny that of all the species from my past, both exotic and domestic, the ones i enjoyed and now miss the most are...
LAYING HENS (ya see, i actually do know how to hit this shift key
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)!!
where some people find aquariums to be relaxing, to me (and i'm sure most members here), it cannot compare to watching your hens hunting/pecking across the yard. and, of course, the silly rooster strutting and fluffing in his attempt to impress the "ladies".
i was seriously considering trying to keep a few of the broilers and raise into adult hens but, from experience years ago with these cornish rocks, i found that to be an almost impossible task.
sooooo, whenever i'm able to finally come across two or three nice hens to purchase, i'll have more in common with everyone here and shall pop into the forums.
sorry for the rambling on...am a coffee drinking night owl.
blessings to all of you!
dinah
 
Welcome to BYC, Dinah! Glad you decided to join our flock. You've had quite a variety of animals. I always thought wallabies are so cute and would be fun to own. As you discovered, Cornish Rocks develop to many health problems to raise to adulthood due to their abnormally fast growth. We always butchered ours at 8 weeks. Do you have any particular breed in mind to purchase? Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Blessings to you as well.
 
thank you so much for the welcome, michael!
i can most certainly understand what you're saying in regard to the cornish rocks as i once decided to try and keep a couple and, sure enough, the legs just could not bear the body size they grew to. although, i found a couple of people actually were able to have success and stated that the birds were exceptional layers but had a life span of only about 2 years.
a definite exception to the rule for those birds to make it into adulthood. come to think of it, i should have asked if they'd had little wheelchairs made for them.
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wallabies are awesome but not super pet material. the bennett wallabies, which are the largest, due tend to be the least nervous, though still not exactly "cuddly".
concerning laying breed that i prefer - probably australorp, brahma, orpington, rhode island or dominique or something along those lines. no bantams (but i do love 'em) or leghorns. the few flocks i've seen around here have tended to be red stars that were purchased from farm stores then the owners sell out prior to holding them thru the winter.
to be honest, it makes no big difference to me so long as they lay well and the eggs are that good ole brown color. : ). since it's only myself, i fiqure 2 or 3 hens and perhaps a rooster, would be plenty for now.
this season is the first garden i've planted since the "c" event. how therapeutic and something i've so missed! the hens would make it complete.
is after 6am here so it's time to go let the c rocks out to stuff their little faces and fill the run up with the huge amount of sh.. those fluffy little pigs are capable of!
blessings,
dinah
 
Welcome to BYC, Dinah!
I have found the group of people on this site to be AMAZINGLY helpful and knowledgable! Sounds like your past experiences will help you jump right in helping us newbies! I've never been one for forums but I find myself checking BYC multiple times a day!
 
Hello there and welcome to BYC!
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The correct ratio of rooster to hen is 1 to 10. If you don't keep enough hens, the rooster can over mate them causing damage to the feathers and even hurting the hens. So you might keep a few more hens or if you are just interested in eggs, then just keep hens. Hens are much happier without a rooster around in the long run. Roosters can be a pain in the rump! LOL

Enjoy this new adventure you are on and welcome to our flock!
 
dootsie said:
thank you so much for the welcome, michael!
concerning laying breed that i prefer - probably australorp, brahma, orpington, rhode island or dominique or something along those lines.. . .
since it's only myself, i fiqure 2 or 3 hens and perhaps a rooster, would be plenty for now.
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You're welcome. Black Australorps are my favorite standard breed; very hardy, calm and gentle, and the best layers of the standard, brown egg laying breeds. X2 on the 10 to 1 hen to rooster ratio mentioned by TwoCrows. As TwoCrows pointed our, roosters can be very hard on hens physically; over-breeding them, injuring them with their beaks and spurs, and battering them. I currently have 25 hens, no roosters, and I get loads of eggs without feeding any non-egg laying mouths, without the aggression, fights, crowing in the middle of the night, injuries, and over-bred and battered hens that frequently goes along with having roosters (especially too many). Whatever breeds you end up getting, good luck with your flock.
 
thank you everyone for the welcome!
i understand the point made regarding the hen/rooster ratio. in the past, i've had no problem with running just a few hens w/a rooster but that seemed to depend on the breed plus a large ranging area. of course, it could also have just been dumb luck on my part. : )
as one member who welcomed me mentioned that they aren't really one for forums....neither am i BUT this site managed to "hook me" right off the bat!
my primary focus, regarding birds, for many years was bio-security, disease and incubation/hatching of ratites although i always had some chickens as a side hobby because i love them so.
every year the murray mcmurray catalog would be worn down to threadbare!
i never got around to gaining as much knowledge about poultry as i'd like so joining byc shall be a hugely fun learning experience.
i've become a recluse for a good while now and here, i feel as if i've joined a really cool family.
please let me know if i'm to get off of this particular forum since i've made an introduction or can i just keep on chattering away? easy for one who could be the poster child for adhd!
thank you all again.
dinah
 

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