Hello from Arkansas!

Hello everyone! I am Rachel in NW AR, and I'm addicted to poultry.

(1) Are you new to chickens / when did you first get chickens?
My parents had a 30,000-bird commercial broiler farm when I was a kid. They gave that up and focused on beef (thankfully!). We kept the last few birds the catch-crew missed, had them for years, and discovered you could have broilers reach 20+ pounds and still breed. I don't get it either, but I don't understand a lot that happened in the 80's and 90's. We've had lots of breeds from the little old lady across the street and used to show LOTS of birds in the county fairs.

(2) How many chickens do you have right now?
I live in the city, so 3. Had 4, but one didn't make it through the first snow.

(3) What breeds do you have?
Splash cochin bantams. They started laying about 2 weeks ago. On my parent's farm I also have 3 banty roos, a mixed tom turkey, and a small flock of EE & dark cornish crosses.

(4) How did you find out about BackYardChickens.com?
Google. I was looking up coop plans for my venture into urban poultry. Ended up retro-fitting a shipping crate, but still glad I found this place!

(5) What are some of your other hobbies?
I knit, sew, cook, read, bicycle, make wine, and garden.

(6) Tell us about your family, your other pets, your occupation, or anything else you'd like to share.
I live with my beau and our three cats. I grew up on a mixed-use farm. Over the years we've had chickens, cows, ducks, horses, turkeys, guineas, peafowl, donkeys, pigs, rabbits, sheep, cats, dogs, a lovebird, anoles, and various fish. Lucky me, DH always wanted to live on a farm. Going to college has only solidified my Barnheart, so as soon as we're able, we'll be making our living from the farm.

Thanks for reading. I look forward to the fun times and lessons learned in this community!