hi - what a fun site! so excited to be here. heard of you on dave's garden and had to come see what all the fuss was about!
i grew up with chickens and horses. my grandfather had an egg farm in lansdale, pa and delivered eggs all the way to philadelphia (that's 45 minutes in a car barring bad traffic, and all day in a wagon) and had a lot of customers who kept buying from him even when it was possible to get eggs from the store. and their kids or grandkids who knew that's where the family's eggs came from. we also had a huge vegetable garden and grew the grain and hay we used for the horses. moved to new mexico for grad school, hated life without pets, got involved with animal rescue as soon as we moved out of family housing and have been desperately trying to get back to a self-sustainable small farm lifestlye for about the past 6 years. this year, finally, we achieved chickens! so i accept newbie status even though i grew up with them because i am so out of practice.
my first order of peeps is due to arrive monday, from mcmurray hatchery, the colored egg layers mix. plus a mystery free one - i figure that's how they get rid of the roosters but oh well, if we get one we get one. so that will be 26. thursday sent husband to feed store to get chick starter and he came home with 4 ameraucaunas, which i thought were standards but now am pretty sure they are bantams several weeks old given the amount of feathers already grown. he assured me that they all came from the "pellet" box, and i gently corrected him that it was pullet. he doesn't know anything about farming but he tries hard, and he's very good at inventing cost-effective ways to make alternative energy to power our little farm. as for breeds in the mix i ordered, can't wait to see what i get!
i'm an archaeologist, new mexico is a great place to live if that's your job. i specialize in public archaeology, which is getting children and non-archaeologists excited about cultural resources so that they want to visit and protect them. i also analyze prehistoric and historic pottery and do general survey projects. what's not great about new mexico is trying to garden and raise your own food... so that's an ongoing frustration that i think i am finally starting to overcome after about 10 years. our family is 3 people, 2 dogs, 6 cats, 2 cockatiels, and on monday 30 chickens, living on 2 acres and approximately 30% solar and wind powered (also a great bonus of new mexico).
i grew up with chickens and horses. my grandfather had an egg farm in lansdale, pa and delivered eggs all the way to philadelphia (that's 45 minutes in a car barring bad traffic, and all day in a wagon) and had a lot of customers who kept buying from him even when it was possible to get eggs from the store. and their kids or grandkids who knew that's where the family's eggs came from. we also had a huge vegetable garden and grew the grain and hay we used for the horses. moved to new mexico for grad school, hated life without pets, got involved with animal rescue as soon as we moved out of family housing and have been desperately trying to get back to a self-sustainable small farm lifestlye for about the past 6 years. this year, finally, we achieved chickens! so i accept newbie status even though i grew up with them because i am so out of practice.
my first order of peeps is due to arrive monday, from mcmurray hatchery, the colored egg layers mix. plus a mystery free one - i figure that's how they get rid of the roosters but oh well, if we get one we get one. so that will be 26. thursday sent husband to feed store to get chick starter and he came home with 4 ameraucaunas, which i thought were standards but now am pretty sure they are bantams several weeks old given the amount of feathers already grown. he assured me that they all came from the "pellet" box, and i gently corrected him that it was pullet. he doesn't know anything about farming but he tries hard, and he's very good at inventing cost-effective ways to make alternative energy to power our little farm. as for breeds in the mix i ordered, can't wait to see what i get!
i'm an archaeologist, new mexico is a great place to live if that's your job. i specialize in public archaeology, which is getting children and non-archaeologists excited about cultural resources so that they want to visit and protect them. i also analyze prehistoric and historic pottery and do general survey projects. what's not great about new mexico is trying to garden and raise your own food... so that's an ongoing frustration that i think i am finally starting to overcome after about 10 years. our family is 3 people, 2 dogs, 6 cats, 2 cockatiels, and on monday 30 chickens, living on 2 acres and approximately 30% solar and wind powered (also a great bonus of new mexico).
