Hi there, I'm a new member to the site but I've been reading the forums for the last couple of weeks. I've been enjoying what I've read, and now I'm eager to join the conversation. (1) Are you new to chickens / when did you first get chickens? A few years ago I rescued a couple of chicks from a paddock in the middle of the night. I became surrogate mum, during the day I kept them in my bra, during the night they were in a container in the hot water cupboard. They soon graduated to a cat cage, then I sourced them a coop and run. 6 months later I moved to a farm which had its own resident chickens. This increased my flock to 10. Sadly I had to move away and leave the chickens with my flatmate. The flock lives on and is probably 60+ now. (2) How many chickens do you have right now? I currently have 2 chickens. Offspring of my original flock. (3) What breeds do you have? Mongrels. My original chicks were black and I suspect australorps. One was a rooster so he became my original breeding rooster. My next additions were a mixture of breeds, a couple of bantams, a large white hen, and a few others. This group expanded to about 20 after several months. I acquired a new rooster and culled my original. The new rooster was a gravel pit find from a frequent dumping place for unwanted chickens. He was gorgeous, however we didn't realize he was only half grown when we acquired him. He was the size of a full grown rooster when we got him. He soon grew massive. Fully grown he was 2 feet tall, and solid. The biggest chicken I had ever seen. Just as the first hatchings from him were cracking their shells, I was forced to relocate and leave my entire flock behind. Now I have two of the offspring of that flock. So they really are mongrels, but beautiful birds which lay nice sized eggs. (4) How did you find out about BackYardChickens.com? Googling things to do with chickens and this site frequently came up. (5) What are some of your other hobbies? Gardening, reading, learning.
Well first off, let me welcome you to the BYC family! This site has helped me out a lot with my animals and I enjoy being able to help others. I’m sorry that you had to leave your birds behind but now you can start a new flock I’m sure every one here would love to give you suggestions on what to add, my personal favorites are Cochins, Necked Necks and Bantams. Once again welcome to the BYC family!
Hello from one New Zealander to another! Enjoy BYC, it's a great place to make new friends and talk chicken with other people who can understand that you are not crazy and you can love a chicken like you can love a cat or dog! Anyway, welcome to the BYC family!
Hello! From Devon, England I am relatively new to this too!! I have been a member of BYC since we got our flock 2 months ago. We have some land and decided to try our hand at slowly becoming self sufficient. Starting with Veg, a treehouse for the child and chickens!! We have a flock of Buff Sussex, one cockerel ‘Rusty’, named by out daughter, and he has 6 hens that he keeps in check! We thought we would expand our lot and bought some hatching eggs that are light Suzzex. Trying to keep to pure English breeds. We are on day 21-yes hatching day has arrived!!! We are all very excited!! When these have hatched be are trying our hand at Turkeys! I love keeping chickens, some reason it has made us all so chilled! Happy chickening xx
Welcome to BYC! We are glad you joined our flock! This video will help you learn how to navigate this site: Coop Ideas: Chicken Coops BYC has an APP!
Thanks for the warm welcome, everyone. Nice to see another kiwi in here, I worried a little I might be the only one