suburbanjungle
Chirping
Hello everyone,
As my answers below will reveal, I started raising a few chickens as something to do at the beginning of the pandemic and we were forced to stay at home. It has been a very welcome distraction. It has also been heartbreaking at times, but they have brought me many more smiles than pain.
(1) Are you new to chickens / when did you first get chickens?
I got my first chickens in May of this year. A friend of mine who has several on her acre nearby suggested they would be a welcome respite from being home alone during the pandemic.
(2) How many chickens do you have right now?
I currently have 21 of various ages on my property right now, but 9 of them are for my friend. She doesn't have a good brooder setup, and I have a great setup in my garage, so I have agreed to raise them until they feather at around 5 weeks. I consider it "fostering" the chicks and preparing them for a good home. As I mentioned above, I've had some heartbreak after losing several along the way (accident, sickness, predator), but I've learned from each loss. And yes, I ramped up pretty quickly!
(3) What breeds do you have?
I will list them in order of age.
And those I've given up so far:
(4) What are your favorite aspects of raising backyard chickens?
It's not so much the eggs for me as just raising them. They are a joy to watch and interact with. And spoil.
I actually had a backyard chicken when I was a kid, but he grew up to be a rooster, and a rooster with no flock is mean. Everyone hated him. Except me. We hatched the chicks in my school classroom. And when they got too big to keep in the classroom, they held a raffle. And I won one of them, a Barred Plymouth Rock that I named "Spot." (Surprise, mom!) That poor chicken had no one to associate with. And I'm amazed he lived as long as he did. He died at around 5 when he attacked the wrong adult.
(5) What are some of your other hobbies?
I am an IT manager, so I have a smart house. I have solar panels on the chicken coop and wifi cameras in the yard and coop as well as over the brooder. I also love to hike and spend time in, on, or at the ocean or some type of beach. And I LOVE to travel and I look forward to doing it again after COVID. Although I am going to have to figure out the chick-sitting at that point.
(6) Tell us about your family, your other pets, your occupation, or anything else you'd like to share.
I live alone with my two small rescue dogs (Zoey and Milo) and my formerly feral cat (Callie). As for work, as I mentioned above, I'm an IT manager. I'm lucky to still be working albeit from home.
(7) Bonus: How did you find BYC, how long have you known about BYC, and what made you finally join our awesome community?
Like a lot of people, I've been doing a lot of research on how to raise these little ones. I've learned about "pasty butt," how to determine your chick is a roo, how to identify your chick's breed, and so many other topics. Today I had to look up if a chick's bare butt is indicative of another problem. (It appears that no fuzz on the butt shouldn't be a big deal, but keep an eye on her nonetheless as other issues could arise with poop and picking.)
I finally joined because I want to be able to ask questions of my own. I also want to be able to respond with what I have learned in my short time or to chime in on a thread.
I'm sure I'll be posting pics of my girls later.
As my answers below will reveal, I started raising a few chickens as something to do at the beginning of the pandemic and we were forced to stay at home. It has been a very welcome distraction. It has also been heartbreaking at times, but they have brought me many more smiles than pain.
(1) Are you new to chickens / when did you first get chickens?
I got my first chickens in May of this year. A friend of mine who has several on her acre nearby suggested they would be a welcome respite from being home alone during the pandemic.
(2) How many chickens do you have right now?
I currently have 21 of various ages on my property right now, but 9 of them are for my friend. She doesn't have a good brooder setup, and I have a great setup in my garage, so I have agreed to raise them until they feather at around 5 weeks. I consider it "fostering" the chicks and preparing them for a good home. As I mentioned above, I've had some heartbreak after losing several along the way (accident, sickness, predator), but I've learned from each loss. And yes, I ramped up pretty quickly!
(3) What breeds do you have?
I will list them in order of age.
- 15 weeks: Rhode Island Red (2: Rosa and Chanda)
- 14 weeks: White Leghorn (2: Bea and Betty)
- 6 weeks: Blue Fauvacana (Jasmine), Silver Cuckoo Marans (Opal), Olive Egger (Olive)
- 4 weeks*: Partridge Cochin (Eleanor), Gold-Laced Cochin (Rosalyn), Blue Laced Red Wyandotte (Jackie)
- 2 weeks: Golden Laced Wyandotte (Tammy), Mille Fleur d'Uccle Bantams (2: Angelina and Jolie)
- 4 weeks*: Ameraucana (Frances), Silver Laced Cochin (Bess), Silver Orpington ("Baby" Lady Bird), Blue Laced Red Wyandotte (Grace)
- 2 weeks: Olive Egger (Olivia)
- 1 week*: Not sure yet (3)
And those I've given up so far:
- 15 weeks: Rhode Island Red (Joey). Gave him to another large farm because I don't want a rooster at this time.
- 14 weeks: White Leghorn (2: Estelle and Rue). Gave them to Carol at 5 weeks.
- 15-week flock: Friends. All were named after the six characters on the tv show "Friends." The male names were converted to similar female names, except Joey, who I originally called "Joanne," was really a Joey. Monica, Phoebe, and Rachel were Ameraucanas and died in an accident.
- 14-week flock: Golden Girls. There were four little golden chicks, so I named them after the Golden Girls even though I knew they would grow up to be white chickens. I already had a "Rosa" so I decided to name them after the actresses instead of the characters.
- 10-week flock: My Americana. I had five Ameraucanas and one Barred Plymouth Rock. One Ameraucana and the Plymouth died of illness within two days of arrival. The remaining Ameraucanas were killed by a predator, so I lost the entire flock.
- [EDIT: I realized I was missing the 6-week flock!]
6-week flock: Rainbow Gals. I ordered these girls from MPC based on their egg colors, so their names are related to colors. - 4-week flock: First Ladies. We got these during the National Conventions, and it seemed right to name them after First Ladies in history.
- 2-week flock: The Little Entertainers. This came about because the Mille Fleur is a french name, and the little bantams were so cute, so I named the smallest one "Jolie" which means "cute" in French. So then it seemed obvious to name the other one Angelina. I then named the Wyandotte Tammy, as in "Tammy Wyandotte." And the Olive Egger became Olivia, as in Olivia de Havilland.
- 1-week flock: This one just arrived today, so their names and flock theme are to be determined
.
(4) What are your favorite aspects of raising backyard chickens?
It's not so much the eggs for me as just raising them. They are a joy to watch and interact with. And spoil.
I actually had a backyard chicken when I was a kid, but he grew up to be a rooster, and a rooster with no flock is mean. Everyone hated him. Except me. We hatched the chicks in my school classroom. And when they got too big to keep in the classroom, they held a raffle. And I won one of them, a Barred Plymouth Rock that I named "Spot." (Surprise, mom!) That poor chicken had no one to associate with. And I'm amazed he lived as long as he did. He died at around 5 when he attacked the wrong adult.
(5) What are some of your other hobbies?
I am an IT manager, so I have a smart house. I have solar panels on the chicken coop and wifi cameras in the yard and coop as well as over the brooder. I also love to hike and spend time in, on, or at the ocean or some type of beach. And I LOVE to travel and I look forward to doing it again after COVID. Although I am going to have to figure out the chick-sitting at that point.
(6) Tell us about your family, your other pets, your occupation, or anything else you'd like to share.
I live alone with my two small rescue dogs (Zoey and Milo) and my formerly feral cat (Callie). As for work, as I mentioned above, I'm an IT manager. I'm lucky to still be working albeit from home.
(7) Bonus: How did you find BYC, how long have you known about BYC, and what made you finally join our awesome community?
Like a lot of people, I've been doing a lot of research on how to raise these little ones. I've learned about "pasty butt," how to determine your chick is a roo, how to identify your chick's breed, and so many other topics. Today I had to look up if a chick's bare butt is indicative of another problem. (It appears that no fuzz on the butt shouldn't be a big deal, but keep an eye on her nonetheless as other issues could arise with poop and picking.)
I finally joined because I want to be able to ask questions of my own. I also want to be able to respond with what I have learned in my short time or to chime in on a thread.
I'm sure I'll be posting pics of my girls later.
Last edited:
Glad you joined. 
