Hello from the Land of Enchantment

[WilderSkye]

Hiya, and welcome to BYC!

I too send my deepest condolences. How heartwrenching.

I am another that has gotten through grief via my hubby and pets, including chickens.

I have to add that this...

...totally cracked me up. I've never heard that saying before.

I am sending you a hug, too! It feels like we are coming out of a three year fog. I can't believe that a year ago, we were facing a very serious cancer issue with my husband, brutal treatments for three months, living 8 hours away from our beloved home, and now, a year post diagnosis, it is like we have stepping back into the world of the living. That diagnosis came exactly two years after the loss of our kids. Funny how grief will end up destroying you if you let it. I can honestly say, after all of this, we are happier and at more peace than we have ever been in our entire lives. There is freedom I think in acceptance and letting go of the need to know why.

Hugs and love,
Skye

P.S. sorry for late response. My brain has been filled with chickens. I lost sleep over worrying that three hens would be too little for one rooster. Yes, we decided we really needed and wanted a rooster. Hence, a whole flock! I was warned this would happen; you can't have just one or two chickens. Maybe I need to name a hen "Pringles"

 

[N F C]

Thank you everyone for the warm welcome.

Update: we have ordered 6 straight run Fr Blue Copper Marans and 6 female Alchemist Blues from Alchemist Farm. They will arrive first week of June. We have a lot to do. We are converting our greenhouse, which had been destroyed in hail last summer, to a chicken coop. It is 12x21, so we will have plenty of room to configure how we want it and add storage.

Super excited about this. If I don't get too busy working on this project, I will try and photograph as we go along. Maybe do a Chicken Coop Impossible thread.

View attachment 4040852

Good luck with your building project, hope you'll share progress reports with us. And congrats on your upcoming flock!

 

[Debbie292d]

Thank you everyone for the warm welcome.

Update: we have ordered 6 straight run Fr Blue Copper Marans and 6 female Alchemist Blues from Alchemist Farm. They will arrive first week of June. We have a lot to do. We are converting our greenhouse, which had been destroyed in hail last summer, to a chicken coop. It is 12x21, so we will have plenty of room to configure how we want it and add storage.

Super excited about this. If I don't get too busy working on this project, I will try and photograph as we go along. Maybe do a Chicken Coop Impossible thread.

View attachment 4040852

If you do photograph and document it, you can create an article in our Coop Forum for it.

If you do that, then there is a contest for coop articles you can enter it in. That contest is always running so if you see the one I link has ended by the time you're done, look for a new one. I'd go there first actually before the article as there are tips there.

If you need any help, (not physical ) just ask!

 

[User690263]

Welcome to BYC! Feel free to make yourself right at home

 

[BigBlueHen53]

and a very warm welcome from a former resident of the beautiful Land of Enchantment! I raised my two children in the Farmington - Aztec area of NW NM from about 1975 till 1993 and loved it! However, I currently reside due east of there in the Show-Me state, SE MO. Both are good chicken country! I was so sorry to hear about your losses and challenges, but you and your DH (Dear Husband) are going to be very inspiring additions to our little chicken family here! Please feel free to post pictures of your flock as it grows and I do hope you'll do an article on your coop as well. Best wishes!

 

[WilderSkye]

and a very warm welcome from a former resident of the beautiful Land of Enchantment! I raised my two children in the Farmington - Aztec area of NW NM from about 1975 till 1993 and loved it! However, I currently reside due east of there in the Show-Me state, SE MO. Both are good chicken country! I was so sorry to hear about your losses and challenges, but you and your DH (Dear Husband) are going to be very inspiring additions to our little chicken family here! Please feel free to post pictures of your flock as it grows and I do hope you'll do an article on your coop as well. Best wishes!

Thank you so very much for that warm welcome! New Mexico has been my heart state since I was a little girl. I was so happy when we moved here 9 years ago. I spent summers in Las Vegas with an aunt and uncle. Climbed Hermit's Peak a few times, too. If you lived in Farmington, and you knew a Neil and Billie, then you know my family!

My husband was in St Jo for about six months getting a wind farm transitioned over to his company before we came here. We thought we were going to live there but he was sent here. I loved it. House hunting out in the boonies was fun. I have pretty much lived most of my life in the deserts of Texas and New Mexico. So the trees just blow me away. I was selling our Minnesota house and would go visit him and we would go shop in Hamilton, as at that time I was quliting. My dream vacation is still to go Springfield and see Baker Creek seed place. Esp during once of their big events. I order all my seeds from them.

In spite of everything we have gone through these last three years, the experience has been a life changing one for the better. I like who we are so much better. I am more joyful and thankful than I have ever been in my life. I am so content right here on our little acre that I hate leaving. No matter the weather, and here I am out on the patio in 25 mph winds, I am outside. That is why we are so stoked to get the chickens. We need some entertainment. We had been buying a 35lb bag of wild bird seed at Tractor Supply weekly for the wild birds. We figured why not at least have birds that will work for a living around here. :-D

 

[BigBlueHen53]

you lived in Farmington, and you knew a Neil and Billie, then you know my family!

I did live in Farmington but alas, did not know them. I have not been there since about 1996.

Your life now sounds amazing and so blessed! Mine is too. God is good.

 

[WilderSkye]

Good morning New Mexico! Forecast this week is warm and sunny. It is going to be 82 today. Plans are to work on garden and think I may go ahead and plant some peas as it is looking to be a warmer than normal spring.

I want to share something so cool that happened yesterday. I meditate daily, every morning somewhere between 4 and 6 I will meditate around an hour. I am a big believer in manifestation. So yesterday morning, whilst meditating I threw it out there that there was someone who would take the roosters and appreciate them, as they are so well bred and would make a great flock addition. I didn't spend a lot of time on this, just a minute or two. Felt gratitude and set it free.

Fast forward to a trip to Lowe's. We were standing at the fencing discussing hardware wire for chicken coop, etc. when this young guy started talking to us about building a coop. He gave some great tips as he has chickens, ducks, turkeys, guineas. He then mentioned wanting to build up his flock with a good rooster. Seriously! He was thrilled to hear about our Marans, and is going to take the roosters we don't want for his breeding program. He also is starting a co-op for like minded gardeners and chickens owners, grass fed beef, all that sort of thing.

I have spent a few minutes thinking about how we would offload the roosters without having to kill them. I really didn't want to have to do a bachelor herd of roosters. So that problem solved.

Then later we ran across our HOA president. I had told him later this year he won't have to buy eggs as we will share. The whole egg thing has been a conundrum. I need the chickens to work for us in our yard and garden, bugging, composting, and doing chicken things that enrich your property. So eggs were a low second on the list. We went from a plan of two to three hens, to now 12 chicks coming. In spite of my posts, we are both introverted and not social at all. I am not sure how well we will do at selling eggs. But we love to give back in our own quiet way. Bob told us that a friend of his picks up surplus eggs weekly and takes them to the boys home nearby, and the local soup kitchens. Viola! Egg problem solved!

My two biggest stressors are fixed! Now we can enjoy a nice size flock. And maybe, chocolate and blue eggs will sell, but I almost would just as soon donate them to charity. People are going to need them. And we aren't rich by any means, but that is more important than making a few bucks right now.

Life is soooo good! Spring is coming!

Skye

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Lovely! Thanks for sharing this. Keep posting, love it!