chookaboo
Chirping
Hello!
My neighbor and I got our first chickens this past summer. She worked on commercial farms for several years, but this is both of our first time with a backyard flock. As a friend of mine commented, the seven "witch chickens"/"witchens" are real small dinosaurs to be carrying such big names:
Tisiphone, Megaera, and Alecto, blue Australorps. They were supposed to be named for the three Fates originally, but were such jerks when introducing the next two that we went for Furies instead. These days they get along much better.
Hecate: Ayam Cemani, surprise rooster. New as we are, we didn't notice him as a rooster until his sickle feathers started really coming in at month 6. Our town has by-laws against keeping roosters, so we're in the process of trying to re-home him.
Hestia: Hedemora, silvery goofball. Never fights back against the Furies, best friends (anthropomorphizing, here) with Hecate, double-layer of feathers, hence the gentle goddess of the hearth.
Persephone: Icelandic. The daughter of the farmer we got her from called her "Seeds," so of course we had to go with Demeter or Persephone. Adorably tiny and cheepity for life.
Scylla: Easter Egger. A surprisingly quiet and staid chicken whose beard gives her a majestic, dragon-like countenance. Of course her nickname is "Silly."
Favorite things about having backyard chickens? The entertainment. The problem-solving. Chickens are such goobers that they're a pleasure to watch, hand-feed, maybe coax up into being held. Honestly, the routine is also a huge help. My neighbor and I both have a really hard time in winter, and having a very pressing external reason to get up and going has been a real help to mental health. Putting together the enclosure (a 200sf frame made of electrical conduit, covered in hardware cloth for predators and now heavy-duty clear tarp to keep the snow out) was a project I'm proud of.
Other things about me: I read a lot (particularly magical realism and space opera sci-fi), love boardgames (Aeon's End and Spirit Island are the current favorites), am queer and politically active, lift weights to try to reduce the impact of joint hypermobility disorder, and keep a couple of penpals in different parts of the world.
I've been lurking BYC for months now, and have officially made an account to learn more about make sure our chickens get the care they need. Looking forward to meeting you all!
Edit: Now with embedded photos! Sort of. Not clean inserts, been a while since I made my way around forum coding.
My neighbor and I got our first chickens this past summer. She worked on commercial farms for several years, but this is both of our first time with a backyard flock. As a friend of mine commented, the seven "witch chickens"/"witchens" are real small dinosaurs to be carrying such big names:
Tisiphone, Megaera, and Alecto, blue Australorps. They were supposed to be named for the three Fates originally, but were such jerks when introducing the next two that we went for Furies instead. These days they get along much better.
Hecate: Ayam Cemani, surprise rooster. New as we are, we didn't notice him as a rooster until his sickle feathers started really coming in at month 6. Our town has by-laws against keeping roosters, so we're in the process of trying to re-home him.
Hestia: Hedemora, silvery goofball. Never fights back against the Furies, best friends (anthropomorphizing, here) with Hecate, double-layer of feathers, hence the gentle goddess of the hearth.
Persephone: Icelandic. The daughter of the farmer we got her from called her "Seeds," so of course we had to go with Demeter or Persephone. Adorably tiny and cheepity for life.
Scylla: Easter Egger. A surprisingly quiet and staid chicken whose beard gives her a majestic, dragon-like countenance. Of course her nickname is "Silly."
Favorite things about having backyard chickens? The entertainment. The problem-solving. Chickens are such goobers that they're a pleasure to watch, hand-feed, maybe coax up into being held. Honestly, the routine is also a huge help. My neighbor and I both have a really hard time in winter, and having a very pressing external reason to get up and going has been a real help to mental health. Putting together the enclosure (a 200sf frame made of electrical conduit, covered in hardware cloth for predators and now heavy-duty clear tarp to keep the snow out) was a project I'm proud of.
Other things about me: I read a lot (particularly magical realism and space opera sci-fi), love boardgames (Aeon's End and Spirit Island are the current favorites), am queer and politically active, lift weights to try to reduce the impact of joint hypermobility disorder, and keep a couple of penpals in different parts of the world.
I've been lurking BYC for months now, and have officially made an account to learn more about make sure our chickens get the care they need. Looking forward to meeting you all!
Edit: Now with embedded photos! Sort of. Not clean inserts, been a while since I made my way around forum coding.
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Glad you joined.
