Mama Litts
In the Brooder
- Dec 19, 2021
- 2
- 14
- 26
Hi Everyone! Joining in on all this Chickeny fun from my drippy hobby farm in Duvall, WA.
I’ve been a chicken mama for about a decade now. I started in my suburban CA backyard with a flock of 4, which grew to 8 (shhhh, don’t tell the neighbors, because 4 is the legal limit). When we moved to WA almost 5 years ago, a good friend adopted my girls so they could stay in CA, and I started over. We now live on 5 acres, and I have a flock of 30. I love a beautiful multicolored egg basket, and I sell my eggs at the local farmers market, so I have a wide mix of breeds and also several “farmyard” mutts. I have an Ameraucana Roo and an Olive Egger Roo (the blue gene comes from Ameraucana and the brown from a melanstic/all-black breed) to help me continue to have lovely colored eggs in the future. My hens include some more common breeds - I have 2 Ameraucanas, a Crested Cream Legbar, 2 blue-laying EEs, a Cochin, a Barnevelder, a white Leghorn - as well as some breeds that are less common - a Bresse and a Penedescenca (Pene for short). Everyone else is Heinz 57! I also have 3 disabled birds that live in a modified coop and run - we call it the “Handicoop”. We’ve done our best to take care of their special mobility needs while giving them as much of a normal chicken life as possible. So far it seems to be working out.
My flock lives in a 20 x 70 fenced run under my fruit trees and berry hedges, and has a large coop with a 20 x 8 covered run (though we’re getting ready to build a second coop/run and split the main group into two)
As for me and mine, I took early retirement a couple years back and turned my garden into a hobby farm, so in addition to eggs, at the Farmers Market each summer I sell garden plant starts, produce and jam. My daughters are both grown and flown, but not too far - both live within an hour of us and we see each other regularly.
Chickens are a part of our “back to basics” lifestyle choice - as my husband and I have matured, we’ve felt less and less connected to the craziness of the modern world, and more and more a need to get back in touch with the basics - food, connectedness with the land, circle of life, all that stuff. For a long time, chickens were just about eggs for us, but we’ve recently learned butchering skills, added the roosters so that our flock is self-regenerating, and are butchering excess roosters for our own consumption. While it is uncomfortable, serious work, and we’re by no means “self-sufficient” in meat production, it still feels right to “know now”.
I’ve been a chicken mama for about a decade now. I started in my suburban CA backyard with a flock of 4, which grew to 8 (shhhh, don’t tell the neighbors, because 4 is the legal limit). When we moved to WA almost 5 years ago, a good friend adopted my girls so they could stay in CA, and I started over. We now live on 5 acres, and I have a flock of 30. I love a beautiful multicolored egg basket, and I sell my eggs at the local farmers market, so I have a wide mix of breeds and also several “farmyard” mutts. I have an Ameraucana Roo and an Olive Egger Roo (the blue gene comes from Ameraucana and the brown from a melanstic/all-black breed) to help me continue to have lovely colored eggs in the future. My hens include some more common breeds - I have 2 Ameraucanas, a Crested Cream Legbar, 2 blue-laying EEs, a Cochin, a Barnevelder, a white Leghorn - as well as some breeds that are less common - a Bresse and a Penedescenca (Pene for short). Everyone else is Heinz 57! I also have 3 disabled birds that live in a modified coop and run - we call it the “Handicoop”. We’ve done our best to take care of their special mobility needs while giving them as much of a normal chicken life as possible. So far it seems to be working out.
My flock lives in a 20 x 70 fenced run under my fruit trees and berry hedges, and has a large coop with a 20 x 8 covered run (though we’re getting ready to build a second coop/run and split the main group into two)
As for me and mine, I took early retirement a couple years back and turned my garden into a hobby farm, so in addition to eggs, at the Farmers Market each summer I sell garden plant starts, produce and jam. My daughters are both grown and flown, but not too far - both live within an hour of us and we see each other regularly.
Chickens are a part of our “back to basics” lifestyle choice - as my husband and I have matured, we’ve felt less and less connected to the craziness of the modern world, and more and more a need to get back in touch with the basics - food, connectedness with the land, circle of life, all that stuff. For a long time, chickens were just about eggs for us, but we’ve recently learned butchering skills, added the roosters so that our flock is self-regenerating, and are butchering excess roosters for our own consumption. While it is uncomfortable, serious work, and we’re by no means “self-sufficient” in meat production, it still feels right to “know now”.
Hello and welcome to BYC. You found an Amazing Poultry Community to be a part of with many knowledgeable members who are willing to help you along your journey with any questions you may have. Enjoy 
howdy and welcome
