(1) Are you new to chickens / when did you first get chickens?
Totally new. Moved to the country after 15 years in a big city and the first thing I wanted were chickens. Well, I also wanted goats and alpaca, but the chicken seemed a more reasonable place to start. After getting a variety pack of 6 from TSC going, I started doing chicken math. We (family of 5) wanted enough eggs to share, so we'd probably eventually want more than 6 (then we lost a chick, so only 5). But then, it takes sooooooo looooooong for chicken to start laying, so we got some quail. They only come in straight runs, and our ratio was terrible, not nearly as many hens as we were hoping for. So we got more quail.
(2) How many chickens do you have right now?
We're up to 11 chickens (15 weeks and 8 weeks), and 14 quail (in two breeding groups, but it will soon be just 13 as one of the hens was getting picked on. She's currently being pampered indoors until we can cull her, poor little thing.)
(3) What breeds do you have?
Our first foray into chicks was just picking out ones that looked cute at TSC. I didn't pay enough attention to the breed card. We know we have a barred rock and an Americauna, but I don't know what the others are. The second batch came from Rural King and I paid attention. We have 2 black laced wyandottes, 2 more americaunas, and 2 rhode island reds. The quail are coturnix in a variety of colors.
(4) What are your favorite aspects of raising backyard chickens?
Watching them. They're hilarious. We are particularly amused by the butt wiggle when they run. I'm sure the eggs will be nice to whenever they get around to it.
The quail are beautiful and make the cutest little sounds. Their eggs are also beautiful, and delicious.
(5) What are some of your other hobbies?
I'm homeschooling (by choice, before the pandemic) 3 young boys, so that pretty much takes up all of my sanity. The chickens and quail kind of are my hobby right now.
(6) Tell us about your family, your other pets, your occupation, or anything else you'd like to share.
We also have 2 hamsters and 3 cats. The kids want a dog. I told them when the toddler is fully potty trained, we'll talk about it.
We also have a variety of other backyard wildlife that we've been naming. Carl, the front porch chipmunk. Bernice, the backyard bunny. Todd and Tiffany, the toads. Dafne and Delores, the deer. Richard, the racoon (we call him Dick). And the mini Dicks, because Dick is probably female since she's raising two little baby Dicks. The Dicks are adorable but we know we need to deal with them soon. They're starting to come around before dusk, which means before the chickens have been closed up. We caught them in the coop eating the feed once. So now, we sit out back with the chickens at least 30 minutes before sunset until they go back into the coop and we can shut the door. A few nights ago, one of the mini Dicks lumbered across the patio right through the middle of the chickens. Luckily, it's still small and doesn't consider the chickens food, it just wanted to get to their feed. The next night, I loudly swept the patio the whole time before chicken bed time. We have not seen the mini Dicks before dark since. It's an odd mix of feelings, wanting to cuddle it but knowing how dangerous it is.
(7) Bonus: How did you find BYC, how long have you known about BYC, and what made you finally join our awesome community?
Google. I've read many threads as questions have come up along the way. But now I want to chat too, so it's time to register.
Totally new. Moved to the country after 15 years in a big city and the first thing I wanted were chickens. Well, I also wanted goats and alpaca, but the chicken seemed a more reasonable place to start. After getting a variety pack of 6 from TSC going, I started doing chicken math. We (family of 5) wanted enough eggs to share, so we'd probably eventually want more than 6 (then we lost a chick, so only 5). But then, it takes sooooooo looooooong for chicken to start laying, so we got some quail. They only come in straight runs, and our ratio was terrible, not nearly as many hens as we were hoping for. So we got more quail.
(2) How many chickens do you have right now?
We're up to 11 chickens (15 weeks and 8 weeks), and 14 quail (in two breeding groups, but it will soon be just 13 as one of the hens was getting picked on. She's currently being pampered indoors until we can cull her, poor little thing.)
(3) What breeds do you have?
Our first foray into chicks was just picking out ones that looked cute at TSC. I didn't pay enough attention to the breed card. We know we have a barred rock and an Americauna, but I don't know what the others are. The second batch came from Rural King and I paid attention. We have 2 black laced wyandottes, 2 more americaunas, and 2 rhode island reds. The quail are coturnix in a variety of colors.
(4) What are your favorite aspects of raising backyard chickens?
Watching them. They're hilarious. We are particularly amused by the butt wiggle when they run. I'm sure the eggs will be nice to whenever they get around to it.
The quail are beautiful and make the cutest little sounds. Their eggs are also beautiful, and delicious.
(5) What are some of your other hobbies?
I'm homeschooling (by choice, before the pandemic) 3 young boys, so that pretty much takes up all of my sanity. The chickens and quail kind of are my hobby right now.
(6) Tell us about your family, your other pets, your occupation, or anything else you'd like to share.
We also have 2 hamsters and 3 cats. The kids want a dog. I told them when the toddler is fully potty trained, we'll talk about it.
We also have a variety of other backyard wildlife that we've been naming. Carl, the front porch chipmunk. Bernice, the backyard bunny. Todd and Tiffany, the toads. Dafne and Delores, the deer. Richard, the racoon (we call him Dick). And the mini Dicks, because Dick is probably female since she's raising two little baby Dicks. The Dicks are adorable but we know we need to deal with them soon. They're starting to come around before dusk, which means before the chickens have been closed up. We caught them in the coop eating the feed once. So now, we sit out back with the chickens at least 30 minutes before sunset until they go back into the coop and we can shut the door. A few nights ago, one of the mini Dicks lumbered across the patio right through the middle of the chickens. Luckily, it's still small and doesn't consider the chickens food, it just wanted to get to their feed. The next night, I loudly swept the patio the whole time before chicken bed time. We have not seen the mini Dicks before dark since. It's an odd mix of feelings, wanting to cuddle it but knowing how dangerous it is.
(7) Bonus: How did you find BYC, how long have you known about BYC, and what made you finally join our awesome community?
Google. I've read many threads as questions have come up along the way. But now I want to chat too, so it's time to register.
Make yourself at home here.
