Hi My name is Cher'rie and my husband's name is Harry. We live with in the city limits of Yakima, Washington.
Cher'rie Writing Now!
I have always wanted to be a farmer.(Like my Grandma Day and Great-Grandma Truitt)
When I was young I used to go out to their farms and I would romp and play out there. I used to climb up their apple trees and pick their apples, play with their chickens and feed water them; and milk their goats. That was when I began to dream of having my own farm.
But as I grew up, it turned out to be much harder to make my dream come true than I had anticipated. As the years passed by I had to come to grips with the fact that my Grandmothers grew up in a different world than the one I find myself in now. My childhood dreams are harder to make come true in our Industrial climate. But somewhere inside the core of my being I never lost touch with the inner real me: the farmer me.
Recently, my husband and I began looking for a home to buy. We began looking first in the country on the very outskirts in the rural areas around Yakima, and found that two things barred our way. One: The price was outrageous(It seems you have to be rich to homestead in the country); Two: I can not drive so I needed to be close to the bus system (which as most of you know is rare in the rural parts of the country) So I decided to give up my dream of the Farm.
Then about Two weeks ago my husband picked up a book called
.... it begins with just 1 step.
Part of this decision included research into raising chicken. We found we can just have 4 chickens... all hens no rooster.
Now we are looking at the best breeds for us...
So we are very new to chickens! At present we do not even own them.
We are considering a few of the dual purpose breeds like Sussex, or New Hampshire,or Barred Plymouth, orAustralop.
We found you guys by looking at your site when trying to get ideas about possible breeds.
I like Music, gardening, art, and yes.... even animal husbandy
It's me my husband, our two dogs and soon... Foster-kids. I own my business selling natural home-made soaps and hubby is a tool and die maker for a sub-contractor for Boeing...
I am so looking forward to learning all this stuff!
Cher'rie Writing Now!
I have always wanted to be a farmer.(Like my Grandma Day and Great-Grandma Truitt)
When I was young I used to go out to their farms and I would romp and play out there. I used to climb up their apple trees and pick their apples, play with their chickens and feed water them; and milk their goats. That was when I began to dream of having my own farm.
But as I grew up, it turned out to be much harder to make my dream come true than I had anticipated. As the years passed by I had to come to grips with the fact that my Grandmothers grew up in a different world than the one I find myself in now. My childhood dreams are harder to make come true in our Industrial climate. But somewhere inside the core of my being I never lost touch with the inner real me: the farmer me.
Recently, my husband and I began looking for a home to buy. We began looking first in the country on the very outskirts in the rural areas around Yakima, and found that two things barred our way. One: The price was outrageous(It seems you have to be rich to homestead in the country); Two: I can not drive so I needed to be close to the bus system (which as most of you know is rare in the rural parts of the country) So I decided to give up my dream of the Farm.
Then about Two weeks ago my husband picked up a book called
The Urban Homestead :Your guide to Self-Sufficient Living in the heart of The City
I have Literally devoured the pages and decided that I am going to do it! You Know what They say about every journey.... it begins with just 1 step.
Part of this decision included research into raising chicken. We found we can just have 4 chickens... all hens no rooster.
Now we are looking at the best breeds for us...
So we are very new to chickens! At present we do not even own them.
We are considering a few of the dual purpose breeds like Sussex, or New Hampshire,or Barred Plymouth, orAustralop.
We found you guys by looking at your site when trying to get ideas about possible breeds.
I like Music, gardening, art, and yes.... even animal husbandy
It's me my husband, our two dogs and soon... Foster-kids. I own my business selling natural home-made soaps and hubby is a tool and die maker for a sub-contractor for Boeing...
I am so looking forward to learning all this stuff!
and Welcome To BYC! Good luck with your chicken project, you will love them! TwoCrows gave you some great links to get you started on your breed search, also check out the BYC Breeds section for member reviews of the breeds when you have narrowed down your search. So far as the more duel purpose layer breeds go, for egg numbers alone, the Red Sex Links (Golden Comet, Red Stars, ISA Browns etc) for brown eggs are probably the most popular layers around if you are looking more for a one breed later flock. You might also consider a mixed flock, most of the heavy breeds will get along fine together especially if raised together, so ... If you want breeds that don't lay quite as well but will lay for a longer time, Australorps, Plymouth Rocks, and Sussex like you said are popular, Orpingtons (lots of people really like these, great pets though broody), Delaware and Wyandottes are some other popular breeds that are usually pretty easy to get along with, they all lay different shades of brown eggs. The Easter Egger, often sold as Ameraucana by hatcheries, are a fun breed because they usually lay green/blue eggs, and they tend to be very nice birds, and then there are the Welsummer and Marans for dark brown eggs.
