It might have been that I didn't post an introduction when I joined backyardchickens.com several years ago, so here are a few thoughts.
Currently I'm in northern California, in walnut country, live on a small property, am a wildlife biologist, artist, and author.
About chickens: Chickens are amazing. There is a lot going on underneath those combs and those feathers. I didn't think about chickens when I was younger, but then when some entered my life later on, I watched them and was hooked. They knew it, manipulated me, and outsmarted me. Current chickens still do.
Those early chickens were Rhode Island Reds, and then Silkies, Guineas, and many more entered the picture. Several decades later, there are only Zorro the Cochin rooster, 1 Rhode Island Red, 1 Buff Orpington, 1 sex-link, and 1 daughter who was hatched out last year. It's enough.
A few years back I wrote about those early chickens and other chickens through the years and included lots of photos. It's about chicken society, their daily lives, their cunning, their (generally) pleasant outlook, and more. It isn't about "how to" with chickens. Writing this just affirmed for me all over again that chickens are gracious, clever, intelligent, generally affable, intuitive, and more.
It's called "The Secret Lives of Chickens, or Tales from the Chickenyard and Beyond" and is found online as a hardback and eBook.
So far I've only met one chicken I didn't like, Son of Sarge, and he was an anomaly.
There are so many wonderful articles on these webpages and huge amounts of information. The coops people build are Awesome, tips are great, and the community is friendly.
Best wishes to everyone, and to all your chickens too.
Sunny Franson
Currently I'm in northern California, in walnut country, live on a small property, am a wildlife biologist, artist, and author.
About chickens: Chickens are amazing. There is a lot going on underneath those combs and those feathers. I didn't think about chickens when I was younger, but then when some entered my life later on, I watched them and was hooked. They knew it, manipulated me, and outsmarted me. Current chickens still do.
Those early chickens were Rhode Island Reds, and then Silkies, Guineas, and many more entered the picture. Several decades later, there are only Zorro the Cochin rooster, 1 Rhode Island Red, 1 Buff Orpington, 1 sex-link, and 1 daughter who was hatched out last year. It's enough.
A few years back I wrote about those early chickens and other chickens through the years and included lots of photos. It's about chicken society, their daily lives, their cunning, their (generally) pleasant outlook, and more. It isn't about "how to" with chickens. Writing this just affirmed for me all over again that chickens are gracious, clever, intelligent, generally affable, intuitive, and more.
It's called "The Secret Lives of Chickens, or Tales from the Chickenyard and Beyond" and is found online as a hardback and eBook.
So far I've only met one chicken I didn't like, Son of Sarge, and he was an anomaly.
There are so many wonderful articles on these webpages and huge amounts of information. The coops people build are Awesome, tips are great, and the community is friendly.
Best wishes to everyone, and to all your chickens too.
Sunny Franson
Better late than never and it's been a fab read. Hope you get to posting more out and about on the forum 
