Hiya all!! 
(1) Are you new to chickens / when did you first get chickens? No, I have had chickens since March 18, 2017.
(2) How many chickens do you have right now? I have 5 chickens
(3) What breeds do you have? 3 full size Welsummers and 2 bantams, 1 black Frizzle and 1 golden Mille Fleur D’Uccle.
(4) What are your favorite aspects of raising backyard chickens? They are my girls!! I love that they give us eggs, and I worked with them while they were young so that I could hold them, and we’ve let Lil’ Bit come in the house a couple of times using the surgical masks as a diaper for her! I have a husband, 2 boys, 9 and 10, and 1 dog, who are all boys. I needed some more estrogen around!!!
(5) What are some of your other hobbies? I work full-time and I bead and play games on my computer.
(6) Tell us about your family, your other pets, your occupation, or anything else you'd like to share. I have been married for 9 years, will be 10 in May to Travis, a wonderful guy! We have two boys, Dakota and Cian who are 9 and 10 respectively. We have one dog, his name is Snot, he’s at least half Lab, a little bit of Rottweiler in him and not sure what else. He loves the girls and is awesome with them! I work at Tractor Supply Company in Edmond, Oklahoma as one of the cashiers. Baby fever has set in but alas, I don’t have any more room for babies, so I must stick to my 5 wonderful girls! Our girls are Anawyn, Alyssa, and Ramona, the Welsummers, and the black frizzle is Panda, and our Mille Fleur D’Uccle is Lil’ Bit. My girls are pets for the most part, but they are at laying age, so any eggs they give us is wonderful. They are my girls, and I love them very much! The boys also like to play with them and hold them and take care of them.
(7) Bonus: How did you find BYC, how long have you known about BYC, and what made you finally join our awesome community?
I’ve known about BYC for a long time, just haven’t really had a reason to post on the forum. I am looking for information on chasing hawks away since we cannot dispose of them so that I can keep my girls safe so I can let them back out in the yard so they can roam around! So thankful that you are here, and this is a wonderful community that I have found a lot of useful information in the past. Looking forward to being a part of this wonderful community! I also recommend this forum to new and current chicken owners that I encounter at work along with a few others so that they have access to some wonderful information and people!
(1) Are you new to chickens / when did you first get chickens? No, I have had chickens since March 18, 2017.
(2) How many chickens do you have right now? I have 5 chickens
(3) What breeds do you have? 3 full size Welsummers and 2 bantams, 1 black Frizzle and 1 golden Mille Fleur D’Uccle.
(4) What are your favorite aspects of raising backyard chickens? They are my girls!! I love that they give us eggs, and I worked with them while they were young so that I could hold them, and we’ve let Lil’ Bit come in the house a couple of times using the surgical masks as a diaper for her! I have a husband, 2 boys, 9 and 10, and 1 dog, who are all boys. I needed some more estrogen around!!!
(5) What are some of your other hobbies? I work full-time and I bead and play games on my computer.
(6) Tell us about your family, your other pets, your occupation, or anything else you'd like to share. I have been married for 9 years, will be 10 in May to Travis, a wonderful guy! We have two boys, Dakota and Cian who are 9 and 10 respectively. We have one dog, his name is Snot, he’s at least half Lab, a little bit of Rottweiler in him and not sure what else. He loves the girls and is awesome with them! I work at Tractor Supply Company in Edmond, Oklahoma as one of the cashiers. Baby fever has set in but alas, I don’t have any more room for babies, so I must stick to my 5 wonderful girls! Our girls are Anawyn, Alyssa, and Ramona, the Welsummers, and the black frizzle is Panda, and our Mille Fleur D’Uccle is Lil’ Bit. My girls are pets for the most part, but they are at laying age, so any eggs they give us is wonderful. They are my girls, and I love them very much! The boys also like to play with them and hold them and take care of them.
(7) Bonus: How did you find BYC, how long have you known about BYC, and what made you finally join our awesome community?
We have hawks and owls around but my girls are all pretty big.... Rarely is a hawk desperate enough to try, I haven’t had any losses due to hawks. Now young chickens and banties would probably be taken... I have some evergreens along part of the back of the house and the chickens seek shelter there if they spot trouble. In the summer they have lots of shelter among tall, dense prairie plants. I also have a fully roofed run in case predators are particularly active. If the girls get spooked by predators they willingly let me walk them to the safety of coop and run and stay there. You can also consider a tractor for shelter and move it around. Some folks use owl decoys but the hawks learn quickly that it’s not a threat. Some folks hang old CDs on strings. Some have dogs to protect chickens but hawks can be swift.
