(1) Are you new to chickens / when did you first get chickens? This spring, my younger brother fell in love with all the cute fluffballs in a Rural King, and, seeing as how he couldn't keep them because of zoning issues and work (he's a trucker) and as I had lost a dog the day before, he offered to buy a bunch of chicks 'to help the kids cope'. So we went to the store and purchased six 'pullets' (turned out that two were roosters and one was the wrong breed), two 'assorted bantams', one broad-breasted bronze turkey, one guinea and two ducklings. A few days later, he came back with another three (the 'straight run Rhode Island Reds were a red star and an ISA brown, and the 'silkie' was a mille fleur Belgian D'Uccle roo). (2) How many fowl do you have right now, and (3) what breeds are they? 1 Broad-breasted bronze tom (Bacon) 2 White Leghorns (Daenerys 'Stormborn' Targaryen, first of her name and other assorted honorifics; and 'Buttermilk' an adopted hen who didn't get a cool name because she came in with one) 1 ISA brown (Cinnamon) 3 Rhode Island Reds [Rosey, Benehime and our roo, Everything (because he's awesome)] 1 EE roo (Fried) 2 Golden Sebrights (Artemis and Diana) 1 Mille fleur Belgian D'Uccle roo (Bully) 1 Swedish Black 5 Pekins (four are new, but 'Dillydally' is one of the original group and had a name and claim before we even got home) 2 Rouens (Rorschach and Sue) 1 Foundling chick. She appears to be a partridge OEGB. 4) How did you find out about BackYardChickens.com? Researching chicken breeds and care requirements before I accepted my brother's proposal. Been lurking since March, but got an invite from an acquaintance today, so I finally decided to jump in (5) What are some of your other hobbies? I'm a pre-veterinary student at IUPUI, majoring in biology. This week was my first in class since I graduated high school in '01. I used to do freelance writing and novels but gave up because everything else demands too much of my time. (6) Tell us about your family, your other pets, your occupation, or anything else you'd like to share. I keep house and care for my three beautiful children, two of which are special needs (older two) and two of which are home schooled (eldest and youngest). My DH and I have been married since '02, and we've been parents since '03. In addition to all of our fowl, we have three aquariums full of fish, one large adopted puppy (Cooper came with his name already because we would have given him something far less dignified), and two plus one cats. Catrick FitzBastard and Kierra are ours, but a stray claimed me, and he was so old and bony and sweet that I was powerless against him. Not only does he look exactly like Puss in Boots from Shrek, but he gives us the eyes like that character too! Poor boy has two horribly crumpled ears and no teeth). My daughter claimed and named Kierra, Bully and Dillydally (We've shortened it informally to 'Dill' because her speech impediment makes it sound like she's affectionately calling to a sex toy from across the yard). Our autistic son has shown absolutely no interest in the animals, which is exceptionally sad because I was so hoping that if I picked up animals of different types, he would latch onto something and gain a mite of empathy). Our youngest has rotten luck with animals but a great drive to be with them and care for them. He helps me get eggs (whether I want him to or not). Every animal he's ever latched onto has or had some kind of problem and has died, made a huge nuisance of itself or shown no interest in him whatsoever. My name is Rebecca. I live in Indianapolis, and I'm very pleased to meet you!
Wow, I respect your spirit, how you juggle everything I will never know. It's obvious you do and very well . Lots of love passed around in your family. Nice to meet you and very glad you joined the flock
Well, I wouldn't say it's a nice flock for a couple reasons: 1. I've developed the dreaded addiction to poultry. I've only had them since the beginning of April of this year, but I love these guys. They are just so neat, cute and useful that I don't see why more people don't have them (and bunches of them! How can someone stop at four?). 2. Fowl play. I traded an excess of drakes for a hen who turned out to be far less healthy than she was billed to be. Matter of fact, the former owner knew she was on borrowed time and knowingly traded a contagious hen to my healthy flock. Not only has this poor hen died, but she's passed this respiratory disease to my birds. We have to inject Liquamycin 200 into this poor Leghorn pullet. Fortunately as yet, no one else seems to have caught it. I've cleaned out the coop with omnicidal chemicals and threw away all the bedding. The Liquamycin does seem to be working on the pullet, but depending on the disease, I've read that she could be a permanent carrier. I try to look at this as veterinary training, but I really don't know what I'm doing. I don't want to preemptively kill her, but I can't afford to take her to a licensed vet either. Luckily, I have you guys! 3. Neighbors. I can't afford a taller fence, and my birds love to hop over and say hi to the neighbors. I also have three talkative roosters. Thanks for the welcome, everyone!
Welcome to BYC, Rebecca. Glad you decided to join our flock. Thanks for your very good and thorough introduction. All of us are addicted to chickens and very few BYC members are immune to "chicken math." ) I would clip one of your chickens' wings to prevent them from going over the fence into the neighbors' yards. Also, you should cut down to one rooster. The recommended ratio of hens to roosters is 10 hens for every 1 rooster as too many roosters can be very hard on your hens, over-breeding them, biting and plucking the feathers from their necks and backs, battering them, and potentially seriously injuring them. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Good luck with your flock.
We tried clipping them, but they can still jump over four feet So far the extra roosters really aren't so bad, though they may get worse as they age. The nasty one was rehomed in July along with his two girls. Very little mating going on as of yet (they're five months old and still trying to figure out how everything is supposed to work). Right now, their crowing is what causes the ruckus because one will crow, and the others follow suit. The Rhode Island is the quietest, nicest one, but he's a certified vicarious learner and copycats everyone else (he even tries to mate a duck once in awhile).