OldSchoolSarge
Chirping
(1) Are you new to chickens / when did you first get chickens?
Yes, I personally am, however my husband had many (100+) growing up, and my family kept a flock of about 30 for a while when I was 11. Aside from collecting eggs until I was attacked by the rooster (we got them as adults), I didn't have much interaction with them. I've always loved the idea of them, though, and would have gotten them sooner, except that my husband worked at a chicken farm and was forbidden from having poultry of his own, lest he bring disease to work. We started last year with ducks, then quickly added turkeys and geese, then were gifted baby muscovies. The turkeys and muscovies went to freezer camp in January, but the others are breeders/ egg layers. Earlier this year we were gifted older hens, and then got some new chicks this last week, so I'm very excited!
(2) How many chickens do you have right now?
Currently have 4 (2or so year old) hens, 12 (1 week or so old) chicks, 14 (1 year old) ducks, and 4 (almost 1 year old) geese.
(3) What breeds do you have?
The older hens are ISA Browns, the chicks are a mix of Black Australorps, Buff Orpingtons, Americanas, and Starlight Green Eggers (we think...they were mixed in with Calico Princess chicks, which is my main reason for joining at this time...does anyonehave any idea how to tell them apart as young chicks? To my knowledge they can both vary greatly in appearance as adults, and don't have one specific look as babies...far as I can tell, the biggest difference between them is the color of their eggs, and I'd really like to know what I have before they start laying.
) The ducks are a mix of Buff Orpingtons, Silver Appleyards, Cayugas, and Blue Swedish. The geese are all Africans.
(4) What are your favorite aspects of raising backyard chickens?
For me, the best part of having backyard birds is hard to explain. It's a cocktail of emotions ranging from pride in their accomplishments (they laid eggs!!) to satisfaction from being able to care for a living creature to the weight of that responsibility. It forces me to get outside every day, and gives me lots of delicious eggs to cook and bake with, as well as high quality meat for less. It teaches my children (I homeschool them) about the circle of life and helps them develop necessary values (like responsibility, empathy, respect, and calmness).
(5) What are some of your other hobbies?
At this point in my life, my "hobbies" consist of taking care of my kids, working through my to-do list, helping my husband, watching TV and sleeping.
My favorite things to do when I have time to relax are read, build puzzles and spreadsheets (weird, I know, but my analytical brain enjoys it!), and scroll pinterest.
(6) Tell us about your family, your other pets, your occupation, or anything else you'd like to share.
My family currently consists of me, my husband, and 6 kids, ranging from 15yo to 1yo (2 girls, 4 boys). We also have 2 dogs (a 7yo Norwegian Elkhound and a 1yo husky/german shepherd mix), plus all the birds.
(7) Bonus: How did you find BYC, how long have you known about BYC, and what made you finally join our awesome community?
I originally found BYC years ago (like, 11-12?) when I started researching chicken breeds, but got discouraged about not being able to get chickens of my own and decided it was best for my mental health to focus on what I could control. I refound it last year when we got serious about getting birds through my google research, and have spent countless hours reading through different threads. I have found it highly informative! I decided to join because I have come to the conclusion that google can only help so much, and when I researched how to tell the difference between Starlight Green Eggers and Calico Princess chicks I came up with nothing.
Yes, I personally am, however my husband had many (100+) growing up, and my family kept a flock of about 30 for a while when I was 11. Aside from collecting eggs until I was attacked by the rooster (we got them as adults), I didn't have much interaction with them. I've always loved the idea of them, though, and would have gotten them sooner, except that my husband worked at a chicken farm and was forbidden from having poultry of his own, lest he bring disease to work. We started last year with ducks, then quickly added turkeys and geese, then were gifted baby muscovies. The turkeys and muscovies went to freezer camp in January, but the others are breeders/ egg layers. Earlier this year we were gifted older hens, and then got some new chicks this last week, so I'm very excited!
(2) How many chickens do you have right now?
Currently have 4 (2or so year old) hens, 12 (1 week or so old) chicks, 14 (1 year old) ducks, and 4 (almost 1 year old) geese.
(3) What breeds do you have?
The older hens are ISA Browns, the chicks are a mix of Black Australorps, Buff Orpingtons, Americanas, and Starlight Green Eggers (we think...they were mixed in with Calico Princess chicks, which is my main reason for joining at this time...does anyonehave any idea how to tell them apart as young chicks? To my knowledge they can both vary greatly in appearance as adults, and don't have one specific look as babies...far as I can tell, the biggest difference between them is the color of their eggs, and I'd really like to know what I have before they start laying.
) The ducks are a mix of Buff Orpingtons, Silver Appleyards, Cayugas, and Blue Swedish. The geese are all Africans.(4) What are your favorite aspects of raising backyard chickens?
For me, the best part of having backyard birds is hard to explain. It's a cocktail of emotions ranging from pride in their accomplishments (they laid eggs!!) to satisfaction from being able to care for a living creature to the weight of that responsibility. It forces me to get outside every day, and gives me lots of delicious eggs to cook and bake with, as well as high quality meat for less. It teaches my children (I homeschool them) about the circle of life and helps them develop necessary values (like responsibility, empathy, respect, and calmness).
(5) What are some of your other hobbies?
At this point in my life, my "hobbies" consist of taking care of my kids, working through my to-do list, helping my husband, watching TV and sleeping.
My favorite things to do when I have time to relax are read, build puzzles and spreadsheets (weird, I know, but my analytical brain enjoys it!), and scroll pinterest. (6) Tell us about your family, your other pets, your occupation, or anything else you'd like to share.
My family currently consists of me, my husband, and 6 kids, ranging from 15yo to 1yo (2 girls, 4 boys). We also have 2 dogs (a 7yo Norwegian Elkhound and a 1yo husky/german shepherd mix), plus all the birds.
(7) Bonus: How did you find BYC, how long have you known about BYC, and what made you finally join our awesome community?
I originally found BYC years ago (like, 11-12?) when I started researching chicken breeds, but got discouraged about not being able to get chickens of my own and decided it was best for my mental health to focus on what I could control. I refound it last year when we got serious about getting birds through my google research, and have spent countless hours reading through different threads. I have found it highly informative! I decided to join because I have come to the conclusion that google can only help so much, and when I researched how to tell the difference between Starlight Green Eggers and Calico Princess chicks I came up with nothing.
