Dear BackYard Chickens
I'm a novice chook (chicken) mum and BYC was recommended to me by a dear friend who is from a farming family. My situation is that I've always wanted to have chooks and have a very big garden that's well fenced and gated and ideal for two chooks to enjoy as their forever home. My husband and I have two big dogs, five rescue cats and a goldfish pond so adding two chooks to our tribe wasn't going to be a biggie. I decided to go the rescue route and was thrilled to be accepted to adopt from Happy Hen Rescue, they do an amazing job rescuing ex battery hens from a hellish existence and have them for a month before allowing them to be adopted. My two girls are named Carol and Denise after two lovely mates of mine in New York. I've had them for a month now and the difference from the day I brought them home to now is absolutely incredible. They are adorable. So friendly and cheeky. Their feathers have just about all grown back and they are putting on weight, soon they will look like chooks should look. I must admit I cried when I first saw them because it was so upsetting but as the fabulous Kath and Bill from Happy Hen Rescue said, lots of TLC from me will work wonders and it has. I bought them a very cute (and nerdy but hey, there's nothing wrong with nerdy) chook house and had a professional build their enclosure and they are thriving in their new retirement home. We were presented with our first egg four days after they came home and a few days after that it was two a day and has been ever since. Our youngest cat, Sophie, is fascinated by them and enjoys stretching out in the grass while they peck at their corn on the cob. She's very respectful of them because they've already told her off for dodgie behaviour and she hasn't repeated that since. Our Golden Retriever, Walter, is too old to give them much attention and after figuring out they weren't a gigantic snack decided he'd ignore them. Chase, our Chocolate Labrador, is now very good with them but I still don't allow him inside their enclosure, he can look but not touch. My husband thinks they're hardcase little creatures and is disgusted that anyone can call themselves a farmer when they operate a battery industry. He came back from travelling around Europe on business for a month to finding these new additions down the back garden and said ahhh well as least you didn't decide to rescue a cow! It's a real treat having two fresh eggs every morning but we don't care if they stop laying. The whole point was to make up for their previous living conditions and give them a happy ending. I'm learning a lot from your website and members and thank you very much for letting me sign up. I'd like to pop up a photo of them but can't see where I do that. I'll figure it out. Many thanks and kind regards Julie, Auckland, New Zealand
I'm a novice chook (chicken) mum and BYC was recommended to me by a dear friend who is from a farming family. My situation is that I've always wanted to have chooks and have a very big garden that's well fenced and gated and ideal for two chooks to enjoy as their forever home. My husband and I have two big dogs, five rescue cats and a goldfish pond so adding two chooks to our tribe wasn't going to be a biggie. I decided to go the rescue route and was thrilled to be accepted to adopt from Happy Hen Rescue, they do an amazing job rescuing ex battery hens from a hellish existence and have them for a month before allowing them to be adopted. My two girls are named Carol and Denise after two lovely mates of mine in New York. I've had them for a month now and the difference from the day I brought them home to now is absolutely incredible. They are adorable. So friendly and cheeky. Their feathers have just about all grown back and they are putting on weight, soon they will look like chooks should look. I must admit I cried when I first saw them because it was so upsetting but as the fabulous Kath and Bill from Happy Hen Rescue said, lots of TLC from me will work wonders and it has. I bought them a very cute (and nerdy but hey, there's nothing wrong with nerdy) chook house and had a professional build their enclosure and they are thriving in their new retirement home. We were presented with our first egg four days after they came home and a few days after that it was two a day and has been ever since. Our youngest cat, Sophie, is fascinated by them and enjoys stretching out in the grass while they peck at their corn on the cob. She's very respectful of them because they've already told her off for dodgie behaviour and she hasn't repeated that since. Our Golden Retriever, Walter, is too old to give them much attention and after figuring out they weren't a gigantic snack decided he'd ignore them. Chase, our Chocolate Labrador, is now very good with them but I still don't allow him inside their enclosure, he can look but not touch. My husband thinks they're hardcase little creatures and is disgusted that anyone can call themselves a farmer when they operate a battery industry. He came back from travelling around Europe on business for a month to finding these new additions down the back garden and said ahhh well as least you didn't decide to rescue a cow! It's a real treat having two fresh eggs every morning but we don't care if they stop laying. The whole point was to make up for their previous living conditions and give them a happy ending. I'm learning a lot from your website and members and thank you very much for letting me sign up. I'd like to pop up a photo of them but can't see where I do that. I'll figure it out. Many thanks and kind regards Julie, Auckland, New Zealand
and Welcome To BYC! What a lovely introduction, Carole and Denise are so lucky you adopted them, that is an adorable little home they have. Don't worry about what they look like now, they are beautiful as they are and will be even more so under your care!
