Baumshell28
Songster
**Apologies in advance for the length of what follows!**
My name is Amber. I’m 40 & have an 18 year old son. I am a diabetic and my left leg was amputated in late 2018 after infection and complications from diabetic charcot foot. I am wheelchair “bound” and do not have a prosthetic because I am in NO WAY graceful and in EVERY WAY stubborn and so have taken many spills that have repeatedly split my stump open. I have had just as many revision surgeries; to the point that my skin now refuses to grow together and the end of my stump has 2 separate flaps: an upper “flap” encloses what’s left of the bone and the lower flap is just a jiggly blob of now useless calf muscle. I have been in this house about 3 years and my fenced in backyard has a chicken coop with its own fenced area, left behind by the previous owners. My son will be replacing the rotten wooden posts this week along with the old chicken yard gate, the existing coop (human) door and the pulley-system coop (chicken) door. I will be doing some improvements the coop. I have so many ideas, but no actual space to bring any of them to fruition. I need to do something though because I definitely counted some chickens before hatching any eggs! To be exact: 12 chicks from TSC (3 days old) so not too much time to figure this out! I will be ordering hanging feeders, another hanging waterer and some (preferably plastic) hanging nesting boxes.
(1) Are you new to chickens / when did you first get chickens?
Got our chicks Tuesday. Although my son spent many years raising chickens, ducks & geese with his Paw-Paw before he passed, I have never had any experience with it.
(2) How many chickens do you have right now?
Twelve. 7 of one breed and 5 of another. I have no idea what they are. I told the employee I didn’t want ANY roosters so she gave me two options she said were guaranteed female and then Braden, my son, discussed details with her. I pointed to one bin and said, “5 of those” then pointed to another one & said “5 of those”. I realized that only left 2 lonely black chicks in that second bin so naturally I brought them home with their sisters. I mean, once you have 10, then you might as well make it a good dozen, right?!?
(3) What breeds do you have?
No clue! Yellow ones with pretty red/brown “outlining”. Black ones, each with a white (cream) spot on the top of their heads, random white/cream areas on the body and flesh colored legs with some splashes of black. My son is 18 and knows everything, so, naturally, he “doesn’t remember”, BUT tells me I’m wrong when I think I have them identified...Black Australorp, Buff Orpington, Red Sex Link......?
(4) What are your favorite aspects of raising backyard chickens?
Everything, they’re still super cute babies! But seriously, I don’t know yet, too early to tell.
(5) What are some of your other hobbies?
Abstract art on canvas, resin art, alcohol inks, DIY crafts. LAUNDRY...did you know boys go through wayyy more clothes daily than their female counterparts?!?
(6) Tell us about your family, your other pets, your occupation, or anything else you'd like to share.
I used to be an EMT for a company founded here in Louisiana, called Acadian Ambulance. I have a mastiff/boxer mix named Boomer. He’s a 100 lb lapdog who was apparently tortured by my brother in law’s little cousin, therefore he preemptively lashes out at any human below 5 ft tall. My sister and her husband got pregnant with my niece and I got the dog. Some days, I believe I may have gotten the better end of that deal!!
(7) Bonus: How did you find BYC, how long have you known about BYC, and what made you finally join our awesome community?
I found/joined BYC after the site popped up in the search results for EVERY chicken question, thought and idea that I was Googling!
My name is Amber. I’m 40 & have an 18 year old son. I am a diabetic and my left leg was amputated in late 2018 after infection and complications from diabetic charcot foot. I am wheelchair “bound” and do not have a prosthetic because I am in NO WAY graceful and in EVERY WAY stubborn and so have taken many spills that have repeatedly split my stump open. I have had just as many revision surgeries; to the point that my skin now refuses to grow together and the end of my stump has 2 separate flaps: an upper “flap” encloses what’s left of the bone and the lower flap is just a jiggly blob of now useless calf muscle. I have been in this house about 3 years and my fenced in backyard has a chicken coop with its own fenced area, left behind by the previous owners. My son will be replacing the rotten wooden posts this week along with the old chicken yard gate, the existing coop (human) door and the pulley-system coop (chicken) door. I will be doing some improvements the coop. I have so many ideas, but no actual space to bring any of them to fruition. I need to do something though because I definitely counted some chickens before hatching any eggs! To be exact: 12 chicks from TSC (3 days old) so not too much time to figure this out! I will be ordering hanging feeders, another hanging waterer and some (preferably plastic) hanging nesting boxes.
(1) Are you new to chickens / when did you first get chickens?
Got our chicks Tuesday. Although my son spent many years raising chickens, ducks & geese with his Paw-Paw before he passed, I have never had any experience with it.
(2) How many chickens do you have right now?
Twelve. 7 of one breed and 5 of another. I have no idea what they are. I told the employee I didn’t want ANY roosters so she gave me two options she said were guaranteed female and then Braden, my son, discussed details with her. I pointed to one bin and said, “5 of those” then pointed to another one & said “5 of those”. I realized that only left 2 lonely black chicks in that second bin so naturally I brought them home with their sisters. I mean, once you have 10, then you might as well make it a good dozen, right?!?
(3) What breeds do you have?
No clue! Yellow ones with pretty red/brown “outlining”. Black ones, each with a white (cream) spot on the top of their heads, random white/cream areas on the body and flesh colored legs with some splashes of black. My son is 18 and knows everything, so, naturally, he “doesn’t remember”, BUT tells me I’m wrong when I think I have them identified...Black Australorp, Buff Orpington, Red Sex Link......?
(4) What are your favorite aspects of raising backyard chickens?
Everything, they’re still super cute babies! But seriously, I don’t know yet, too early to tell.
(5) What are some of your other hobbies?
Abstract art on canvas, resin art, alcohol inks, DIY crafts. LAUNDRY...did you know boys go through wayyy more clothes daily than their female counterparts?!?
(6) Tell us about your family, your other pets, your occupation, or anything else you'd like to share.
I used to be an EMT for a company founded here in Louisiana, called Acadian Ambulance. I have a mastiff/boxer mix named Boomer. He’s a 100 lb lapdog who was apparently tortured by my brother in law’s little cousin, therefore he preemptively lashes out at any human below 5 ft tall. My sister and her husband got pregnant with my niece and I got the dog. Some days, I believe I may have gotten the better end of that deal!!
(7) Bonus: How did you find BYC, how long have you known about BYC, and what made you finally join our awesome community?
I found/joined BYC after the site popped up in the search results for EVERY chicken question, thought and idea that I was Googling!
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Glad you joined.
