Welcome here great intro, and they're actually thread on here for baking, preserving, gardening, etc. so you're right at home here. Your flock are lovely do they free range all day?
(1) Are you new to chickens / when did you first get chickens?
I’m brand new to chicken keeping. The birds have been in my care less than a week but I’ve been learning about chickens as part of my homestead research for many years.
(2) How many chickens do you have right now?
I have a very small flock of four hens and their rooster. I may go up to six hens next year but thats the maximum my coop will house.
(3) What breeds do you have?
Since I got my flock from a neighbour, she was kind enough to supply a variety for easier identification.
(4) What are your favorite aspects of raising backyard chickens?
- The rooster is a barnyard mix we named Romeo Rex the First. He was second fiddle at his old place and now he's got his own little flock of ladies.
- The striped black and white hen is a BarredRock we named Jennifer after the lady who sold them to us. (tan egg)
- The black hen is a Black SexLink we named Isabella. (brown egg)
- The brown/red hen is a Red SexLink we named Henrietta. (tan egg)
- The white hen is a DeKaub we named Kelly because my Mrs once told me she wanted a "Kellogg’s looking chicken" and we know she's not a leghorn but white body plus red comb is close enough. (should be white egg but none yet so maybe tan or brown but maybe too old)
So far? Just having another domesticated animal around is nice. We haven’t got any pets since we moved here and the bluejays aren’t much for interacting with us. I moved their fence to a clean patch of grass yesterday and just enjoyed sitting in the sun watching them scratch around eating whatever plants or bugs caught their eye.
(5) What are some of your other hobbies?
My biggest focus is this entire property. We just moved here in August 2022 and in 5-10 years I want to have our own eggs from chickens, meat from rabbits, milk from a highland cow, fruits and veggies from the garden. (I realize this is outside the scope of most folks here with a suburban or urban flock, but since my flock won’t get bigger than 6hens I figured I still belong here for chicken stuff.)
I also have an interest in cooking, gluten-free baking, as well as canning and other modes of food preservation.
I also like to play video games and board games. We try to have some neighbours over every month to play because most games (even if you can play with 2) are better with more people.
(6) Tell us about your family, your other pets, your occupation, or anything else you'd like to share.
Mrs is a computer programmer and is lucky enough to have a work from home position. I used to work in fast food but we decided as a couple that both of us working full time was no good because we’d both be too tired at the end of the day to cook or clean. Since she was raking in the big bucks and I actually LIKE taking care of her by making a hot breakfast and bringing her tea in the afternoon and keeping the house clean, I’d go part time at work and part-time housewife. It worked out well and over 5 years we managed to save up a down payment and buy a house!
We did move away from family in order to afford a place that was suited to our plans but our moms are planning to move to this area as well so it’ll all work out.
(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 bumped into BYC a few times over the years but I didn’t have my own flock yet so I didn’t see the point.
I rather say Domestic Engineer. because nobody is married to a house LOLHello and welcome to BYC!
House husband. And you have the more difficult and most under respected job out there it seems! But it's rewarding work. Congratulations on your new home!
It really isn't. Sooner or later they will experience weather or a predator attack that will force them inside and things can get very ugly in such a small coop for that number of birds. Those tiny coops ALWAYS state they can house more than they should. Yes, the birds can physically fit in there but they need personal space just as much as people do.
Yes I open everything up around sunrise and close it all up at sunset when they’ve gone inside(usually about 30 min after official sunset) so they have all day to scratch around in the fenced area.
There’s literally no predators on this island except the occasional hawk that the crows shoo away within a day. There aren’t even raccoons.
When asked my job I usually say Homemaker or Homesteader but at the time “part-time housewife” was what we were calling it.
Great introduction and thanks for joining us.
