Hi everyone! I have been a long time lurker, and just today registered as a member. Here is a bit about me.
My husband and I moved out of the burbs a couple of years ago, and live on 22 acres with 2 dogs, 2 cats and a couple of horses. Our 20+ year old daughter still lives at home (in school) and thought it would be fun to have chickens and fresh eggs. There is an old chicken coop on the property, so we fixed it up, secured it, and now have chickens!. We started with 6 pullets in April, who are now in their coop and (hopefully) will start laying soon! We have 1 brown leghorn, 1 RIR, 2 Production Reds, and 2 Barred Rocks. All are named after NCIS characters and they are a blast. We are using the DLM, which I learned about on BYC, and so far all is good. Thank you!
When not at home playing with the chickens, tending to my garden or riding one of our horses (my daughter and I both ride/compete), I work for a small business in the city. We make and sell toys. I work on the business side of the business, and typically work about 45 to 50 hours each week. My husband owns his own rig and drives OTR, and is gone for 5 to 10 days at a time.
Our 2 AmStaffs are interesting, to say the least. The older dog moved in when my son moved back home years ago. I fell in love with this dog and told my son that the dog cannot leave - ever. And he hasn't.
He LOVES the chickens and has quickly adapted to farm life. He is a great watch dog and a good protector. He sleeps with me at night and goes on trail rides with us and the horses.
The other AST is actually a AST/Whippet cross. Odd pairing. I adopted him from a rescue while I was on a weekend girlfriend trip 3 years ago. Stupid, I know, but I couldn't help it. Got him home and found out that he and the other dog DO NOT GET ALONG. So, we now live in a 'gated' community (gates are INSIDE the house), with the dogs separated inside and only 1 goes out at a time. Yes, it is a bit of a pain, but it works for us.
And back to the chickens . . . . so far so good. The girls are doing well, loving life both inside the coop and outside. We have a dog pen just outside the coop door, where they can go IF we are home. We also let them sometimes free range in the yard if we can stay outside with them. Too many critters to let them free range unsupervised.
One of the most exciting things that has happened since we got our chickens happened just the other night. One of the dogs, who LOVES every animal he sees, started ferociously barking near the coop the other night. I grabbed my son (and his .22), and a couple of flashlights, to see that our dog has treed a raccoon! The tree is RIGHT NEXT TO THE COOP! Needless to say, my son shot and killed the raccoon, and the dog got lots of praise and treats. Being relatively new to farm life, I kind of feel like we just passed a farm-life initiation of sorts.
So that's the short of it. I am looking forward to sharing more and learning more on BYC!
Randi
My husband and I moved out of the burbs a couple of years ago, and live on 22 acres with 2 dogs, 2 cats and a couple of horses. Our 20+ year old daughter still lives at home (in school) and thought it would be fun to have chickens and fresh eggs. There is an old chicken coop on the property, so we fixed it up, secured it, and now have chickens!. We started with 6 pullets in April, who are now in their coop and (hopefully) will start laying soon! We have 1 brown leghorn, 1 RIR, 2 Production Reds, and 2 Barred Rocks. All are named after NCIS characters and they are a blast. We are using the DLM, which I learned about on BYC, and so far all is good. Thank you!
When not at home playing with the chickens, tending to my garden or riding one of our horses (my daughter and I both ride/compete), I work for a small business in the city. We make and sell toys. I work on the business side of the business, and typically work about 45 to 50 hours each week. My husband owns his own rig and drives OTR, and is gone for 5 to 10 days at a time.
Our 2 AmStaffs are interesting, to say the least. The older dog moved in when my son moved back home years ago. I fell in love with this dog and told my son that the dog cannot leave - ever. And he hasn't.
He LOVES the chickens and has quickly adapted to farm life. He is a great watch dog and a good protector. He sleeps with me at night and goes on trail rides with us and the horses. The other AST is actually a AST/Whippet cross. Odd pairing. I adopted him from a rescue while I was on a weekend girlfriend trip 3 years ago. Stupid, I know, but I couldn't help it. Got him home and found out that he and the other dog DO NOT GET ALONG. So, we now live in a 'gated' community (gates are INSIDE the house), with the dogs separated inside and only 1 goes out at a time. Yes, it is a bit of a pain, but it works for us.
And back to the chickens . . . . so far so good. The girls are doing well, loving life both inside the coop and outside. We have a dog pen just outside the coop door, where they can go IF we are home. We also let them sometimes free range in the yard if we can stay outside with them. Too many critters to let them free range unsupervised.
One of the most exciting things that has happened since we got our chickens happened just the other night. One of the dogs, who LOVES every animal he sees, started ferociously barking near the coop the other night. I grabbed my son (and his .22), and a couple of flashlights, to see that our dog has treed a raccoon! The tree is RIGHT NEXT TO THE COOP! Needless to say, my son shot and killed the raccoon, and the dog got lots of praise and treats. Being relatively new to farm life, I kind of feel like we just passed a farm-life initiation of sorts.
So that's the short of it.
I am looking forward to sharing more and learning more on BYC!Randi
and good luck with your poultry adventure! 
Sounds like a busy place over there! Good thing you have such a good dog too!
