I just joined the forums and wanted to introduce myself. My name is Chris. I am a retired Army Veteran and recently remarried nd moved to South Carolina. My wife lived here when we met but I was from Ohio raised in the country on a dairy farm but never had chickens but my grandparents did.
(1) Are you new to chickens / when did you first get chickens?
I am new to chickens but did raise geese for the Army. Long story but I did. I got my first 7 chickens in May 2017.
(2) How many chickens do you have right now?
I have my seven original chickens from May. I purchased 8 new chickens in August and then purchased another 9 chickens in September. I now have 24 total.
(3) What breeds do you have?
My first flock is a mix of two silver Wyandotte, one golden Wyandotte, two Rhode Island reds, and two white leghorns. The on silver Wyandotte is boss of the flock but only the two Leghorns are laying as of today. They are all friendly but only the leghorns let me pet them. One even seems to seek me out for petting. These guys have a five hundred feet run fenced in with chicken wire over head and a small sixty foot coop off the ground with four nest boxes and one perch. It has a light and a big sliding glass window.
My second flock has three Rhode Island reds, three ISA Browns, two white top polish. Then I added five Cornish X to the flock a week ago. They are younger but bigger than the first chickens. A little picking order issues for a few days but no one got hurt. One of the white top hats is a rooster and I need him Einstein for his hair do. He the boss for now. Two of the Cornish X are roosters two. They don't like to be touched and are still skittish around people. I have them on my screened in porch now in a chicken wire box I made originally as a chicken tractor but found it made for a nice run while chickens grew out feathers. I am in the process of building a large twenty six foot by ten foot chicken coop run shed. It will have a sixty square foot shed for all my supplies with excess to eight nest boxes and a small door to coop. Coop is eighty square feet with twenty four feet of perches and deep liter system. Raised off ground so run is under roof with hindered and eighty square feet of run space all hardware clothed in. Should hold all twenty four chickens when done. I hope to make outdoor runs later much bigger with avian netting. I want make to runs outside so I can grow grass and rotate them. Next year I hope to fence in the back two acres of my land to hve a garden and goat pasture. Once fense is up I can start free ranging chickens some. We have hawks so got watch them when out and about.
Last four chickens are salmon Faverolles. They were a strait run and now I know I have three roosters and one puller. Sucks so I hve to get rid of two roosters and get two hens. They are still in brooder box. They are same age as Cornish X but too small to place in the flock yet.
(4) How did you find out about BackYardChickens.com?
I did a search for information on chickens and this popped up. A lot of good information so I thought I join.
(5) What are some of your other hobbies?
I have always wanted to homestead so I am trying my hand at this. I have tropical fish, I garden, I like to do woodworking. I ride motorcycle, shoot guns, fish, some hunting here and there, I getting goats soon. Hope to get a donkey, nd feeder p and maybe a dairy cow down the road.
(6) Tell us about your family, your other pets, your occupation, or anything else you'd like to share.
I served twenty two years in the Army and served in two wars. i am a nurse now. I was married twice while in the Army and I have two kids with each of those wives. Oldest boy is twenty five now, next is girl and she is twenty, then boy twelve and last baby girl ten. I just got married again in June. My lovely wife has a nineteen year old son. So we have the three youngest living with us now. I own three and three quarters of an acre with my house and we have eight acres with a five acre pond twenty minutes away from our house with a cabin on it. My wife is a city girl so She is warming up to the country life slowly. She won't touch the chickens but she starting to sit and watch them entertain her now. She has one she starting to cozy up too. It is one of the ISA Browns that is mostly white to light tan. We call her white butt. She is friendly kind of and will come up to edge of cage to see you. We have two dogs, Sammie is my boxer, and she has a white mix dog named Ben. I have five fish tanks full of fish.
(1) Are you new to chickens / when did you first get chickens?
I am new to chickens but did raise geese for the Army. Long story but I did. I got my first 7 chickens in May 2017.
(2) How many chickens do you have right now?
I have my seven original chickens from May. I purchased 8 new chickens in August and then purchased another 9 chickens in September. I now have 24 total.
(3) What breeds do you have?
My first flock is a mix of two silver Wyandotte, one golden Wyandotte, two Rhode Island reds, and two white leghorns. The on silver Wyandotte is boss of the flock but only the two Leghorns are laying as of today. They are all friendly but only the leghorns let me pet them. One even seems to seek me out for petting. These guys have a five hundred feet run fenced in with chicken wire over head and a small sixty foot coop off the ground with four nest boxes and one perch. It has a light and a big sliding glass window.
My second flock has three Rhode Island reds, three ISA Browns, two white top polish. Then I added five Cornish X to the flock a week ago. They are younger but bigger than the first chickens. A little picking order issues for a few days but no one got hurt. One of the white top hats is a rooster and I need him Einstein for his hair do. He the boss for now. Two of the Cornish X are roosters two. They don't like to be touched and are still skittish around people. I have them on my screened in porch now in a chicken wire box I made originally as a chicken tractor but found it made for a nice run while chickens grew out feathers. I am in the process of building a large twenty six foot by ten foot chicken coop run shed. It will have a sixty square foot shed for all my supplies with excess to eight nest boxes and a small door to coop. Coop is eighty square feet with twenty four feet of perches and deep liter system. Raised off ground so run is under roof with hindered and eighty square feet of run space all hardware clothed in. Should hold all twenty four chickens when done. I hope to make outdoor runs later much bigger with avian netting. I want make to runs outside so I can grow grass and rotate them. Next year I hope to fence in the back two acres of my land to hve a garden and goat pasture. Once fense is up I can start free ranging chickens some. We have hawks so got watch them when out and about.
Last four chickens are salmon Faverolles. They were a strait run and now I know I have three roosters and one puller. Sucks so I hve to get rid of two roosters and get two hens. They are still in brooder box. They are same age as Cornish X but too small to place in the flock yet.
(4) How did you find out about BackYardChickens.com?
I did a search for information on chickens and this popped up. A lot of good information so I thought I join.
(5) What are some of your other hobbies?
I have always wanted to homestead so I am trying my hand at this. I have tropical fish, I garden, I like to do woodworking. I ride motorcycle, shoot guns, fish, some hunting here and there, I getting goats soon. Hope to get a donkey, nd feeder p and maybe a dairy cow down the road.
(6) Tell us about your family, your other pets, your occupation, or anything else you'd like to share.
I served twenty two years in the Army and served in two wars. i am a nurse now. I was married twice while in the Army and I have two kids with each of those wives. Oldest boy is twenty five now, next is girl and she is twenty, then boy twelve and last baby girl ten. I just got married again in June. My lovely wife has a nineteen year old son. So we have the three youngest living with us now. I own three and three quarters of an acre with my house and we have eight acres with a five acre pond twenty minutes away from our house with a cabin on it. My wife is a city girl so She is warming up to the country life slowly. She won't touch the chickens but she starting to sit and watch them entertain her now. She has one she starting to cozy up too. It is one of the ISA Browns that is mostly white to light tan. We call her white butt. She is friendly kind of and will come up to edge of cage to see you. We have two dogs, Sammie is my boxer, and she has a white mix dog named Ben. I have five fish tanks full of fish.
It is wonderful to have you here with us! I hope you enjoy BYC, best wishes! 
I was AF and love the homestead life. Just to be sure, you do know that the cornish X are meat birds... Typically best to feed them an 18% ration for 8 weeks then escort to the freezer. If you have different plans there are folks out here who have successfully raised them to three years--but it takes a lot of work and early intervention. If you have thoughts of making a few bucks from this adventure, PM me and I can give you some good vet resources. Again, welcome!
