Echo and Pans Innangard
In the Brooder
Hello Folks, and Welcome to our Introduction!
First Warning:
This will be a long one! I very much tend to ramble and over share...
Second Warning:
We do eat our Chickens, as they are raised both for meat and eggs.
We do plan to do our own processing of our Chickens using Cones.
We'll just go down the Question list here as they were given...
(1) Are you new to chickens / when did you first get chickens?
(2) How many chickens do you have right now?
(3) What breeds do you have?
We'll answer these three as if they were all one big question.
These are the FIRST Chickens we've ever owned!
And you can sure BET that we went OVERBOARD!
No we didn't grow up with them, so Yes, we're Complete Chicken Newbies!
He grew up with around 300 Rabbits (A Large Family, Meat Source), and a bunch of other animals with Hooves, but no chickens or other avian pals. He will be the Chicken Processor.
She grew up with a cat and a family dog. She Cried when a baby goat sucked her finger for the first time, and spends all day staring at the baby chicks in their Brooding space. She Loves taking trips to the Local Goat Farm to talk with the Goats.
She's willing to do the guttting once the feathers are removed, but doesn't want anything to do with the rest of the Processing.
We're Sadly not allowed Cloven Animals in City Limits here, though this is something I'd like to see our Small Community in Eastern Washington change, as we are a Farming/AG Community/County
Our Innangard sits on 3 City Lots (50'x150' each, so about 150' Squared), About .5 Acre or so.
We Purchased our First group of Chickens on 3/31/24.
This group included:
10 Rhode Island Red: 2 Weeks Old
10 Lavender Orpingtons: 2 Weeks Old
10 Barred Rock: 1 Week Old
We then purchased our Second group of Chickens on April 2nd, 2024 (2 days later).
This group included:
10 Sapphire Blue Plymouth Rock: 1 Week Old
We then placed an order for another group, because these guys won't be laying for another 16-18 weeks or so.
10 Red Star (Sex-Link): 15 Week Old Chickens at time of Delivery. To Be Delivered May 26th, 2024.
Our First Chickens will be about 10 to 11 weeks old when these guys arrive.
So that will make our Flock of Chickens, at the moment, 40, with 10 on the way for 50 by the end of May, if all survive.
Hopefully we'll be seeing eggs by the end of July or beginning of August.
I would like to get some Black Copper Maran and some Ayam Cemani Chickens in the Future.
That will have to wait however as I believe I'm near Capacity for the Coop I built.
(4) What are your favorite aspects of raising backyard chickens?
Favorite Aspects? We wouldn't know yet, as We're just getting started!
I think it will be the knowledge that we have Food Security in a way with control over how it is fed/raised.
No, We might not be saving money by raising our own Chickens, but at least we know that we'll never go hungry.
At Least, not until we eat them all.
(5) What are some of your other hobbies?
We are very much into Gardening, especially when it comes to No-Weed/No-Touch Container Gardening.
She handles mostly Herbs, Flowers, and things that bring in the Butterflies, Hummingbirds, and a whole plethora of other bugs.
I will be using Sub-Irrigated Containers for most of the Veggies I plan to grow.
Currently Our Garden/Innangard doesn't exist anymore, and is in a State of Rebirth. We'll explain why below.
(6) Tell us about your family, your other pets, your occupation, or anything else you'd like to share.
Our Family is one Built on Friendship, Trust, Love, and many Old Nasty Scars...
It includes 'The Old Man', my Father, who happens to be a 73+ yr old, 100% Service Connected, Disabled US Army "Green Beret", Vietnam Veteran. He is Retired and has lived a Life full of different Professions. He was a Special Forces Soldier in the Late 60's to Early 70's during some of the worst Political Treatment of The Green Berets in History. He was a Master Plumber for Boeing back in the Late 70's. In the 80's we moved into the back woods of Washington State and he took up being a Lumber Jack for awhile, before moving out to the fields of Eastern Washington and the Palouse as a Farm-Hand/Jack of All Trades. Here he also went back to College to learn a new Profession, emerging as a Respiratory Therapist. He headed a Department at a Hospital in Idaho, then the same down in Florida. That wasn't paying the bills enough for him, so he then became a General Contractor, contructing a couple homes in the Washington State area. After this didn't seem to scratch his itch, he decided that driving an 18-Wheeler was what he wanted to do and out Over-The-Road he went. In his time on the road he went from being a Company Driver to being an Owner-Operator/Trainer. He Finally Retired when his heart started giving out on him due to Agent Orange Exposure/Poisoning. He kept at it for awhile with Uber/Lyft though, so long as he didn't have to get out of the car he would drive till he died he said. Then we got a Leased Car... 15k/miles a year... can't Uber/Lyft with that...
(Shh, we wanted him to finally ******* retire!)
Now he spends his days watching the chickens in their little brooding space, waiting for them to get bigger. Drinks his coffee as he watches us work our butts off in the yard, being ever diligent to tell us what we're doing wrong, or how we could do it better.
There are days he's mean. There are days he's nice. There are days we're just glad he wakes up.
We Wouldn't change him for a Billion Dollars.
We Wouldn't trade him for a single Soul on God's Green Earth.
I'm sure gonna miss Dad when he goes. He has been on/off Hospice twice before the Wildfire of 2020, and has nearly died in my arms more times than I can count in recent years. But At least he gets to see the Chickens grow up, I hope and pray.
Another Member of our group, we'll call her "Echo". She's a <REDACTED> aged gal who loves most forms of life on this funky shaped ball we call Earth/Gaea. She spends her days being as Whimsical as she can be, with the one lung she has left. The other one for some reason just didn't want to stay inflated after it collapsed the first time and sadly, had to be removed. This is only part of her limitations, but she wont let it stop her from taking care of our little chickens, tending to her plants, birds, bugs, and any other creepy crawly little thing that catches her eye, when she isn't off walking on water, or some other crazy querky wierd thing she enjoys at that given moment! She is a Disabled Adult/Retired, spending her time taking care of the things that "The Old Man" can't seem to get to anymore. She might be limited on the weight she can lift/carry, and will probably blow away in a stiff breeze being barely 100lbs on a rainy day, but she makes up for it in attitude, don't you forget it!
Me myself? I'm nothing special. I've had a lot of dead-end jobs over the years, doing anything and everything I could find for work, to cover the bills of a growing family that started when I was 23. I helped raise 5 beautiful young ladies, and one very bullheaded young man, yet never could seem to find a Career/Calling, or find my footing anywhere for any given length of time. We kept the power on, the heat stayed on, and we always had food. But there were times it was tight, and in the end it was one of the reasons my Marriage failed. Getting along with people has never been something I've been good at. I'm a 6th grade drop-out. I kept getting pushed ahead till 10th grade, but never passed a grade past 6th due to bad attitude/expulsions/inattendance. If we only knew then what we know now about Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, I think things would have been different for me. I don't like Fire, thats a hatred that started when I was two, and has haunted me my whole life, having lost 4 homes to Fire, 2 to Tornadoes, and one to a Hurricane. (some rentals, some owned)...
As far as what Jobs I do? Well, I've done a bit of everything, from Ranch-hand, to Bouncer, to Casino work, to food industry work, to Janitorial work, Delivery (Retail Goods), even Enlisted in the US Army TWICE! Now? I'm currently on Disability for C-PTSD, and other issues. I'm trying to figure things out and hopefully be able to start selling eggs/veggies at local Farmer's Markets, but that takes getting along with people, which isn't my strong suit. Maybe I can put my failure at construction skills to work and make some money... can't really paint or do any "Finish Work".. but I can stick 2 piece of wood together pretty good...!
On to the Final members of our Family... our 4 dogs.
Mia: 20+/- yr old Long/Wired Haired Chichuchua, she'll live FOREVER!
Lola: 8 yr old English Bulldog Mixed Breed, currently Overweight at 78lbs, Target Weight 45lbs, loves to lay around in the sun.
Conner: 8 yr old Scottish Terrier: Wheaton Male, Very much a Cassinova/Love-bug Personality, Same Litter as Sister Castiel
Castiel: 8 yr old Scottish Terrier: Black/Silver Female, Called Cassie for short... Very much the Terror of Terriers. She'll dig a hole to China in under an hr, and chase down them Voles/Squirrels faster than you can blink! She was running full tilt into everything before her eyes were ever open and can't help but explore every new thing she can. Same Litter as Brother Conner
Of all my dogs, Cassie is the only one I'm concerned about with being around Chickens. When the chicks start panicing, and start making their alert chirps, she whines and cries like she either can't wait to eat them, or wants to get into the pen and tell them their safe and she'll protect them.. it's one or the other, and I'm terrified to find out.
Last little bit here, then I'll let you get back to your regular programming...
We lost EVERYTHING on Sept 7th, 2020. The Babb Rd Wildfire destroyed everything we owned. We were lucky and got out with all our animals, (only dogs at the time) but others, not so much. Atleast there was zero loss of Human life in that fire.
We are currently still activally persuing a lawsuit against our Local Power Utility Company for being the Cause of the Wildfire... We've been told we might maybe hear something back in March, 2025... maybe, but that will probably be another Continuation.
We are very thankful to Our Community for DONATING the costs for the Lumber/Supplies & for the Labor that was Donated by a group of Menonites out of Montana, to built my Father and 6 others here a Home.
This was mainly due to my mistake while dealing everything AND dealing with Dad and Hospice, we were uninsured at the time of the Fire, one of many things that fell off my plate at that time. It isn't a very big home, but it's better than being in the RV's that we were planning on being in till we somehow figured out a rebuilding plan.
The home was completed and we moved in, in March of 2022. This was also the time that "The Old Man" was awarded 100% Service Connection, leading to a decent sized settlement from the VA. This gave us the funds needed so we could build a shed out back so that we'd have a place to store tools and other odds and ends. There wasn't much room inside the home for storage either, so a bunch of things needed a place to go.
Then in the Spring of 2023, we pounced on the chance to puchase the two properties next door in a deal We couldn't say no to, bringing our total area to 1/4 the entire city block, which is about .5 acres.
These we (The Old Man and I) gifted to "Echo" as a "Thank-You" for all she has done for my Family. We couldn't pay to replace all the things she lost in the Wildfire (she's the old man's live in caregiver), but at least we could do that much.
Now it's 2024! A New Year, 4 years since we started down the Path of Rebirth. We have our home, a 12'x16' shed I built in 2022 before we purchased the properties next door in 2023 that had 2 sheds on it already, so now we have 3. One is 10x20 about 2 ft off the ground in a corner, one is 12'x16' about 3' off the ground in a corner, and the third is a metal shed with concrete floor at 10x12.
Just last week I put the last of the framing together for our chicken coop, and finished putting on the siding.
It is 8' by 12' Lean-To Shed with a 12'x20' roof. This gives 2' Overhangs on 3 sides, and a 6' covered area on the 4th. The walls are 6' tall on the short end, and 8' tall on the other, and contains 9 nesting boxes with exterior access planned. (Small Doors)
I'm planning on enclosing a 14'x22' or bigger area for the "Chicken Run". There is space for this to increase and add in another 14'x22' enclosure with 12' netting ceilings.
I really don't know what I'm doing when it comes to Construction or Building things. It wasn't something I ever really did professionally for very long, so it's all new to me, same as Chickens.
(7) Bonus: How did you find BYC, how long have you known about BYC, and what made you finally join our awesome community?
Actually we just typed Backyard Chickens in a random search engine, and here we are, Sorry it wasn't a great story!
Maybe you all will get some good laughs out of us, who knows!
We'll try to keep you all Updated, as we jump, Head First, into the Deep-End of the Chicken Coop Pool, with no lifejacket.
Future posts should be including photos.
Echo and Pan's Innangard
First Warning:
This will be a long one! I very much tend to ramble and over share...
Second Warning:
We do eat our Chickens, as they are raised both for meat and eggs.
We do plan to do our own processing of our Chickens using Cones.
We'll just go down the Question list here as they were given...
(1) Are you new to chickens / when did you first get chickens?
(2) How many chickens do you have right now?
(3) What breeds do you have?
We'll answer these three as if they were all one big question.
These are the FIRST Chickens we've ever owned!
And you can sure BET that we went OVERBOARD!
No we didn't grow up with them, so Yes, we're Complete Chicken Newbies!
He grew up with around 300 Rabbits (A Large Family, Meat Source), and a bunch of other animals with Hooves, but no chickens or other avian pals. He will be the Chicken Processor.
She grew up with a cat and a family dog. She Cried when a baby goat sucked her finger for the first time, and spends all day staring at the baby chicks in their Brooding space. She Loves taking trips to the Local Goat Farm to talk with the Goats.
She's willing to do the guttting once the feathers are removed, but doesn't want anything to do with the rest of the Processing.
We're Sadly not allowed Cloven Animals in City Limits here, though this is something I'd like to see our Small Community in Eastern Washington change, as we are a Farming/AG Community/County
Our Innangard sits on 3 City Lots (50'x150' each, so about 150' Squared), About .5 Acre or so.
We Purchased our First group of Chickens on 3/31/24.
This group included:
10 Rhode Island Red: 2 Weeks Old
10 Lavender Orpingtons: 2 Weeks Old
10 Barred Rock: 1 Week Old
We then purchased our Second group of Chickens on April 2nd, 2024 (2 days later).
This group included:
10 Sapphire Blue Plymouth Rock: 1 Week Old
We then placed an order for another group, because these guys won't be laying for another 16-18 weeks or so.
10 Red Star (Sex-Link): 15 Week Old Chickens at time of Delivery. To Be Delivered May 26th, 2024.
Our First Chickens will be about 10 to 11 weeks old when these guys arrive.
So that will make our Flock of Chickens, at the moment, 40, with 10 on the way for 50 by the end of May, if all survive.
Hopefully we'll be seeing eggs by the end of July or beginning of August.
I would like to get some Black Copper Maran and some Ayam Cemani Chickens in the Future.
That will have to wait however as I believe I'm near Capacity for the Coop I built.
(4) What are your favorite aspects of raising backyard chickens?
Favorite Aspects? We wouldn't know yet, as We're just getting started!
I think it will be the knowledge that we have Food Security in a way with control over how it is fed/raised.
No, We might not be saving money by raising our own Chickens, but at least we know that we'll never go hungry.
At Least, not until we eat them all.
(5) What are some of your other hobbies?
We are very much into Gardening, especially when it comes to No-Weed/No-Touch Container Gardening.
She handles mostly Herbs, Flowers, and things that bring in the Butterflies, Hummingbirds, and a whole plethora of other bugs.
I will be using Sub-Irrigated Containers for most of the Veggies I plan to grow.
Currently Our Garden/Innangard doesn't exist anymore, and is in a State of Rebirth. We'll explain why below.
(6) Tell us about your family, your other pets, your occupation, or anything else you'd like to share.
Our Family is one Built on Friendship, Trust, Love, and many Old Nasty Scars...
It includes 'The Old Man', my Father, who happens to be a 73+ yr old, 100% Service Connected, Disabled US Army "Green Beret", Vietnam Veteran. He is Retired and has lived a Life full of different Professions. He was a Special Forces Soldier in the Late 60's to Early 70's during some of the worst Political Treatment of The Green Berets in History. He was a Master Plumber for Boeing back in the Late 70's. In the 80's we moved into the back woods of Washington State and he took up being a Lumber Jack for awhile, before moving out to the fields of Eastern Washington and the Palouse as a Farm-Hand/Jack of All Trades. Here he also went back to College to learn a new Profession, emerging as a Respiratory Therapist. He headed a Department at a Hospital in Idaho, then the same down in Florida. That wasn't paying the bills enough for him, so he then became a General Contractor, contructing a couple homes in the Washington State area. After this didn't seem to scratch his itch, he decided that driving an 18-Wheeler was what he wanted to do and out Over-The-Road he went. In his time on the road he went from being a Company Driver to being an Owner-Operator/Trainer. He Finally Retired when his heart started giving out on him due to Agent Orange Exposure/Poisoning. He kept at it for awhile with Uber/Lyft though, so long as he didn't have to get out of the car he would drive till he died he said. Then we got a Leased Car... 15k/miles a year... can't Uber/Lyft with that...
(Shh, we wanted him to finally ******* retire!)
Now he spends his days watching the chickens in their little brooding space, waiting for them to get bigger. Drinks his coffee as he watches us work our butts off in the yard, being ever diligent to tell us what we're doing wrong, or how we could do it better.
There are days he's mean. There are days he's nice. There are days we're just glad he wakes up.
We Wouldn't change him for a Billion Dollars.
We Wouldn't trade him for a single Soul on God's Green Earth.
I'm sure gonna miss Dad when he goes. He has been on/off Hospice twice before the Wildfire of 2020, and has nearly died in my arms more times than I can count in recent years. But At least he gets to see the Chickens grow up, I hope and pray.
Another Member of our group, we'll call her "Echo". She's a <REDACTED> aged gal who loves most forms of life on this funky shaped ball we call Earth/Gaea. She spends her days being as Whimsical as she can be, with the one lung she has left. The other one for some reason just didn't want to stay inflated after it collapsed the first time and sadly, had to be removed. This is only part of her limitations, but she wont let it stop her from taking care of our little chickens, tending to her plants, birds, bugs, and any other creepy crawly little thing that catches her eye, when she isn't off walking on water, or some other crazy querky wierd thing she enjoys at that given moment! She is a Disabled Adult/Retired, spending her time taking care of the things that "The Old Man" can't seem to get to anymore. She might be limited on the weight she can lift/carry, and will probably blow away in a stiff breeze being barely 100lbs on a rainy day, but she makes up for it in attitude, don't you forget it!
Me myself? I'm nothing special. I've had a lot of dead-end jobs over the years, doing anything and everything I could find for work, to cover the bills of a growing family that started when I was 23. I helped raise 5 beautiful young ladies, and one very bullheaded young man, yet never could seem to find a Career/Calling, or find my footing anywhere for any given length of time. We kept the power on, the heat stayed on, and we always had food. But there were times it was tight, and in the end it was one of the reasons my Marriage failed. Getting along with people has never been something I've been good at. I'm a 6th grade drop-out. I kept getting pushed ahead till 10th grade, but never passed a grade past 6th due to bad attitude/expulsions/inattendance. If we only knew then what we know now about Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, I think things would have been different for me. I don't like Fire, thats a hatred that started when I was two, and has haunted me my whole life, having lost 4 homes to Fire, 2 to Tornadoes, and one to a Hurricane. (some rentals, some owned)...
As far as what Jobs I do? Well, I've done a bit of everything, from Ranch-hand, to Bouncer, to Casino work, to food industry work, to Janitorial work, Delivery (Retail Goods), even Enlisted in the US Army TWICE! Now? I'm currently on Disability for C-PTSD, and other issues. I'm trying to figure things out and hopefully be able to start selling eggs/veggies at local Farmer's Markets, but that takes getting along with people, which isn't my strong suit. Maybe I can put my failure at construction skills to work and make some money... can't really paint or do any "Finish Work".. but I can stick 2 piece of wood together pretty good...!
On to the Final members of our Family... our 4 dogs.
Mia: 20+/- yr old Long/Wired Haired Chichuchua, she'll live FOREVER!
Lola: 8 yr old English Bulldog Mixed Breed, currently Overweight at 78lbs, Target Weight 45lbs, loves to lay around in the sun.
Conner: 8 yr old Scottish Terrier: Wheaton Male, Very much a Cassinova/Love-bug Personality, Same Litter as Sister Castiel
Castiel: 8 yr old Scottish Terrier: Black/Silver Female, Called Cassie for short... Very much the Terror of Terriers. She'll dig a hole to China in under an hr, and chase down them Voles/Squirrels faster than you can blink! She was running full tilt into everything before her eyes were ever open and can't help but explore every new thing she can. Same Litter as Brother Conner
Of all my dogs, Cassie is the only one I'm concerned about with being around Chickens. When the chicks start panicing, and start making their alert chirps, she whines and cries like she either can't wait to eat them, or wants to get into the pen and tell them their safe and she'll protect them.. it's one or the other, and I'm terrified to find out.
Last little bit here, then I'll let you get back to your regular programming...
We lost EVERYTHING on Sept 7th, 2020. The Babb Rd Wildfire destroyed everything we owned. We were lucky and got out with all our animals, (only dogs at the time) but others, not so much. Atleast there was zero loss of Human life in that fire.
We are currently still activally persuing a lawsuit against our Local Power Utility Company for being the Cause of the Wildfire... We've been told we might maybe hear something back in March, 2025... maybe, but that will probably be another Continuation.
We are very thankful to Our Community for DONATING the costs for the Lumber/Supplies & for the Labor that was Donated by a group of Menonites out of Montana, to built my Father and 6 others here a Home.
This was mainly due to my mistake while dealing everything AND dealing with Dad and Hospice, we were uninsured at the time of the Fire, one of many things that fell off my plate at that time. It isn't a very big home, but it's better than being in the RV's that we were planning on being in till we somehow figured out a rebuilding plan.
The home was completed and we moved in, in March of 2022. This was also the time that "The Old Man" was awarded 100% Service Connection, leading to a decent sized settlement from the VA. This gave us the funds needed so we could build a shed out back so that we'd have a place to store tools and other odds and ends. There wasn't much room inside the home for storage either, so a bunch of things needed a place to go.
Then in the Spring of 2023, we pounced on the chance to puchase the two properties next door in a deal We couldn't say no to, bringing our total area to 1/4 the entire city block, which is about .5 acres.
These we (The Old Man and I) gifted to "Echo" as a "Thank-You" for all she has done for my Family. We couldn't pay to replace all the things she lost in the Wildfire (she's the old man's live in caregiver), but at least we could do that much.
Now it's 2024! A New Year, 4 years since we started down the Path of Rebirth. We have our home, a 12'x16' shed I built in 2022 before we purchased the properties next door in 2023 that had 2 sheds on it already, so now we have 3. One is 10x20 about 2 ft off the ground in a corner, one is 12'x16' about 3' off the ground in a corner, and the third is a metal shed with concrete floor at 10x12.
Just last week I put the last of the framing together for our chicken coop, and finished putting on the siding.
It is 8' by 12' Lean-To Shed with a 12'x20' roof. This gives 2' Overhangs on 3 sides, and a 6' covered area on the 4th. The walls are 6' tall on the short end, and 8' tall on the other, and contains 9 nesting boxes with exterior access planned. (Small Doors)
I'm planning on enclosing a 14'x22' or bigger area for the "Chicken Run". There is space for this to increase and add in another 14'x22' enclosure with 12' netting ceilings.
I really don't know what I'm doing when it comes to Construction or Building things. It wasn't something I ever really did professionally for very long, so it's all new to me, same as Chickens.
(7) Bonus: How did you find BYC, how long have you known about BYC, and what made you finally join our awesome community?
Actually we just typed Backyard Chickens in a random search engine, and here we are, Sorry it wasn't a great story!
Maybe you all will get some good laughs out of us, who knows!
We'll try to keep you all Updated, as we jump, Head First, into the Deep-End of the Chicken Coop Pool, with no lifejacket.
Future posts should be including photos.
Echo and Pan's Innangard
Last edited:
we are here for you! 
