newbee in Spokane, Washington

[Pearl Bailey]

I've been reading things on backyard chickens since I became a chicken owner 3 years ago. I inherited 5 older hens from the former tenant of the old farm house I now live in. I was told they weren't laying any longer but they would be turned out in the fields to be eaten by coyotes if I didn't want them. I knew nothing about having chickens but couldn't stand the idea of them being coyote dinner. I started throwing feed, fruit and veges out to them several times a day and within a week they started laying eggs and I was hooked!
The next spring I got chicks from the feed store and increased my flock to 17 hens. All were happy healthy and laying until a neighbor's roaming dogs killed all but 1 of them.
I started over the next spring by ordering chicks from Murray McMurray Hatchery. I'll never do that again since several arrived dead and 5 more died within 24 hours.
I now have 21 hens and 1 rooster and have had one hen hatch out 2 new chicks.
I'm looking forward to all the good info and advice from other chicken lovers on the Backyard Chickens site!

 

[N F C]

If you haven't already done so, check out the Learning Center. There are a lot of helpful articles there.

The Search feature is helpful too, it's located in the upper left part of the screen (under the logo).

Thanks for joining us!

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!

 

[drumstick diva]

Pearl- sounds like you were born to nurture chickens. Glad you joined us at Backyard chickens.

If you got eggs out of old hens, we should call you "Chicken charmer."