Ohio Chicken Enthusiast

[ChickenMom543]

Hello Chicken Lovers! This is my first post in the BYC Forum and I am super excited to talk with people who love chickens just as much as I do. My family and I moved to my parent's 43 acre beef cattle farm almost 3 years ago to help my mom run things after the loss of my dad. While beef cattle are wonderful, I fell in love with the egg laying friends and soon decided to get my own flock started. I am an elementary school teacher, and one of my favorite things to do each year is incubate eggs from our very own chickens and give my students the full hatching experience. It is a hit every time. Of course they end up coming back to my farm once they have hatched and I get to add them to my flock. Last summer I lost my entire silkie flock within a month's time when something got into the coop and killed them for sport. I am now just beginning to build my flock up once again and I am very excited to have chickens again. While I love all chickens, I have to admit that silkies and any other puffy/crazy feathered kind get me every time. I will be the first to tell you I am by no means a chicken pro and I have a lot to learn about raising them. I hope I will get what I need through the use of this forum.

 

[BantamFan4Life]

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

 

[N F C]

It's always fun to hear of a teacher hatching chicks as a classroom activity and that's great you take them home.

Have you checked out the Learning Center yet? It's full of interesting articles and there's a section of it devoted to predators with ideas on how to protect your birds from them.

It's nice to have you here, thanks for joining us!

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi and a warm welcome to BYC. Good luck with raising this flock!

Joining your state thread will put you in touch with other BYC members in your area, which can be helpful (just type the name of your state in the search box).

All the best
CT

 

[drumstick diva]

So sorry to hear about your silkie massacre. They are such beautiful birds and very popular with kids as well as adults. Please check out the predator threads on BYC for help in determining what your predator was and how to hopefully prevent any further attacks. Silkies are so vulnerable because they don't fly, and their crests and beards really do obscure their vision.

 

[drumstick diva]

ps there are several dedicated silkie threads on BYC, Buff Silkies, paint silkies, nothing but partridge silkies, and the biggest thread "Silkie thread" Just put any of them in the search box and they will come up. You might also like to check out another silkie variety called 'Showgirls'. They are very exotic and not for everyone but, beautiful in their own way. They have the silkie temperament and brooding traits.

 

[henny1129]

Welcome to BYC! I'm so sorry to hear about what happened to your Silkies, they are such wonderful little puff-balls. It's great that you are building up your flock again and good luck!