William RainCrow
In the Brooder
- Mar 28, 2020
- 4
- 26
- 25
I don't really think I'm a new member, but my old password didn't work. It had been awhile since I've been on.
Anyway, I'm William Seward, often called William RainCrow. I'm retired and living near Bastrop, Texas. I do some woodworking and writing.
I was raised by my grandparents in rural central Texas. We owned a gas station and garage at a highway intersection. We also had a few acres with sheep and chickens. My nearby great-grandmother also had a large flock of chickens, so I was always around the cluckers. A few years later I was taking Vocational Agriculture, all the boys did, for 3 of my 4 years in high school. (The girls took Home Economics, that's just how it was then.) A few years later after college and a new job, I was married and settled with a wife and small children. I had a quarter acre yard on the (then) edge of another smallish town and was gardening most of it. Somehow I decided to get chickens. I built a small run, maybe 8x8, with a small coop made from scrap lumber and kept about 5 chickens. The neighbors didn't like it but HOA's weren't much of a thing then, early '70's. I made sure to distribute surplus eggs and veggies to the closest neighbors and never heard much more about it. Two marriages and a couple of towns later I still have chickens more often than not. The current pen is perhaps 30x100 and shaded. (Texas, shade is mandatory. I think it also discourages hawks, maybe. At least I've had no trouble.)
I have another self-made coop of the so-called Amish design that houses 12, another coop that will hold about that many if needed, and a couple of smaller setups similar to chicken tractors that I use when I start chicks. I buy a few new chicks each year, and a few of my renegades hatch out broods as well. A couple of friends take excess roosters off my hands as needed. The remaining new birds keep the population up and fresh (ish). I have a good dog and a couple of outdoor cats that keep the predators away, mostly. I do lose a hen now and then, but not too often.
Once again I am living on about 6 acres outside of Bastrop. My chickens are essentially free-roaming, while penned at night (except for the afore-mentioned renegades.) My current flock is mostly Rhode Island Reds mixed. I do like the Reds, but I couldn't find any RIR chicks locally this year, so I got 6 Barred Rock. I keep one mixed mellow rooster. I'd be fine without one, but I do sort of like the idea that the flock self-replenishes. I have toyed with the idea of either deleting the rooster or getting a pure RIR rooster and let him gradually improve things. That jury is out.
Anyway, glad to be here.
Anyway, I'm William Seward, often called William RainCrow. I'm retired and living near Bastrop, Texas. I do some woodworking and writing.
I was raised by my grandparents in rural central Texas. We owned a gas station and garage at a highway intersection. We also had a few acres with sheep and chickens. My nearby great-grandmother also had a large flock of chickens, so I was always around the cluckers. A few years later I was taking Vocational Agriculture, all the boys did, for 3 of my 4 years in high school. (The girls took Home Economics, that's just how it was then.) A few years later after college and a new job, I was married and settled with a wife and small children. I had a quarter acre yard on the (then) edge of another smallish town and was gardening most of it. Somehow I decided to get chickens. I built a small run, maybe 8x8, with a small coop made from scrap lumber and kept about 5 chickens. The neighbors didn't like it but HOA's weren't much of a thing then, early '70's. I made sure to distribute surplus eggs and veggies to the closest neighbors and never heard much more about it. Two marriages and a couple of towns later I still have chickens more often than not. The current pen is perhaps 30x100 and shaded. (Texas, shade is mandatory. I think it also discourages hawks, maybe. At least I've had no trouble.)
I have another self-made coop of the so-called Amish design that houses 12, another coop that will hold about that many if needed, and a couple of smaller setups similar to chicken tractors that I use when I start chicks. I buy a few new chicks each year, and a few of my renegades hatch out broods as well. A couple of friends take excess roosters off my hands as needed. The remaining new birds keep the population up and fresh (ish). I have a good dog and a couple of outdoor cats that keep the predators away, mostly. I do lose a hen now and then, but not too often.
Once again I am living on about 6 acres outside of Bastrop. My chickens are essentially free-roaming, while penned at night (except for the afore-mentioned renegades.) My current flock is mostly Rhode Island Reds mixed. I do like the Reds, but I couldn't find any RIR chicks locally this year, so I got 6 Barred Rock. I keep one mixed mellow rooster. I'd be fine without one, but I do sort of like the idea that the flock self-replenishes. I have toyed with the idea of either deleting the rooster or getting a pure RIR rooster and let him gradually improve things. That jury is out.
Anyway, glad to be here.
Glad you joined.
it here!!!
