Hello Crazy Chicken People! Here goes with my intro data.
Background: Sacramento California born & bred both hubby and me. Tired & disgusted with city life, living in a land with only two seasons - the predominant one being HOT AND DRY, and parched in body & spirit after 3+ years of severe drought ("brown is the new green", fines for watering any day but those you've been assigned, rivers unsafe to swim in due to unhealthy ratio of "particulate matter" to water) we jumped at the chance to leave for greener pastures. Now living in awe of Kentucky green, wet, seasons, kindness, affordable homes. Bought our own 1.5 acres on the bend of a very healthy burbling creek full of shale, Kentucky agate, Cambrian era fossils, crawdads, fish, and the occasional visit from our local Great Blue Heron.
Finally! Land! We wake up everyday feeling like we live in a National Park!
Working - slowly - to ease the lawn areas (unfortunately covering mostly clay or shale and clay...but maybe we'll build some cob outbuildings in the fridge!) into vegetable, herb, and cutting gardens. The goal is self sustainable life, with pipe dreams about converting to solar. * Someday*. Age, life, arthritis, knee replacements and lack of much "disposable income" are natural decelerants on my ambitions.
Phew. On to chickens!
After fencing in the area surrounding an existing barn type shed extending the resulting chicken yard to a gazillion car carport and cobbling in a gate about halfway through the carport we had our coop & yard. Hardware cloth over vents and holes in the shed, netting tented over the open spaces, general search and shoring up of possible predator ingresses and we were as ready as we thought we'd be without direct experience. Plus of course many hours googling and lurking on chicken sites...like this one!
Bought a cackle of "day-old" chicks around Mother's Day our first Spring on the new acre+; lost 1 chick (failed to thrive), and lost 3 more at about 8 - 10 weeks to a marauding raccoon when we didn't get the coop door shut in time.
We had just been tipped to turning a light on in the coop before dusk to encourage them to get in. Prior to that, once they were outside full-time in their yard, every evening was a 3-stooges act with hubby swearing up a blue streak as our charges ran squawking pell mell around the yard and under the barn! First night we installed the light and timer? All chicks in the coop. Sheesh.
Added twice to our flock for diversity - no, actually I just had chicken fever ha ha - so now we have 5 rhodies, 3 Crested Cream Legbars, 2 buff Orpies, 1 lavender orp, 1 cuckoo orp, and 1 Black Orpie rooster.
What I love best is just watching and interacting with my "girls"! They crack me up every day, and watching our PepperRoo grow up from a cheeky runt always smaller than his sisters into a georgeous full fledged roo who watches over "his" hens, calls them over when he finds good forage, and will actually hold food until his hens arrive and or take extra from a greedy hen and give it one of the shyer ones has been such a wonderful revelation! Second best I love my twice a day egg hunt. Easter, every day!
Our family: hubby n me, 3 dogs, 3 cats, 12 hens and one rooster, with frequent visits from 3 grandkids and their parents.
Hubby and I both play folk music, mostly Celtic , Sea shanties, and old-timey. Husband into blacksmithing, fossil hunting, astronomy, and all things science & NatGeo. I'm a maker; sewing, baking, creating art, gardening, cooking with stuff from our hens and gardens, and, of course, our chickens!
Our plan is to let our broodiest hens try to bring off a clutch then (gulp) see if we have what it takes to harvest young chickens for meat. If not, our flock with just be egg-laying pets. If so, we'll be looking to raising enough meat chickens for our family and son & daughter-in-law's. Then rabbits and eventually a goat.
Phew too much! Thank again for the add!
Background: Sacramento California born & bred both hubby and me. Tired & disgusted with city life, living in a land with only two seasons - the predominant one being HOT AND DRY, and parched in body & spirit after 3+ years of severe drought ("brown is the new green", fines for watering any day but those you've been assigned, rivers unsafe to swim in due to unhealthy ratio of "particulate matter" to water) we jumped at the chance to leave for greener pastures. Now living in awe of Kentucky green, wet, seasons, kindness, affordable homes. Bought our own 1.5 acres on the bend of a very healthy burbling creek full of shale, Kentucky agate, Cambrian era fossils, crawdads, fish, and the occasional visit from our local Great Blue Heron.
Finally! Land! We wake up everyday feeling like we live in a National Park!
Working - slowly - to ease the lawn areas (unfortunately covering mostly clay or shale and clay...but maybe we'll build some cob outbuildings in the fridge!) into vegetable, herb, and cutting gardens. The goal is self sustainable life, with pipe dreams about converting to solar. * Someday*. Age, life, arthritis, knee replacements and lack of much "disposable income" are natural decelerants on my ambitions.
Phew. On to chickens!
After fencing in the area surrounding an existing barn type shed extending the resulting chicken yard to a gazillion car carport and cobbling in a gate about halfway through the carport we had our coop & yard. Hardware cloth over vents and holes in the shed, netting tented over the open spaces, general search and shoring up of possible predator ingresses and we were as ready as we thought we'd be without direct experience. Plus of course many hours googling and lurking on chicken sites...like this one!
Bought a cackle of "day-old" chicks around Mother's Day our first Spring on the new acre+; lost 1 chick (failed to thrive), and lost 3 more at about 8 - 10 weeks to a marauding raccoon when we didn't get the coop door shut in time.
We had just been tipped to turning a light on in the coop before dusk to encourage them to get in. Prior to that, once they were outside full-time in their yard, every evening was a 3-stooges act with hubby swearing up a blue streak as our charges ran squawking pell mell around the yard and under the barn! First night we installed the light and timer? All chicks in the coop. Sheesh.
Added twice to our flock for diversity - no, actually I just had chicken fever ha ha - so now we have 5 rhodies, 3 Crested Cream Legbars, 2 buff Orpies, 1 lavender orp, 1 cuckoo orp, and 1 Black Orpie rooster.
What I love best is just watching and interacting with my "girls"! They crack me up every day, and watching our PepperRoo grow up from a cheeky runt always smaller than his sisters into a georgeous full fledged roo who watches over "his" hens, calls them over when he finds good forage, and will actually hold food until his hens arrive and or take extra from a greedy hen and give it one of the shyer ones has been such a wonderful revelation! Second best I love my twice a day egg hunt. Easter, every day!
Our family: hubby n me, 3 dogs, 3 cats, 12 hens and one rooster, with frequent visits from 3 grandkids and their parents.
Hubby and I both play folk music, mostly Celtic , Sea shanties, and old-timey. Husband into blacksmithing, fossil hunting, astronomy, and all things science & NatGeo. I'm a maker; sewing, baking, creating art, gardening, cooking with stuff from our hens and gardens, and, of course, our chickens!
Our plan is to let our broodiest hens try to bring off a clutch then (gulp) see if we have what it takes to harvest young chickens for meat. If not, our flock with just be egg-laying pets. If so, we'll be looking to raising enough meat chickens for our family and son & daughter-in-law's. Then rabbits and eventually a goat.
Phew too much! Thank again for the add!
Glad you joined.
And cats. Must have cats.
I am happy to hear you had a successful move to Kentucky and enjoying every aspect of the country and chicken life. 
