Leftwich08
In the Brooder
- Mar 25, 2025
- 1
- 8
- 14
(1) Are you new to chickens / when did you first get chickens?
Ish. I was around them in highschool and know the gist of what to do when you can get started in a normal way.
(2) How many chickens do you have right now?
Four, three I think Rhode Island reds, one being a rooster and two pullets and one I think is a Rhode Island white pullet.
(3) What breeds do you have?
As said above I'm not totally sure.
(4) What are your favorite aspects of raising backyard chickens?
For one they're a bunch of goofs. They'll run from me as I move around but soon as I stop they are right against me again or pecking between my toes. That's when they aren't flopping all over the place or shoving each other to get the best spot in my lap.
(5) What are some of your other hobbies?
Gaming on occasion, reading, writing, staring out at the expanse of clover flowers around my barn and just enjoying the nothing that is happening.
(6) Tell us about your family, your other pets, your occupation, or anything else you'd like to share.
Okie dokie here's the whole story.
First off an explanation of the title. I had no plans to get chickens yet. I was reading up on it in the same way I do everything else, idle fancy since I live in the middle of nowhere Texas while stuck on disability after a lung injury. Before that I'd always lived the hobo lifestyle to the point my "settling down" was to stick a prebuilt barn on an open patch of land and call it good. Weeellll my niece decided that the choice of a barn rather than a house was a sign instead of what it was. Me grabbing a quick shelter that wouldn't carry me away in the Texas wind. Something I could work on. Knowing I had been researching chickens and thinking said barn was good enough when she saw chickens for sale out the back of a truck in a parking lot she got me four of them. One rooster and three (I hope) pullets. I think three of them are Rhode Island reds and one pullet is a Rhode Island white. I was going to be rid of them but in the few days I've been waiting for someone to answer my giveaway and been shepherding them around for foraging like a shepherd with sheep I've gotten attached. Here lies the issue. Yes I can save enough to get the, for me, expensive electric netting. Yes I can save enough for anything I might need, but I have the chickens NOW. I have had to shoo away boars idk what I can do on a budget that's gonna be able to deal with that or the coyotes I hear yipping nightly quickly. For example I've seen coops that are just wire and apparently fencing poles with a cover for when it rains but that just seems so little to me, like it wouldn't actually work not the size.
Pics are from when I first picked them up from her so they'd be safe from her indoor dogs. And one of Bob the rooster being a goof after digging himself a hole.
(7) Bonus: How did you find BYC, how long have you known about BYC, and what made you finally join our awesome community?
Google searches while refreshing my memory of chickens. Kept ending up here so wanted to see if I could get some help so my day can have a bit less chicken shepherding. Six plus hours a day is literally spent just making sure nothing tries to eat them.
Ish. I was around them in highschool and know the gist of what to do when you can get started in a normal way.
(2) How many chickens do you have right now?
Four, three I think Rhode Island reds, one being a rooster and two pullets and one I think is a Rhode Island white pullet.
(3) What breeds do you have?
As said above I'm not totally sure.
(4) What are your favorite aspects of raising backyard chickens?
For one they're a bunch of goofs. They'll run from me as I move around but soon as I stop they are right against me again or pecking between my toes. That's when they aren't flopping all over the place or shoving each other to get the best spot in my lap.
(5) What are some of your other hobbies?
Gaming on occasion, reading, writing, staring out at the expanse of clover flowers around my barn and just enjoying the nothing that is happening.
(6) Tell us about your family, your other pets, your occupation, or anything else you'd like to share.
Okie dokie here's the whole story.
First off an explanation of the title. I had no plans to get chickens yet. I was reading up on it in the same way I do everything else, idle fancy since I live in the middle of nowhere Texas while stuck on disability after a lung injury. Before that I'd always lived the hobo lifestyle to the point my "settling down" was to stick a prebuilt barn on an open patch of land and call it good. Weeellll my niece decided that the choice of a barn rather than a house was a sign instead of what it was. Me grabbing a quick shelter that wouldn't carry me away in the Texas wind. Something I could work on. Knowing I had been researching chickens and thinking said barn was good enough when she saw chickens for sale out the back of a truck in a parking lot she got me four of them. One rooster and three (I hope) pullets. I think three of them are Rhode Island reds and one pullet is a Rhode Island white. I was going to be rid of them but in the few days I've been waiting for someone to answer my giveaway and been shepherding them around for foraging like a shepherd with sheep I've gotten attached. Here lies the issue. Yes I can save enough to get the, for me, expensive electric netting. Yes I can save enough for anything I might need, but I have the chickens NOW. I have had to shoo away boars idk what I can do on a budget that's gonna be able to deal with that or the coyotes I hear yipping nightly quickly. For example I've seen coops that are just wire and apparently fencing poles with a cover for when it rains but that just seems so little to me, like it wouldn't actually work not the size.
Pics are from when I first picked them up from her so they'd be safe from her indoor dogs. And one of Bob the rooster being a goof after digging himself a hole.
(7) Bonus: How did you find BYC, how long have you known about BYC, and what made you finally join our awesome community?
Google searches while refreshing my memory of chickens. Kept ending up here so wanted to see if I could get some help so my day can have a bit less chicken shepherding. Six plus hours a day is literally spent just making sure nothing tries to eat them.
