StowellAN
In the Brooder
HIYA 
My name is Nikki Stowell. I enjoy reading/crocheting/knitting blankets and smaller items as a hobby. I would love to learn to sew but haven't found the patience for that yet. We enjoy camping, kayaking, playing Frisbee golf, and watching Netflix. We always have our hands dirty in some sort of DIY project, usually 5+ at once; we must love the torture. We have 2 tiny dogs; a 8 yo Morkie "Paisley" and a 6 yo Jack Russel "Cadence".
My husband, Andy, reluctantly agreed to getting chickens after years of encouragement. We are finally getting settled into our new-to-us home that we purchased in August of 2016 after ground work of the raw land and project after project. So here we are with our new chickens this year and I couldn't be happier!
I am new to owning chickens myself. I have known others to have chickens and have watched over small farms when the owners went away for vacation. We first acquired chickens Memorial Day weekend 2018 from a friend's backyard flock. We started out with 4 "pullets" at about 4 weeks old. (for the experienced, you're probably already laughing at my quotations) Our original 4 were a bantam white crested black polish chicken named "Stalinslava" (Stella for short); a Copper Maran X Wyandotte named "Lenore" (soon to be "Lenard"); a Red Sex Link named "Lucy" (soon to be "Lucian"); and a Golden Laced Wyandotte named "Steeler". As time went on, I learned the characteristics of growing chickens and started identifying roosters by their feathers; thus, the names starting to change of my small flock. I had the idea of having 2 eggs a day per person and that wasn't going to happen with my 50/50 gender split. So, after 1 month, off to the Springville auction I go and come back with "6 pullets" the tag said who were (I'm guessing) 6 weeks old. (You can already guess where i'm going with this) So, now we have 6 Barred Rocks: 3 B&W "Thelma", "Louise", and "Henry" (I knew he was a Roo right away); and 3 Buff "Buffy", "Slayer" (Gender neutral to be safe), and "Garland" (who we now call "Garth"). Now, I have 10 chickens but my ratio still remains at a 50/50 gender split. To avoid my story getting long and erasing graphic details, insert my neighbors Husky...I have lost my precious Polish "Stella" who I hold close to my heart; my sweet Maran/Wyandotte Roo "Lenard"; and my new B&W barred Roo "Henry".
My current flock is down to 7 with 4 pullets and 3 roos. I am looking forward my first eggs expecting Mid-August to Early September because of the varying ages and breeds but they'll be pretty close to one another.
I found BYC.com by good ol' google when I was researching and educating myself prior to bringing chickens home. I wanted to educate myself as much as I could so I could be prepared for what to handle and plan out my coop to be a safe and low maintenance place to live for my new extended family. I look forward to continuing my education and learning vicariously through others. I believe that a pillar to a strong community is education and communication.
My name is Nikki Stowell. I enjoy reading/crocheting/knitting blankets and smaller items as a hobby. I would love to learn to sew but haven't found the patience for that yet. We enjoy camping, kayaking, playing Frisbee golf, and watching Netflix. We always have our hands dirty in some sort of DIY project, usually 5+ at once; we must love the torture. We have 2 tiny dogs; a 8 yo Morkie "Paisley" and a 6 yo Jack Russel "Cadence".
My husband, Andy, reluctantly agreed to getting chickens after years of encouragement. We are finally getting settled into our new-to-us home that we purchased in August of 2016 after ground work of the raw land and project after project. So here we are with our new chickens this year and I couldn't be happier!
I am new to owning chickens myself. I have known others to have chickens and have watched over small farms when the owners went away for vacation. We first acquired chickens Memorial Day weekend 2018 from a friend's backyard flock. We started out with 4 "pullets" at about 4 weeks old. (for the experienced, you're probably already laughing at my quotations) Our original 4 were a bantam white crested black polish chicken named "Stalinslava" (Stella for short); a Copper Maran X Wyandotte named "Lenore" (soon to be "Lenard"); a Red Sex Link named "Lucy" (soon to be "Lucian"); and a Golden Laced Wyandotte named "Steeler". As time went on, I learned the characteristics of growing chickens and started identifying roosters by their feathers; thus, the names starting to change of my small flock. I had the idea of having 2 eggs a day per person and that wasn't going to happen with my 50/50 gender split. So, after 1 month, off to the Springville auction I go and come back with "6 pullets" the tag said who were (I'm guessing) 6 weeks old. (You can already guess where i'm going with this) So, now we have 6 Barred Rocks: 3 B&W "Thelma", "Louise", and "Henry" (I knew he was a Roo right away); and 3 Buff "Buffy", "Slayer" (Gender neutral to be safe), and "Garland" (who we now call "Garth"). Now, I have 10 chickens but my ratio still remains at a 50/50 gender split. To avoid my story getting long and erasing graphic details, insert my neighbors Husky...I have lost my precious Polish "Stella" who I hold close to my heart; my sweet Maran/Wyandotte Roo "Lenard"; and my new B&W barred Roo "Henry".
My current flock is down to 7 with 4 pullets and 3 roos. I am looking forward my first eggs expecting Mid-August to Early September because of the varying ages and breeds but they'll be pretty close to one another.
I found BYC.com by good ol' google when I was researching and educating myself prior to bringing chickens home. I wanted to educate myself as much as I could so I could be prepared for what to handle and plan out my coop to be a safe and low maintenance place to live for my new extended family. I look forward to continuing my education and learning vicariously through others. I believe that a pillar to a strong community is education and communication.
Nikki! 
But, it gets better
. And what better place to get all kinds of information than here
.
