Why Do You Love BYC? - Writing Contest - WINNERS ANNOUNCED!

[miss_jayne]

Quote:
debi! shhhh! yes, yes we are. undercover mods, yeah. we are responsible for spelling errors and other typos. very, very prestigious.

right!

as Debi said, thank you for the compliment, but alas, we are but members! which is pretty exciting for Debi and me considering we are both whacky and slightly 'off'.

our mods here at BYC are fantastic. they do their jobs to the best of their abilities with their own unique personalities. each bring a little something different to the table. i appreciate them all and thank them for keeping BYC a place that not only i can utilize well, but that my 11 year old daughter can as well. thanks all.

 

[maplesky7]

I took a journey back in time. I searched my name and opened some of my older posts to get a sense of how it all began, my beginning of BYC. It's hard to believe it's only been a little over a year since I joined BackYardChickens.com. I recalled my first post which dealt with a chicken emergency. I remember the awful feeling that rushed over me when I learned I had a chicken that was injured. I ran in the house, jumped on the computer, and was desperately seeking assistance from fellow chicken owners. There had to be someone knowledgeable in the practice of chicken care that could give me some sort of advice to help my chicken in need. Through my searching, BYC popped up first on the list, and when I entered this "chicken world" I knew I had come to the right place.

There it was in big bold letters... "Chicken Emergency." "That's me!! I have a chicken emergency!" I thought to myself. It wasn't hard for me to navigate the board to find the things I was looking for either. I, out of curiosity, took a peek in other places to see what was behind each door. I realized that BYC wasn't just a forum to help a person with chicken emergencies. I found people reaching out to one another when a beloved pet was ill. It was comforting to me to see this kind of bond between each of it's members. Any question I could have had with my new found life with chickens could easily be found right here, at BYC.

A year later, we have added a couple of ducks to our family and there is no question to where I will turn when I have an inquiry about duck care. BYC embodies a wide range of diverse individuals that can help answer and guide a person in so many areas of animal care that extends its bounds passed the common chicken. BYC is quite amazing.

There is no greater love than the friendships one requires here at BYC and it's fun for all ages. My two young daughter's love scrolling down picture after picture of silly looking chickens, cute day old puppies, and fuzzy chicks. Raising chickens is a family team effort and one they take pride in. The facets of life are lived and learned by them and they hang on my every word when it comes to caring for our chickens. When one of our roosters had frost bite, I learned from doing a search on BYC, we could rub Neosporin on his swollen comb and wattles and my daughters helped nurse our rooster back to health, giving him his ointment rubs and bringing special "treats" to him in his recovery cage.

The things I've learned from BYC weren't in the "Raising Poultry" book I picked up at the store, rather the answers to most of any question lay here in the history of this forum or in the knowledge of a member here on this board. There's a wealth of information that one could not possibly fit all in one book. And THAT is why I love...BYC.

Humbly submitted,
g

*I changed a word.

 

[debilorrah]

It doesn't say anything in the first post about NOT editing, so go ahead!!! I love these stories. Warms my heart.

 

[TillinWithMyPeeps]

Quote:
Editing is permitted until Tuesday. (Also the deadline for entries)

 

[debilorrah]

Since Andy said that, I am sending out a poke for those who submitted to re-read their submission

I already have my Word document yellowed up......

 

[dipence71]

Quote:
Great idea. Just rechecked mine. Thanks.

 

[TillinWithMyPeeps]

There is less than one day left in this. In will close at Noon- Pacific Time.

 

[Chicky Tocks]

My husband is a pool player. For two blessed nights a week I am left alone to my own devices. No cooking, no cleaning, no laundry, no voices. It's all about me and my laptop. These are the nights that I relax and regroup. On one particularly quiet night I began to ponder my chickens.

We've always had hens. No more than half a dozen spoiled little girls. In return for their luxury pen and gourmet laying pellets and oh so yummy-fresh treats from the garden, they would each pay homage to our family with one beautiful fresh egg a day. The kids would argue over who would collect this bounty, pushing and shoving each other all the way to the pen. Most days each of the six would come in carrying a single egg, but on the rare occasion that we only got five, one would come back in a pout.
All the kids are grown now. All but one have moved away and he is 16. He hardly cares for the chickens anymore. My nest is almost empty. One day I hope to have grand-children, but until then I decided that hatching some chicks would supplement my need to cluck over some babies.

I began searching the web for incubators. The first link that popped up was to a site called Backyard Chickens dot com. I had landed right smack in the middle of Miss Prissy's "Chic Chick Bator" thread. Well I never! You mean you can make an incubator? I was intrigued. I quickly bookmarked that thread and set off exploring this huge site dedicated to the keeping of chickens. I watched others who were hatching their chicks in homemade and purchased incubators alike. I felt excitement for them all as they counted down the days and posted photos of their newly hatched chicks. I clicked and read and clicked and read some more.

I had an Omaha Steak Box...and an old pc fan. I began collecting things like I was McGyver until finally, I was ready to put it all together. I asked questions and people were so friendly and willing to help. My only problem was that I had no rooster, so I would have to procure some fertile eggs.

I found the Arkansas section, imagine that! There were a lot of chicken savvy people right here close to home, just mere miles away! I met a lady who helped me to get some fertile Easter Egger eggs. I brought them home and let them rest. The next day I said a little prayer over them and placed them in the styrofoam box. Twenty-one days later, 13 of the eighteen eggs that I had put into this homemade incubator had hatched into little fluffy chicks. My chicks are now 14 weeks old! Soon they'll be laying eggs for my family.

I have met some of the most wonderful people who frequent this forum. It seems to me that those who raise and care for chickens, are a good natured people. Since signing on at backyardchickens.com, my hobby of having a few hens has increased to almost an obsession. I dote on my girls and I give them everything good that I can, including their own personal livestock guard person, because now they get to free-range for a couple of hours in the evening, and they have this forum to thank for it.

Thank you Backyard Chickens dot com!

 

[WriterofWords]

This is gonna be hard!

 

[bigkford]

To start with BYC shaved my family. My husband and kids were fighting all the time, no one was happy. We all hit a rut and did not know how to get out of it. I started researching things I did when I was a kid. First thing that came to mind was getting back into chickens. Well enough said, BYC came up and we have been here since. I did eggs for the school every year since my son started kindergarten. That was 19 years ago come September. I hunted, raised dogs for show and hunting, went fishing, everything done outdoors. We have horses, cows, pigs, had trouble with keeping chickens. That problem has been taken care of. So, by being on this site I have been able to expand our aviary. We now raise quail, pheasant, chukar, and turkeys, and of course chickens. All are helping with building cages, incubateing, and raising them. I can't remember the last time we did family time. The other big treat to being here, is we got to meet alot of people going through alot of things we think we are facing on our own. Across America we all face our difficulties, but this site makes easier. We also can get all the info we need to do things right. It does not matter if its life raising animals or just everyday things. Someone on this site has been there, done that, lived that. All I can say is THANK YOU BYC and FAMILY AROUND THE WORLD. Thanks for the time. Kim