(1) Are you new to chickens / when did you first get chickens?
No, we have had up to 35 at a time, started in 1993 but stopped just after our kids got in college. My daughter loved to bicycle with a favorite chicken she named, Petry (pronounced Peetree as in the dinosaur in "The Land Before Time"). She didn't know it then nor did I but she must have intuited the real and scientific link to dinosaurs that chickens and birds have in their genetics. Now with our grandchildren we are back at it again. I was looking on the internet for an answer to "How many chickens there can be in a 12x12 coup and came upon BYC.
(2) How many chickens do you have right now?
7 2 yr old layers and 13 ten week old chicks.
(3) What breeds do you have?
Three of the new chicks are Polish with that distinctive hairdo of feathers on their heads. We have named them members of Destiny's Child, Beyonce, etc.
(4) What are your favorite aspects of raising backyard chickens?
Just the simple pleasure of being retired and with my retired wife doing our daily barnyard chores, feeding and caring for our chickens, collecting and giving away their eggs along with the care of our horses. I used the "playpen" method of introducing our chicks when they were old enough to join our layers in their coup and it worked well. Now all the chickens share a 12x12 coup at night and have the barnyard as their run during the day.
(5) What are some of your other hobbies?
Horses...our Mini-horse Charlie is the family favorite (second pic below), vinyl records, reading classics of spirituality, going to hear our favorite musicians. I specially love the writings of Flannery O'Connor and am amused to find that she loved fowl...specially her peacocks and was famously filmed for a news reel feature when a teen because one of her chickens had the believe it or not habit of walking backwards!
(6) Tell us about your family, your other pets, your occupation, or anything else you'd like to share.
I am a semi-retired minister (Covenant or ECC), writer/speaker/teacher and my wife is a recently retired Middle School PE & Health teacher. We live on 8 acres on a with a river in MN and love summer pool swimming in our backyard as well as winter times at Marco Island/Naples FL. We have two adult children and four grandchildren, ages 6, 5, 4 & 3 and they LOVE the chickens. Not sure if the chickens have the same affection but the kids know how to properly handle and care for the chickens. They have not yet copied their mom's bicycle chicken trick.
(7) Bonus: How did you find BYC, how long have you known about BYC, and what made you finally join our awesome community?
Just saw BYC today and immediately joined. Thanks to whoever provides this resource. We look forward to being a part of BYC.
No, we have had up to 35 at a time, started in 1993 but stopped just after our kids got in college. My daughter loved to bicycle with a favorite chicken she named, Petry (pronounced Peetree as in the dinosaur in "The Land Before Time"). She didn't know it then nor did I but she must have intuited the real and scientific link to dinosaurs that chickens and birds have in their genetics. Now with our grandchildren we are back at it again. I was looking on the internet for an answer to "How many chickens there can be in a 12x12 coup and came upon BYC.
(2) How many chickens do you have right now?
7 2 yr old layers and 13 ten week old chicks.
(3) What breeds do you have?
Three of the new chicks are Polish with that distinctive hairdo of feathers on their heads. We have named them members of Destiny's Child, Beyonce, etc.
(4) What are your favorite aspects of raising backyard chickens?
Just the simple pleasure of being retired and with my retired wife doing our daily barnyard chores, feeding and caring for our chickens, collecting and giving away their eggs along with the care of our horses. I used the "playpen" method of introducing our chicks when they were old enough to join our layers in their coup and it worked well. Now all the chickens share a 12x12 coup at night and have the barnyard as their run during the day.
(5) What are some of your other hobbies?
Horses...our Mini-horse Charlie is the family favorite (second pic below), vinyl records, reading classics of spirituality, going to hear our favorite musicians. I specially love the writings of Flannery O'Connor and am amused to find that she loved fowl...specially her peacocks and was famously filmed for a news reel feature when a teen because one of her chickens had the believe it or not habit of walking backwards!
(6) Tell us about your family, your other pets, your occupation, or anything else you'd like to share.
I am a semi-retired minister (Covenant or ECC), writer/speaker/teacher and my wife is a recently retired Middle School PE & Health teacher. We live on 8 acres on a with a river in MN and love summer pool swimming in our backyard as well as winter times at Marco Island/Naples FL. We have two adult children and four grandchildren, ages 6, 5, 4 & 3 and they LOVE the chickens. Not sure if the chickens have the same affection but the kids know how to properly handle and care for the chickens. They have not yet copied their mom's bicycle chicken trick.
(7) Bonus: How did you find BYC, how long have you known about BYC, and what made you finally join our awesome community?
Just saw BYC today and immediately joined. Thanks to whoever provides this resource. We look forward to being a part of BYC.
Glad you joined.
I can tell you are enjoying every aspect of the farm life!
