@coach723
Come say hello to @coach723 who has been a member since February 2015 and comes to us from north Florida.
Come say hello to @coach723 who has been a member since February 2015 and comes to us from north Florida.
1. Tell us a bit more about yourself. And is there a story behind your member name?
I currently live in North Central Florida, we call it McNo-where, and love it! We have 11.8 acres on a private airport. My husband and I are both ex military (Navy), so this is our escape from a lifetime of rules, regulations and bureaucracy. He retired after just shy of 30 years and then worked as a contractor to the Navy for another 10 years, I got out of the military after 6 years to raise our 3 kids. He flies airplanes and once retired became an A&P/IA (Airplane mechanic). Picture of our place from the air when we first bought it. Now, most of the old barn is gone, the trees on the right are gone and that is now pasture. Top of the picture is the runway.
I grew up in Oregon, he grew up in North Carolina and central Florida. All told we have lived in Oregon, California, Tennessee, Virginia (Southern and Northern), South Carolina, Illinois, Florida, and Puerto Rico. And have traveled to many more places. He's been around the world several times over. My member name came from my years coaching soccer. I grew up playing and then when my kids started playing I started coaching. I coached for about 12 years, recreational teams, competitive travel teams, and high school teams, both boys and girls. Mostly not my own kids, they were much happier being coached by someone that wasn't mom!! Many years of being "coach", so it stuck.
2. Why and when did you start keeping poultry?
I have always had a thing about birds, even as a kid. Was always bringing baby birds home. Growing up I wanted to be a veterinarian (still wish I had done that), but life took me elsewhere. Being military as an adult, we were not able to have animals, except the usual cats and dogs (one rabbit, a few parakeets, innumerable goldfish) due to moving so much, so often. So now that we're retired, we can satisfy that want. I got my first chickens when we moved here, I was so excited!! A neighbor, who was getting out of chickens, gifted them to us. I started with 2 hens and a chicken tractor. I now have about 35, a large coop, and are currently starting another, bigger coop with an even bigger run. Chicken math!! We like having eggs that we know where they came from and how fresh they are.
3. Which aspects of poultry keeping do you enjoy the most?
I enjoy all aspects of keeping poultry. Even on the sad days, I can't imagine not having them. We love getting the eggs, we love watching their antics. The roosters are endlessly entertaining. And I so much enjoy all the personalities and watching the babies grow. I still sit and watch the incubated ones hatch and feel like it's Christmas morning. It's still a miracle to me. I got my first egyptian fayoumi's this year, and they are so different! Like little roadrunners. I still think about adding guinea's, but just haven't gone there. I'd absolutely love to have pea fowl, but my husband doesn't want to build more housing!!
4. Which members of your flock, past and present, stand out for you and why?
It's hard for me to pick stand outs, I honestly have so many memories of them all. I have a very soft spot for the boys, so usually have too many. I had a 'mystery hen' that came in a batch of australorps that I suspect was either a wellsummer or brown leghorn mix, and she was a gem. A fantastic broody, number one in pecking order, and lived to be 12 years old. So much personality. It was a sad day when she was gone. I had a cream colored easter egger that was gorgeous, named her Goldie Hen. I have an old gold laced wyandotte rooster that is the sweetest, nicest bird you could ever ask for, I wish he could live forever. And on the other end of the spectrum, I got 3 speckled sussex hens a couple of years ago, as chicks. They were on my bucket list because I love how they look. They were the dumbest birds I've ever had!! They would never go in the coop til it was pitch black dark out, were always last, and often got locked out by the automatic door. Only birds I've ever had that issue with. They ended up being dinner for a fox because of it. So they stood out in a bad way. Below is Goldie Hen with her daughter from a gold laced wyandotte roo.
5. What was the funniest poultry related thing that has happened to you in your years as an owner?
There are funny moments all the time. Once when we expanded the outside run, we moved a fence over about 20 feet and there was a line in the grass where the fence had originally been, where they had worn a path. They would not cross that line in the grass! All day they would go to where the fence used to be, and stop there, not cross over the line. I put food over the line, still they would not cross it. Ended up going out and physically placing every one of them over the line so they could figure it out.
And both my husband and I have managed to lock ourselves in the coop on occasion. The wind would blow the door shut hard enough to move the latch and lock us in. So now it's set up so you can lock the latch open when going in, so you don't get locked in!
6. Beside poultry, what other pets do you keep?
Besides chickens, we have two dogs, a Great Pyrenees named Bear and a Great Pyrenees/Rough Collie mix named Bella (she's very sweet, but a nut!). Bear was found on the side of the road at 6 weeks old, and Bella was rescued from a neglectful home. Also two cats, Noah is a long haired tuxedo cat, he was a tiny feral kitten and arrived out of the woods after tropical storm Debbie caused major flooding here about 10 years ago, thus his name. We just acquired another kitten two weeks ago that we suspect was dumped. She was probably 6 weeks old at the time. So Willow is a diluted tortoise shell sweet girl who absolutely loves my giant dogs to death. We also have two cows, Ginger and Ember, and two calves, Stu and Shadow, and a spotted donkey named Benjamin. So we are a very full house!
Bear
Bella
Noah
Willow
Benjamin
The cows
@coach723
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The story of the chickens not crossing the line of grass got me giggling, I've had similar situations with birds in the past, they sure know when things don't feel right. 
