Hmmm. Brand new to this so just jumping in and learning to swim as I go...
Me: I live in the Mid-Willamette Valley, OR and got bit hard by the chicken bug this (2011) January. It wasn't much of a reach given that I'm a market farmer and small-scale, sustainable farming is my passion. Our family has had laying hens for years out at the farm but at my home I was not interested in poultry until I ended up taking in a black bantatm cochin frizzle hen who had been, and continued to be a house chicken. I guess I went from nothing to full-tilt overnight! Several months after I'd gotten her she was killed by a dog and I was devastated. Just prior to losing her I'd gotten her a 10-week Buff Orpington pullet as a companion and left with a solitary bird who missed her flock I ended up getting 7 chicks from a feed store: 6 babies who I was hoping might be cochins and one Gold-Laced Wyandotte so I'd have 2 standard sized egg-layers. My 6 babies all turned out to be silkies... yeah, I now know to count toes. The frizzle void was still gaping and I just recently added 3 bantam cochin partridge frizzles (2 straight pullets, and one frizzled cockerel) to my flock bringing me to 11 birds. The silkies will likely be for sale to good homes later (hey, I AM a market farmer!) so I have 5 that I consider permanent at this point.
Other non-chicken info: my other "kids": 3 horses, 2 dogs (no, mine have not harmed chickens) and saltwater fish. Married with beautiful little boy.
www.BermudezFamilyFarm.com
I also have a facebook page for the market farm: Bermudez Family Farm.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bermudez-Family-Farm/
My current (4-26-11) flock of 11.
This is the chicken tractor I just built (mostly from stuff I had laying around). It's sized to fit neatly over by 4' x 8' raised beds but it will also spend plenty of time scooting around the lawn.
Me: I live in the Mid-Willamette Valley, OR and got bit hard by the chicken bug this (2011) January. It wasn't much of a reach given that I'm a market farmer and small-scale, sustainable farming is my passion. Our family has had laying hens for years out at the farm but at my home I was not interested in poultry until I ended up taking in a black bantatm cochin frizzle hen who had been, and continued to be a house chicken. I guess I went from nothing to full-tilt overnight! Several months after I'd gotten her she was killed by a dog and I was devastated. Just prior to losing her I'd gotten her a 10-week Buff Orpington pullet as a companion and left with a solitary bird who missed her flock I ended up getting 7 chicks from a feed store: 6 babies who I was hoping might be cochins and one Gold-Laced Wyandotte so I'd have 2 standard sized egg-layers. My 6 babies all turned out to be silkies... yeah, I now know to count toes. The frizzle void was still gaping and I just recently added 3 bantam cochin partridge frizzles (2 straight pullets, and one frizzled cockerel) to my flock bringing me to 11 birds. The silkies will likely be for sale to good homes later (hey, I AM a market farmer!) so I have 5 that I consider permanent at this point.
Other non-chicken info: my other "kids": 3 horses, 2 dogs (no, mine have not harmed chickens) and saltwater fish. Married with beautiful little boy.
www.BermudezFamilyFarm.com
I also have a facebook page for the market farm: Bermudez Family Farm.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bermudez-Family-Farm/
My current (4-26-11) flock of 11.
This is the chicken tractor I just built (mostly from stuff I had laying around). It's sized to fit neatly over by 4' x 8' raised beds but it will also spend plenty of time scooting around the lawn.
