Making Friends, Meeting Peeps

[sean_wonder]

Hey all; was a lot more active when I lived at home with my flock, but now got the itch to rejoin the community again. Feel like I don't know who the main characters or happenings are around here anymore, and wanted to make a thread to start talking to people again about anything. I like to read, draw, et cetera. I love listening to music, lots and lots of it. My favorite breed are Silkies by far (would die to own a Splash, or even better a Showgirl).

As an ice breaker, what got you guys into chickens? For me, I saw a huge flock when I was 11-- my grandparent's neighbors. We were picking up eggs, and they were so many beautiful colors. She showed me her whole flock, and I was amazed by how soft the birds were. She then gave me a stack of every chicken book she started her flock with, and I read them to bits and pieces until I finally got my own birds. My girls were my 16th birthday present, after years of begging and PowerPoint presentations on why we should own birds. It was glorious. I'm now one semester away from graduating with a pre-veterinary degree, so while I no longer live with my lovely ladies, I am anticipating the day when I can rebuild my flock.

 

[GodLovesU]

Welcome back!

 

[sean_wonder]

Welcome back!

Thanks! What got you into chickens?

 

[OrpingtonManiac]

Welcome back!

 

[GodLovesU]

Thanks! What got you into chickens?

When I was about 4 I convinced my dad to buy a dozen chicks.I wanted 100 but I compromised.After that my love of chickens took off.

 

[Evadig]

Hey all; was a lot more active when I lived at home with my flock, but now got the itch to rejoin the community again.

(again!)

As an ice breaker, what got you guys into chickens?

I took an "intro to poultry" class while at the community college. Just then the local feed store happened to have the breeds I wanted...within two years my flock has grown from four to nineteen.

Congratulations on almost finishing with your pre-vet degree! I just graduated in August with a BS in Communications/Psychology and that last summer was both awful and exciting.

Hope you are able to get chickens again soon !

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Hi and welcome back! What got me into chickens, hmm. Well, 50 years ago, in my early 20's and young sorta hippie/ "Mother Earth" phase, of course I had to have chickens on my 2-acre homestead, lol! Had no idea what I was doing but I got eggs (from the hens) and the hens survived somehow, in spite of my ignorance. Fast forward to 14 years ago, new home, new DH, new life - and here, ticks are a fact of life! Eeeewwww! Quick, get chickens, survival requires it! And - what's this? There is a website dedicated to chickens and their keepers? Well hey, sign me up! So here I am and my chickens have def benefitted from it! So right now I have 19 females, some pullets, some hens, and one awesome rooster (Rojo el Magnifico, see avatar). DH and I raise a dozen or so CX every year for the freezer and ... well, I guess I'm now an OLD sorta hippie/ Mother Earth type, lol!

 

[sean_wonder]

When I was about 4 I convinced my dad to buy a dozen chicks.I wanted 100 but I compromised.After that my love of chickens took off.

Haha, I feel that. I can't believe you got to convince him when you were four. I started wanting chicks when I was about 10-11 years old and begged and begged and made PowerPoints saying why I should have them until my 16th birthday when my parents surprised me.

(again!)

I took an "intro to poultry" class while at the community college. Just then the local feed store happened to have the breeds I wanted...within two years my flock has grown from four to nineteen.

Congratulations on almost finishing with your pre-vet degree! I just graduated in August with a BS in Communications/Psychology and that last summer was both awful and exciting.

Hope you are able to get chickens again soon !

Thank you! That's so awesome-- I feel like if I were in your shoes I'd have done the same. Congrats on your graduating! I'm barely a month away from it being over... apartment search post-grad is hell... if you don't mind my asking, what did you do with your degree?

And thanks! But with the poor state of things economically, it seems it'll be a good while before I have a house of my own... trying not to think about it too much. Ha.

Hi and welcome back! What got me into chickens, hmm. Well, 50 years ago, in my early 20's and young sorta hippie/ "Mother Earth" phase, of course I had to have chickens on my 2-acre homestead, lol! Had no idea what I was doing but I got eggs (from the hens) and the hens survived somehow, in spite of my ignorance. Fast forward to 14 years ago, new home, new DH, new life - and here, ticks are a fact of life! Eeeewwww! Quick, get chickens, survival requires it! And - what's this? There is a website dedicated to chickens and their keepers? Well hey, sign me up! So here I am and my chickens have def benefitted from it! So right now I have 19 females, some pullets, some hens, and one awesome rooster (Rojo el Magnifico, see avatar). DH and I raise a dozen or so CX every year for the freezer and ... well, I guess I'm now an OLD sorta hippie/ Mother Earth type, lol!

Thank you! That sounds wonderful. I hope I'm able to secure a few acres in my early 20's but who knows right now. What's your favorite breed you've had so far?

Shhh... I definitely did not forget to turn on email notifications and reply to the thread I started....

 

[BigBlueHen53]

That sounds wonderful. I hope I'm able to secure a few acres in my early 20's but who knows right now. What's your favorite breed you've had so far

It helped that I was married and I think we both had incomes. My favorite breed was, has always been and probably always will be - Easter Eggers! I do sincerely wish hatcheries and outlets would stop marketing them under misspelled, misleading names that SOUND like "Ameraucana," one of their parent breeds. EEs are a delightful bird in their own right and much cheaper than the parent breed. Beginners are going to make mistakes and have losses, and in my opinion they are better off learning on birds that cost them $3 to $5 per chick rather than $15 to $20. They are generally calm and hardy, good in all weather, good foragers and easy keepers, not broody and good producers of beautiful, colorful eggs. What's not to love?

 

[Cynthia12]

Hi Sean! I remember you. Hope you rember me.
I loved my Grandmother's chickens. So much fun gathering eggs for her.
Years later, and I mean later, I'm living in a neighborhood. Went to a friend's home and I hear chirping. I ask..what? She says, oh, we got some chicks. Come to find out we could have a certain amount of chickens in the back yard. So I did the Back Yard Chickens. Loved hatching too.
Health doesn't permit me to have them now. But, I can hear my neighbor's Chickens doing the egg song. Love it.
Welcome back!