CityChick's Chicken keeper spotlight!

You've heard of chicken math, right? That's when you get a couple of chickens and then those couple of chickens turn into more chickens. Today, we are spotlighting a chicken keeper that started with two chickens and then moved out to the country so he could have a full scale farm complete with rescue ponies, goats, and a beautiful pair of pot bellied pigs! 

I got started with chickens as a pandemic project. I love breakfast foods, and went to the grocery store and they didn't have any eggs so I thought I'd get started with chickens. I went out and found a small coop and started to look for chickens online. I purchased two chickens from a farm that ended up not laying any eggs for three months! That's when I found another farm that sold me three healthy Buff Orpington pullets. That's when I discovered about different chickens laying different colored eggs so I needed to get some more chickens. The rest is history. 

                                                (Reec showing off some beautiful colored eggs from his ladies.)

What has surprised you the most about having chickens? 
My chickens can really change a bad day. There have been a few days when I'm feeling frustrated and I'll come back and sit with the chickens and feed them. When you see a chicken run at you when you hold out a bag of treats, you'll have a better day, guaranteed.  

You have schools that will come out to your farm and learn about the animals. Can you tell us a little more about that?
Prior to the farm, we started a non-profit called the "Positive American Youth" program. We work on a variety of programs like anti-bullying, literacy, exercise, filling up bookbags for kids with school supplies, among other things. Now we offer visits to the farm so kids can learn all about farm animals that they can see in person. You can't put a price on how much that kids light up when they see and interact with the animals. 

                                               (One of the rescue goats that kids can interact with on a visit)

What advice when you give to someone that is thinking about getting backyard chickens? Always know your city ordinances! Your local HOA can be one of the worst predators that you'll deal with. You'll need to have the right type of coop and run that works best for you but you'll need to make sure that coop and run are predator proof. Have a backup plan in place in case that the chickens don't work out.

          (Reec in front of his beautiful coop!)

We have a livestock guardian dog as well as security cameras. I will receive an alert on my phone when there's motion at the coop. We have motion sensor lights that will turn on anytime if the sensor detects something moving around the coop to help scare away raccoons. We also have a fake owl on top of the coop that we move around to help scare off the owls. 

                                                 (One of the chickens enjoying some CityChick DoGood Grubs)

I love my automatic door. It allows my chickens to go out and free range in the morning so I don't have to get up early and let them out. 

Due to chicken math, you now have a beautiful pair of rescue pot bellied pigs! What has surprised you the most about keeping pigs?
I was surprised at how clean they are! They really are the cleanest animals that we have on the farm.

                                                (Wesley H. Swine - one of two pot bellied pigs on the farm)
For a tour of Reec's coop and to see some of his other farm critters, click on the link below:

                                      
Thank you for sharing some of your chicken knowledge! Where can people find you if they want to learn more about you and the awesome things you are doing over at Blackyard Chickenz?
You can find us at:
https://blackyardchickenz.com
Facebook.com/blackyardchickenz
Instagram.com/blackyardchickenz
@blackyardchickens on TikTok
Twitter.com/blackyardchickenz


Know of someone that keeps chickens in Atlanta that would like to be featured? Let us know at email@CityChickAtl.com! We're always looking for great chicken keepers!