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Owned by Stacy

Flock University

5 members • Free

Chicken hangout. Now with homeschooling classes added in for members!

Community of all levels of EMS licensing helping to figure out what the heck that lecture was about. Keep it nice - this scene is safe.

Memberships

High Vibe Tribe

79.1k members • Free

10 contributions to Flock University
Barred....
There is "barred" and there is "cuckoo". They are two different things, but yet people use "barred" for any loosely stripped bird. For the record, clean even "stripes" of white and black is barred. If the stripes are less defined and give the bird a great appearance, that is cuckoo. Why does this matter? Because when we are buying and selling, knowing your stuff matters. Barring is a "autosex" trait. Truly barred birds can be sexed on day 1. Males have a larger white spot on their head. This is only effective with proper breeding. On the other hand, cuckoo coloration is not a accurate autosex coloration. What do you feel about this topic? Are breeds worth preserving or do you not care what is or is not crossed in your flock(s)?
Barred....
1 like • 2d
@Nisana Miller I use the Egyptian Fayoumi as an example of lots of things in my writings. To the point I think I should start using another breed as an example bc it gets repetitive. Lol
1 like • 2d
@Nisana Miller Yes they are. One of the oldest breeds too. :)
Favorite breed...
What is your favorite breed? I can't narrow it down to one, how about you? For me, heritage American breeds are perfect - but they should be since I live in America.
1 like • 2d
@Nisana Miller My biggest controversy is that I do not like silkies. Sorry! I had a flock of 10 I bought as day olds back in the early 2000s and I never got the first egg, because I gave them away. Not a fan. I love big chill heritage breeds. I don't know if I have one favorite but typically the American heritage dual purpose birds are my favorite.... and then I am snobby about their lineage. #selfadmittedpoultrysnob
0 likes • 2d
@Nisana Miller Yep. There are some I appreciate, but don't really WANT. Lol
IN PERSON CLASS
I know it's a long shot on skool, but if you live near Sweetwater, TN and have school age kids - we are having a "Poultry In The (Duck) Park" class. It is free, but we ask you register so we know who to expect and no one goes away empty handed. Also, we ask that an adult stay in the park for the whole hour. You can be as involved or not involved as you wish, but please be in earshot of the class for the duration of the class. Emailing [email protected] is how to register!
IN PERSON CLASS
1 like • 2d
@Nisana Miller Yeah that is a bit of a drive! Lol maybe one day we can take this sort of thing on the road. We got this idea because we feed the dumped domestic breeds at this park in the winter and as spring comes in, people bring their kids. The kids don't know better and chase the birds, and we find ourselves educating them anyways. This class is just a bit more organized way to do what we already were doing. :)
Virtual Poultry Show
Post your best shots of your best birds here. I wanna see them pretty birds! Let's make it more interesting. I will post a end date in the future but most "liked" picture (all poultry welcome) gets a prize. Im thinking TSC gift card or something. What do yall think?
Virtual Poultry Show
1 like • 3d
@Nisana Miller Turkey poultry sure are cute! I love how they act all big and bad fanning out lol
Choices
I teach as well as have three kids - two flown and one that's a senior. I started raising chickens because my son hatched them in class and now am thinking I love watching the funny breeds getting the eggs, but trying to keep something alive that seriously seems to have a death wish in an area where everything would love to have them for dinner as well as hating cleaning the coops, needing to take water and food out every day (I have large containers too but something is eating the food, our outside hydrant broke so every day it is).... And my coops are a mess. I have two coops one nice walk in one and one large one that you have to hunch over and it's really long, so it's super annoying to clean. I frequently think if someone offered to buy it and the chickens in that one, it would be gone tomorrow. I do care about those chickens - especially my favorites, but ugh. At this point I'm regretting life choices. :) Including teaching middle school and coaching esports which means I never see day light and am then working on chicken stuff in the dark all the time.
0 likes • 6d
Boy do I understand the struggle. When I was just starting out with chickens, I started with 7 Delawares. I had built them a 4x8 coop and a run attached. I think about that coop all the time. For one, my building skills then were 0. I used a 4x8 pallet for the "foundation" and put walls up and a simple slanted roof. The "human door" was just a 4x4 piece of wood that swung open. I remember how I had no clue how big to make the chicken door. I had never seen a full grown chicken outside of the county fair and even then I was a kid last time I did see one. LOL That is crazy to think about now! The coop was inefficient and also a pain to clean. I had to hunker down to scoop bedding out and the perches went left to right the two long walls so half of the coop was REALLY hard to get with a shovel. The run itself was a weak excuse of a fence. It wasn't long before I just left all the doors open all day. They were going to get out anyways. I say all this because that was 20 years ago. In the years inbetween I have struggled with many challenges and there were times that having the chickens actually saved me from hunger. I hate eating eggs, but during the recession, I had to eat eggs a few times. I had eggs to feed my other pets when times were rough. When I had an industrial accident and found myself struggling to just get out of bed, the chickens forced me to do one simple thing twice a day. Now, that said, (lol) I have since moved and my current set up is one where I can leave for a few days and the perches now hinge so I can lift them out of the way, there is autodoors, and real windows I can open and close... much more efficient. So, while I understand the struggle of a bad (or at least imperfect) start, you will have to search your soul if it's worth it to you. That shorter coop can be replaced. You could slowly build one big coop that solves all your problems, bc now you know more of what you want and what you don't. I'm rambling a bit, it happens when I sit at a desk instead of being on my phone. Sorry.
0 likes • 5d
@Karla Andrew I feel you on the cows. I have been wanting some, but my life is busy enough with the chickens and geese. As the ducks went away we stopped replacing them. The quail the same. I like the quail but now I know I do not have the heart to eat them. We had goats in the past, but same there... just not for our life. We are both in healthcare and both teach our specialties in healthcare too. It's just a lot. Of course we have cats and dogs and 2 conures in the house too. LOL! It's a zoo! You talk about your son's class animal... let me tell you. I had frogs growing up, different kinds. I seen a teacher put an ad on fb years ago (like 20 or more now) that she got these two frogs for her class and didn't expect them to live through the year. She was looking to give them away, tank and all. So I took her up on it thinking they had 2 or 3 years tops.... Don't you know I had those frogs for 12 years more! LOL Needless to say, the tank got broke down and put in the barn. No more frogs for me.
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Stacy Tate
2
4points to level up
@stacy-tate-1300
Experienced poultry breeder/keeper, paramedic, teacher, and published author and illustrator. Here we hope to bring all that experience together.

Active 2d ago
Joined Jul 19, 2025
INTP
Tennessee, USA