Full Transcript for Backyard Chickens 101: What to Know Before Starting Your Flock | Nikki Husted, @purelychickens (Bonus Episode)

five-star rating or to write a review. 01:47.152 --> 01:51.354 [SPEAKER_00]: I especially love to hear who your favorite guest has been, or how the podcast has been impactful to you. 01:52.074 --> 01:57.036 [SPEAKER_00]: And if today's conversation brings someone to mind who also might benefit from hearing from it, I'd encourage you to pass it along. 01:57.516 --> 02:01.058 [SPEAKER_00]: These are such simple ways to support the show and they truly make a huge difference. 02:01.318 --> 02:11.026 [SPEAKER_00]: And as always, I know there's so much content to be consuming these days, so the fact that you continue to choose to spend some of your time here listening to these conversations week after week, genuinely means so much to me. 02:11.686 --> 02:15.309 [SPEAKER_00]: So thank you, thank you for being here and for taking the time to leave those rating and reviews. 02:16.470 --> 02:19.953 [SPEAKER_00]: And with that, let's get into this conversation with my guest, Nikki Husted. 02:24.637 --> 02:26.859 [SPEAKER_00]: Nikki, I'm so thrilled to have you here. 02:27.059 --> 02:28.180 [SPEAKER_00]: Why don't you tell me a little bit more? 02:28.280 --> 02:28.921 [SPEAKER_00]: How did your 02:31.219 --> 02:39.321 [SPEAKER_01]: So I started patching chicken eggs in my kindergarten classroom over about 20 years ago now having speed fell very old. 02:39.661 --> 02:48.183 [SPEAKER_01]: But I just became obsessed with chickens with 20 years ago and have that stop it and you guys have to patch chickens every single year since. 02:49.103 --> 02:52.463 [SPEAKER_01]: And I was kind of bored during the pandemic. 02:52.723 --> 02:54.724 [SPEAKER_01]: I decided to stay home with my kids at that time. 02:55.264 --> 02:56.904 [SPEAKER_01]: And so we're stuck at home nothing 03:00.345 --> 03:02.932 [SPEAKER_01]: post a video of my chicken coop. 03:03.745 --> 03:05.587 [SPEAKER_01]: and I don't even know why. 03:06.307 --> 03:11.932 [SPEAKER_01]: I didn't even want to be somebody on social media, but I just kind of wanted to post the coup and share it and whatever. 03:12.453 --> 03:13.674 [SPEAKER_01]: And it went viral. 03:13.914 --> 03:15.595 [SPEAKER_01]: And then I just didn't stop posting. 03:15.635 --> 03:21.140 [SPEAKER_01]: I just kept answering questions and teaching people about chickens and it gave me a way to still educate. 03:21.160 --> 03:23.382 [SPEAKER_01]: I've got my master's in education. 03:23.442 --> 03:26.044 [SPEAKER_01]: So the core of what I do is education. 03:26.204 --> 03:29.868 [SPEAKER_01]: And I'm not in a classroom anymore, but I'm just educating in a different way. 03:30.792 --> 03:47.960 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, well name curious you said you became obsessed with chickens and I think that there is quite a bit of interest in backyard chicken keeping right now it continues to grow so what is it maybe not just for yourself, but what is it about the greater public that is just so interested in these animals right now. 03:48.919 --> 04:01.805 [SPEAKER_01]: I think people are making, at least when I'm saying, I'm making a shift back to the simplicity of life, being able to have food in your backyard, starting a garden, having chickens for eggs. 04:02.466 --> 04:04.487 [SPEAKER_01]: And I think it kind of goes up and down. 04:04.967 --> 04:06.488 [SPEAKER_01]: It depends on what's going on in the world. 04:06.768 --> 04:10.330 [SPEAKER_01]: But during the pandemic, a lot of people were getting chickens because we were all stuck at home. 04:10.370 --> 04:12.210 [SPEAKER_01]: And we were all just looking for things to do. 04:12.270 --> 04:13.091 [SPEAKER_01]: So people work with. 04:13.671 --> 04:15.733 [SPEAKER_01]: getting chickens because they're like, well, what else am I going to do? 04:16.114 --> 04:21.299 [SPEAKER_01]: I think now people are with the economy and everything else people are just looking for more simple way of life. 04:21.499 --> 04:22.480 [SPEAKER_01]: It just gets crazy. 04:22.940 --> 04:32.409 [SPEAKER_01]: We have AI everywhere in technology, everywhere you turn and you're tapping to pay every store and chickens kind of bring us back to that simple way of living. 04:32.429 --> 04:37.955 [SPEAKER_01]: And I think that really resonates with people and it's something that we're craving that we don't even know about sometimes. 04:38.897 --> 05:01.130 [SPEAKER_00]: Yes, and I'm sure that people are wondering here at the beginning why I'm talking about chickens today on an intentional living podcast and I would just say exactly what you just said it brings us back to this analog lay for doing things with our hands obviously not everyone is going to be able to opt into having their own chickens, but would you say it's probably more accessible than we think it is. 05:01.718 --> 05:02.238 [SPEAKER_01]: I think so. 05:02.558 --> 05:04.739 [SPEAKER_01]: For sure, you can have chickens almost anywhere. 05:05.220 --> 05:07.681 [SPEAKER_01]: Obviously, there's a lot of city regulations and things like that. 05:07.781 --> 05:13.383 [SPEAKER_01]: But you'd be surprised if you look into it that you can keep us even a small amount of chickens in your backyard. 05:13.903 --> 05:15.604 [SPEAKER_01]: It's a very doable thing to do. 05:16.184 --> 05:17.065 [SPEAKER_00]: No, absolutely. 05:17.445 --> 05:23.608 [SPEAKER_00]: So starting here, what would you say that people most often misunderstand about keeping chickens? 05:24.425 --> 05:26.367 [SPEAKER_01]: There's a million ways to keep chickens, right? 05:26.387 --> 05:28.368 [SPEAKER_01]: You can use different betting. 05:28.408 --> 05:30.090 [SPEAKER_01]: You can set your coop out differently. 05:30.110 --> 05:32.192 [SPEAKER_01]: You can treat them differently. 05:32.312 --> 05:38.277 [SPEAKER_01]: But I think the thing I near most often is people are surprised by how attached they get to their chickens. 05:38.998 --> 05:43.882 [SPEAKER_01]: I think we, as a society, kind of view chickens as like they're just chickens. 05:44.102

--> 05:45.182 [SPEAKER_01]: You know, they're, they're just chickens. 05:45.262 --> 05:47.703 [SPEAKER_01]: I lay eggs and then we eat them and then that's the end of it. 05:48.163 --> 05:58.947 [SPEAKER_01]: But when you get them in your home, they kind of become pets for a lot of people and they get names and they spoil them and they really care about their health and their happiness and all that kind of stuff. 05:58.967 --> 06:00.248 [SPEAKER_01]: So really surprises people. 06:00.808 --> 06:04.952 [SPEAKER_01]: how attached they get and how they can kind of be like an emotional support animal. 06:05.032 --> 06:11.798 [SPEAKER_01]: And I know that sounds crazy, if you've never had chicken before, if there's listeners out there like emotional support chickens, what does she's talking about? 06:12.139 --> 06:17.544 [SPEAKER_01]: But really like they do help calm the nervous system, just sitting with your chickens and being with them. 06:17.724 --> 06:21.528 [SPEAKER_01]: It's really life changing for a lot of people, and I think that is the biggest surprise. 06:24.328 --> 06:25.388 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, absolutely. 06:25.408 --> 06:30.751 [SPEAKER_00]: I read a book several years ago before I even had friends that owned chickens. 06:31.331 --> 06:33.512 [SPEAKER_00]: And it was called Once Upon a Flock, are you familiar? 06:33.932 --> 06:34.933 [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, no, I've never heard of that one. 06:35.393 --> 06:40.475 [SPEAKER_00]: I highly recommend it's so charming and sweet and it's just moments memoir about getting chickens. 06:40.635 --> 06:43.777 [SPEAKER_00]: Anyways, all that to say, she did exactly what you're saying. 06:43.897 --> 06:45.077 [SPEAKER_00]: She became so attached to them. 06:45.097 --> 06:47.919 [SPEAKER_00]: And I definitely see that with some of my friends more than others. 06:48.499 --> 06:50.280 [SPEAKER_00]: But at the same time, 06:51.300 --> 06:54.742 [SPEAKER_00]: I just think that there is just so much benefit in keeping them. 06:54.802 --> 06:58.625 [SPEAKER_00]: So outside, like, I guess I'm specifically speaking to the eggs. 06:58.765 --> 07:00.526 [SPEAKER_00]: I guess you can raise chickens for me as well. 07:00.966 --> 07:04.809 [SPEAKER_00]: But do you see the mental health benefits, like you said, sitting with your chickens as well? 07:05.249 --> 07:07.170 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so we don't eat our chickens. 07:07.330 --> 07:12.834 [SPEAKER_01]: I think that's, if somebody is going to raise chickens for me, that's a really respectful way to get your meat. 07:13.034 --> 07:15.415 [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, you know, and how we're kind of like they had and you can treat them well. 07:16.976 --> 07:21.060 [SPEAKER_01]: originally when I got chickens, it was just because we wanted the fresh eggs in our backyard. 07:21.260 --> 07:29.987 [SPEAKER_01]: Of course, we have children, so it was a great way for our kids to learn about animals and caring for them and the cycle of our food and all of that. 07:30.548 --> 07:33.610 [SPEAKER_01]: And then emotional benefits were just like a little bonus for our family. 07:34.231 --> 07:37.974 [SPEAKER_01]: But yeah, I think the eggs are a great reason to get started with chickens. 07:38.454 --> 07:42.077 [SPEAKER_01]: I think you'll find that they provide other aspects as far as 07:42.978 --> 07:54.140 [SPEAKER_01]: Not just like the emotional side of it, but also with composting and taking your food scraps and getting them out of the landfill and giving them to your chickens and just a whole cycle of what goes on in your backyard. 07:58.483 --> 08:01.345 [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, so now I want to talk about some of the practicals in your book. 08:01.385 --> 08:14.011 [SPEAKER_00]: You cover everything from early health signs, predator protection, nutrition, first aid, but I'm wondering what are common preventable flock issues that you see just by making small little shifts? 08:14.071 --> 08:14.932 [SPEAKER_00]: What can we prevent? 08:15.737 --> 08:26.864 [SPEAKER_01]: There's a lot of common things of backyard chickens that you're really not going to be able to avoid forever, such as mites, chickens are going to probably going to get mites in life sometime along the way. 08:26.884 --> 08:29.245 [SPEAKER_01]: But it seems scary, but simple to deal with. 08:30.026 --> 08:36.210 [SPEAKER_01]: You can make adjustments with their restatory health, but just find a way you set up their coop. 08:36.230 --> 08:44.075 [SPEAKER_01]: So having really great ventilation, having a good system for getting rid of the manure that is inside their coop because when they sleep at night, 08:44.931 --> 08:47.813 [SPEAKER_01]: they do poop on the shelf, they do poop on the floor. 08:48.193 --> 08:49.534 [SPEAKER_01]: They're very messy, little animals. 08:49.874 --> 08:59.520 [SPEAKER_01]: But if you have a good system to clean that up, it really helps with their respiratory health, and you'll see maybe never see a respiratory illness with your chickens or you'll see a lot less issue with that. 08:59.580 --> 09:03.382 [SPEAKER_01]: So that's something really simple, roosting bars where they sleep at night. 09:03.782 --> 09:09.426 [SPEAKER_01]: I tell people to keep them as low as you can because if they're heavy, have your breed chickens and they're jumping down. 09:09.906 --> 09:12.427 [SPEAKER_01]: Even if you have a ham, you're gonna have chickens who are afraid of the ham, 09:13.588 --> 09:15.529 [SPEAKER_01]: They can get injuries to the bottom of their foot. 09:15.689 --> 09:19.230 [SPEAKER_01]: They can get something called bumblefoot, which is like an infection of the foot pad. 09:19.670 --> 09:26.492 [SPEAKER_01]: So just little simple setups like that really help get rid of all the little minor things that you might not have to deal with. 09:26.792 --> 09:28.752 [SPEAKER_01]: Also, predator-proofing the tube. 09:29.273 --> 09:34.634 [SPEAKER_01]: And the run, keeping everything safe from those predators, helps keep your tickets alive longer.

09:35.134 --> 09:37.155 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm curious to know how many chickens do you have? 09:37.672 --> 09:43.177 [SPEAKER_01]: I have a lot of chickens right now, not a recommended number of chickens for the average back there. 09:43.197 --> 09:45.219 [SPEAKER_01]: I check and keep her if you just want to break the eggs. 09:45.559 --> 09:47.561 [SPEAKER_01]: I think a really good number is like six to 10. 09:47.721 --> 09:49.083 [SPEAKER_01]: That's a really manageable number. 09:49.523 --> 09:55.649 [SPEAKER_01]: I have between like 80 and 90 right now in my house and I have three separate chicken cooks. 09:56.069 --> 10:01.174 [SPEAKER_01]: So I have a lot at my house, but this is also my full-time job, so it makes sense for me to have a lot of chickens. 10:01.874 --> 10:08.962 [SPEAKER_00]: obviously you have an abundance of chickens and so I am curious to how you keep them healthy and all working together. 10:08.982 --> 10:14.968 [SPEAKER_00]: Again, I really don't know too much about chicken, so you're really you're having to dumb it down for me and probably a lot of my listeners. 10:15.789 --> 10:17.951 [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, so healthy chickens. 10:18.552 --> 10:19.232 [SPEAKER_00]: They look like 10:20.280 --> 10:21.941 [SPEAKER_01]: birds with really pretty feathers. 10:22.221 --> 10:30.907 [SPEAKER_01]: Okay, you know, if you have an unhealthy flock that, you know, the where the chickens are unhappy or if they have parasites, there's going to be more pecking at each other. 10:30.967 --> 10:32.368 [SPEAKER_01]: They're going to have full spots. 10:32.388 --> 10:33.608 [SPEAKER_01]: They're going to have broken feathers. 10:34.109 --> 10:34.889 [SPEAKER_01]: That's not ideal. 10:35.029 --> 10:35.970 [SPEAKER_01]: So when I see that, 10:36.450 --> 11:06.117 [SPEAKER_01]: I think okay something has to change here either they don't have enough space or they haven't been integrated with each other correctly or maybe they have nicer lights like something like that's bothering them their nutrition might be off so I feed them a nutritionally complete diet and I make sure that they don't have parasites and that just is monthly monitoring so I pick up my chickens and I take their feathers and I look for those bugs I also deworm them to make sure they're not getting any internal parasites. 11:06.777 --> 11:14.378 [SPEAKER_01]: Just a lot of health checks to make sure everybody is healthy, observing their age laying. 11:14.578 --> 11:16.759 [SPEAKER_01]: I kind of keep track of who's laying eggs. 11:17.359 --> 11:23.100 [SPEAKER_01]: I know pretty much each egg I know who belongs to because I have a lot of different colored layers. 11:23.540 --> 11:25.420 [SPEAKER_01]: They all have different patterns on their eggs. 11:25.460 --> 11:28.761 [SPEAKER_01]: So I can kind of keep a mental note of who's laying eggs. 11:28.841 --> 11:33.642 [SPEAKER_01]: If they stop laying eggs, I want to investigate and see what might be going on with that particular chicken. 11:34.778 --> 11:41.073 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so just chickens that don't they don't pick on each other if they're picking on each other something's wrong and if they don't look great something's wrong. 11:45.537 --> 11:47.397 [SPEAKER_00]: a few questions that are coming to mind here. 11:47.457 --> 11:50.838 [SPEAKER_00]: We're getting ready to move into the winter months here in Ohio. 11:51.478 --> 11:54.159 [SPEAKER_00]: And one of my closest friends in the my cousin both have chickens. 11:54.539 --> 11:59.620 [SPEAKER_00]: And I always feel like it's the coldest days of the year and the hottest days of the year that caused them the most angst. 12:00.060 --> 12:04.961 [SPEAKER_00]: So I'm wondering how to prep our coop for the winter months and then we'll go into summer. 12:04.981 --> 12:05.721 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. 12:06.101 --> 12:07.201 [SPEAKER_01]: So I also live in Ohio. 12:07.221 --> 12:09.982 [SPEAKER_01]: So we are obviously very similar, exact weather. 12:11.122 --> 12:12.262 [SPEAKER_00]: Wait, are you in Cincinnati? 12:12.843 --> 12:13.343 [SPEAKER_01]: No, I'm not. 12:13.363 --> 12:15.424 [SPEAKER_01]: I'm in Northeast Ohio, kind of closer to acting. 12:15.945 --> 12:16.525 [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, okay. 12:16.645 --> 12:17.085 [SPEAKER_00]: Awesome. 12:17.165 --> 12:18.426 [SPEAKER_00]: I did not know you were in Ohio. 12:18.486 --> 12:18.706 [SPEAKER_00]: Okay. 12:18.786 --> 12:19.046 [SPEAKER_00]: Awesome. 12:19.066 --> 12:21.247 [SPEAKER_00]: So yes, you, you have all the insight here. 12:21.688 --> 12:21.888 [SPEAKER_01]: Yes. 12:22.608 --> 12:27.831 [SPEAKER_01]: So winter months, I keep my chickens protected from the elements. 12:27.991 --> 12:32.053 [SPEAKER_01]: So we have a roof on our chicken run to keep the cell and the rain from hitting them. 12:32.553 --> 12:35.214 [SPEAKER_01]: And then I wrapped the outside in plastic. 12:35.254 --> 12:41.135 [SPEAKER_01]: You can use like painters plastic or I've kind of upgraded over the years to plastic roofing panels. 12:41.455 --> 12:47.196 [SPEAKER_01]: No, a little bit more expensive, but I can save them every year versus the painters' plastic role that gets torn up and stuff. 12:47.637 --> 12:49.297 [SPEAKER_01]: So I just screw that on the outside. 12:49.617 --> 12:53.318 [SPEAKER_01]: I leave a good chunk of ventilation at the top, so air flow can still get in. 12:53.718 --> 12:55.498 [SPEAKER_01]: But that just keeps the wind off the chickens. 12:55.938 --> 13:01.360 [SPEAKER_01]: If they are dry and draft free, they're usually just fine, especially in Ohio weather. 13:03.061 --> 13:08.266 [SPEAKER_01]: of the down so you want to make sure that they're protected and they have the option to stay dry if needed. 13:08.306 --> 13:19.517 [SPEAKER_01]: A lot of people free-range their chickens and they don't have a protected chicken run and in that case you want to make sure your coop's big enough that they decide they don't want to go out in the weather that day that they can

all stay inside and still have enough airflow and all that. 13:21.059 --> 13:23.962 [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, and then on the flip side, what about summer? 13:25.720 --> 13:26.000 [SPEAKER_01]: summer. 13:26.060 --> 13:28.721 [SPEAKER_01]: I always tell people when you're deciding where to put your coupe. 13:29.201 --> 13:32.442 [SPEAKER_01]: If you get hot summers to put it in the shade, if you can. 13:32.882 --> 13:36.983 [SPEAKER_01]: And that's the best way to keep the chickens cool is to make sure they have shade. 13:37.503 --> 13:40.884 [SPEAKER_01]: So if you don't have that option, putting a covered round with a room 13:45.005 --> 13:56.892 [SPEAKER_01]: Just to kind of give them a break from the sun and just from being a human when you're standing in the sun on a 95 degree day versus standing in the shade completely different experience chickens also need that perfection from the side. 13:57.172 --> 14:04.056 [SPEAKER_01]: And then as you don't have a lot of airflow putting some big box fans on the outside is to kind of make that your flow is really helpful. 14:04.456 --> 14:11.540 [SPEAKER_01]: I have solar bands in my coop that pool hot air out and some that push air into the windows that helps kind of keep things. 14:12.220 --> 14:16.410 [SPEAKER_01]: Okay, but then I also have water fresh water obviously all day long. 14:16.430 --> 14:18.916 [SPEAKER_01]: We're making sure that the business to that is going to be important too. 14:20.095 --> 14:20.855 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, absolutely. 14:20.915 --> 14:24.896 [SPEAKER_00]: I think my cousin was doing frozen water melon for them to cool down. 14:25.596 --> 14:27.757 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know if those little tips work. 14:27.797 --> 14:29.297 [SPEAKER_01]: There's mixed reviews on that. 14:29.337 --> 14:33.179 [SPEAKER_01]: Mix science on that, if it actually does anything, it's a nice treat for your chickens. 14:33.199 --> 14:34.039 [SPEAKER_01]: They love watermelon. 14:34.279 --> 14:39.900 [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, so obviously I talk about simplifying before adding something new to our lives. 14:40.200 --> 14:47.062 [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm curious to know what you would say the Emily should understand or maybe prepare for before bringing home their first chicken. 14:50.103 --> 14:55.246 [SPEAKER_01]: a lot of different ways to keep chickens and you have to just really find a system that's going to work for you. 14:55.886 --> 15:11.714 [SPEAKER_01]: There's something called deep litter where you just let the dropping pile up in the coop and you put fresh litter on top of it and it kind of compost underneath the chickens and then maybe two or three times a year you do a huge clean out but there's also ways to do it which is what I prefer which is 15:12.154 --> 15:26.014 [SPEAKER_01]: having a shelf underneath the roosting bars and I go out and I straight it off every morning, there's no flies, there's no ammonia, there's no smell, it's just easier for me than a dupe heavy cleanouts and like to do little ones along the way, but if that's that view, 15:27.096 --> 15:29.418 [SPEAKER_01]: go for the one that you have less maintenance for. 15:29.498 --> 15:33.201 [SPEAKER_01]: And you're going to find a million people out there telling you how to keep chickens. 15:33.241 --> 15:42.029 [SPEAKER_01]: And you really just happen to think, is that going to work for my lifestyle, because you don't want to find what you've followed somebody who does it in a way that you can't keep up with. 15:42.549 --> 15:46.433 [SPEAKER_01]: And then, well, you're down the road, you're getting rid of your chickens because it just doesn't work for you. 15:46.513 --> 15:52.118 [SPEAKER_01]: So, really just think about not just looks good for the chickens, but also what fits in to your life. 15:54.342 --> 15:57.883 [SPEAKER_00]: Realistically, what is the daily time commitment for your chickens? 16:00.283 --> 16:01.364 [SPEAKER_01]: Not a lot, actually. 16:01.444 --> 16:13.227 [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, for me, I'm out there all the time, because I'm recording videos such as showing people how to do it, but letting them out in the morning, let them out in the morning, make sure they have food and water, collect their eggs, and that's pretty much it. 16:13.347 --> 16:14.647 [SPEAKER_01]: Like, that's really all you have to do. 16:15.347 --> 16:22.069 [SPEAKER_01]: My kids do a lot of those chores for me, so not even 11 a year old and then nine year old, so perfect age, you know, go check on the chickens, 16:23.609 --> 16:24.971 [SPEAKER_01]: But other than that, that's really it. 16:25.571 --> 16:33.020 [SPEAKER_01]: I do the daily or every other day, or even just weekly clean-outs, where I just do the like cleaning that 60 about five minutes to do. 16:33.741 --> 16:39.207 [SPEAKER_01]: And then other than that, it's just, I like to spend time with my chicken, so other than that, there's not really much to do. 16:40.458 --> 16:55.465 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I'm glad you mentioned that your kids help with some of these tasks and I'm wondering how else the chickens have been a benefit to your kids and just why you would encourage people that maybe that might be a good reason to opt into getting chickens. 16:56.155 --> 16:59.016 [SPEAKER_01]: So I have two boys, and they've always been around chickens. 16:59.477 --> 17:06.300 [SPEAKER_01]: They helped care for them, they helped name them, they spent time with them, and chickens don't live that long. 17:06.600 --> 17:13.304 [SPEAKER_01]: So they have had to deal with losing their favorite chicken and their death or other chicken that they liked. 17:13.404 --> 17:15.505 [SPEAKER_01]: And that intersection helped, I think, then become, 17:16.445 --> 17:26.776 [SPEAKER_01]: One, it used to the process of life and death, they haven't had any really the human losses in their life that they remember, so that's really the only loss that they're dealing with. 17:26.817 --> 17:29.680 [SPEAKER_01]: So I think that's helpful because we can

talk about that together. 17:29.700 --> 17:31.041 [SPEAKER_01]: It is a chicken. 17:31.081 --> 17:34.124 [SPEAKER_01]: It's not a grandma or a friend or something like that. 17:34.164 --> 17:34.445 [SPEAKER_01]: So it's. 17:34.845 --> 17:37.426 [SPEAKER_01]: It's a little bit easier of a pillow for them to swallow. 17:37.906 --> 17:44.628 [SPEAKER_01]: Also just seeing the chickens, we get them as chicks usually so they hold them and they care for them and they help with them. 17:45.048 --> 17:56.411 [SPEAKER_01]: And so they have become extremely empathetic humans and they are not just empathetic with animals but with their friends and their teachers and their family members and their cousins, things like that. 17:56.431 --> 17:58.832 [SPEAKER_01]: So I really see that benefit with my kids. 17:59.568 --> 18:16.206 [SPEAKER_00]: yeah i think it's a great way for them to get that hands-on experience like you said without you having to be responsible for everything not to say that you only get it to outsource it all to the kids but it shows the life cycles like you said of this is i don't know i know for my friend that has lost chickens like they have like 18:16.686 --> 18:18.347 [SPEAKER_00]: little ceremonies for their kit chickens. 18:18.387 --> 18:19.367 [SPEAKER_00]: Again, I'm curious. 18:19.707 --> 18:21.087 [SPEAKER_00]: We're having 80 or 90 chickens. 18:21.107 --> 18:23.008 [SPEAKER_00]: Do you feel a little bit more detached from them? 18:23.068 --> 18:26.689 [SPEAKER_00]: Or do you feel like equally attached even if you had a smaller number? 18:27.509 --> 18:30.530 [SPEAKER_00]: No, I I feel equally attached, I think. 18:30.590 --> 18:37.912 [SPEAKER_01]: I now my husband on the other hand, you know, I'll say, oh my gosh, like Dorian Scott out of the fence today, and he's like who's Dorian? 18:38.292 --> 18:42.193 [SPEAKER_01]: He's not at the tactics to them as I eat them, but I spend a lot of time with mine, so 18:43.073 --> 18:55.182 [SPEAKER_01]: I think a normal person who worked to nine to five or was busy homeschooling or doing other things during the day might not be as attached but like I said, I'm out there all day every day spending time with them. 18:55.202 --> 18:58.585 [SPEAKER_01]: So I am still attached to all them names all 90 of them. 18:59.726 --> 19:00.827 [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, my word, that's crazy. 19:00.847 --> 19:01.928 [SPEAKER_00]: You can remember all of that. 19:02.288 --> 19:03.769 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, my friend, she, again, sorry. 19:03.789 --> 19:08.452 [SPEAKER_00]: I could keep going back to her, but she almost lost her favorite chicken to her dog. 19:08.912 --> 19:23.442 [SPEAKER_00]: The chicken feathers were all pulled out from the backside and she ended up there growing back and she's doing okay, but I wanted to make sure we talked about predators before I wrap up because that could be, again, you put all this effort and time into it and then you lose half your flock or all your flock. 19:23.687 --> 19:33.536 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, and I'm sure this sent a lot of time on that in my book because I want people to be aware of every creditor that could possibly come through to see your chickens. 19:34.057 --> 19:37.520 [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, we've had everything from clocks, raccoons, minks. 19:38.020 --> 19:43.305 [SPEAKER_01]: We had some people a few miles away, their dogs got loose and they killed a few of my chickens. 19:43.325 --> 19:44.827 [SPEAKER_01]: Like, it could be anything. 19:45.247 --> 19:55.112 [SPEAKER_01]: we don't have bears or wolves or things like that in Ohio, but I did share about how to keep them out of your coop too, because it is, it is like the biggest threat to your chickens. 19:55.333 --> 19:56.853 [SPEAKER_01]: It's not illness. 19:57.174 --> 19:58.594 [SPEAKER_01]: It's not other things. 19:58.634 --> 20:01.276 [SPEAKER_01]: It's mostly credit-earned, so they're going to be the biggest threat to your coop. 20:01.296 --> 20:04.478 [SPEAKER_01]: So making a good set up in the beginning is key. 20:04.978 --> 20:10.581 [SPEAKER_01]: And a lot of those pre-fab coop soups you find online that are super affordable are not going to keep creditors out. 20:13.069 --> 20:17.171 [SPEAKER_00]: I've heard that you can dig down so that the critters can't burrow and come up into your coop. 20:17.431 --> 20:32.837 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, yeah, we use the hard bird plots, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes, 20:33.437 --> 20:35.639 [SPEAKER_01]: pushed up against a shed, which things like to live under. 20:36.119 --> 20:38.561 [SPEAKER_01]: So yeah, we use hard work cloth everywhere. 20:38.701 --> 20:44.266 [SPEAKER_01]: I've never said a predator break into my rot, my chicken run, except one time I lost the door open. 20:44.286 --> 20:46.548 [SPEAKER_01]: And I was a raccoon in there, but it didn't get. 20:48.663 --> 20:49.263 [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, good. 20:49.463 --> 20:49.844 [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, good. 20:50.644 --> 20:56.386 [SPEAKER_00]: In your book, you talked about some of the predators, but it's not so much for the chickens, but grabbing their eggs instead. 20:56.406 --> 20:59.387 [SPEAKER_01]: Yep, some things like some things are just better after eggs. 20:59.507 --> 21:03.949 [SPEAKER_01]: Well, usually like, a possum or snakes, they're just, they just want eggs. 21:04.429 --> 21:08.631 [SPEAKER_01]: So for the most part, they're kind of harmless, but obviously you don't want them hanging out in your coop. 21:08.651 --> 21:08.831 [SPEAKER_01]: So, 21:10.127

--> 21:11.148 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, no for sure. 21:11.168 --> 21:18.558 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, as you're up up here for the listener hearing this conversation, they think, okay, maybe I could actually do this, maybe I could keep back here at chickens. 21:18.938 --> 21:21.842 [SPEAKER_00]: What would you tell her to do first before even buying a chicken? 21:22.243 --> 21:23.604 [SPEAKER_00]: I would say, essentially, self-abudging. 21:24.640 --> 21:36.868 [SPEAKER_01]: and either build or source a builder to build you a coop, try to avoid starting with those pre-fab coop that you can because they really just are not gonna hold up over the years. 21:37.208 --> 21:40.450 [SPEAKER_01]: The weather itself will break down those coop over like two years time. 21:41.131 --> 21:44.953 [SPEAKER_01]: So if you can start with something that's built from an actual wood, that's your best bet. 21:44.973 --> 21:50.677 [SPEAKER_01]: So don't jump into it, but don't go to the farm and supply store, grab a bunch of chicks and worry about the coop later. 21:50.737 --> 21:52.178 [SPEAKER_01]: I would say, start with the coop, 21:52.993 --> 21:56.536 [SPEAKER_01]: figure out your budget, see how many can fit in there, and then jump in with the shakes. 21:57.997 --> 21:58.958 [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, that's great advice. 21:59.478 --> 22:05.223 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, Nicky, as we wrap things up here, I will let you tell the listeners where they connect, and then I have two rapid fire questions to end on. 22:05.263 --> 22:07.745 [SPEAKER_00]: So where can listeners connect with you and grab a copy of your new book? 22:10.712 --> 22:13.315 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so I am active on social media. 22:13.355 --> 22:18.660 [SPEAKER_01]: I'm on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, and my name is Purely Chickens on there on all platforms. 22:19.080 --> 22:22.083 [SPEAKER_01]: You can find me there, my website is Purely Chickens.com. 22:22.604 --> 22:25.186 [SPEAKER_01]: So anywhere you can find me, I'm there. 22:25.947 --> 22:28.570 [SPEAKER_01]: And I answer DMs, mostly on Instagram. 22:28.590 --> 22:30.331 [SPEAKER_00]: So do you need to contact me? 22:30.412 --> 22:31.453 [SPEAKER_00]: That's the best place to do it. 22:32.113 --> 22:34.054 [SPEAKER_01]: My book available for free order. 22:34.115 --> 22:34.995 [SPEAKER_01]: This is my second book. 22:35.035 --> 22:35.535 [SPEAKER_01]: I have two books. 22:35.595 --> 22:37.877 [SPEAKER_01]: My first one is called Chicken Keeping Clear and Simple. 22:38.137 --> 22:39.858 [SPEAKER_01]: It's a great book if you're just getting started. 22:40.319 --> 22:49.044 [SPEAKER_01]: The second book, a healthy mode block, is great if you're looking to rebamp your setup or you can really want to hone in on things that can go wrong with your chickens. 22:49.145 --> 22:49.445 [SPEAKER_01]: A.O.M. 22:50.005 --> 22:52.287 [SPEAKER_01]: nutritional issues, predators, things like that. 22:52.347 --> 22:57.011 [SPEAKER_01]: And you can be able to look through

the book, find bumblefoot, turn to that page, and then I'll tell you what to do. 22:57.471 --> 23:00.373 [SPEAKER_01]: And that book, the one that's out for pre-order, I wrote that. 23:00.453 --> 23:03.416 [SPEAKER_01]: And then I've had my friend, Dr. Blaine Mosinshack. 23:03.916 --> 23:05.037 [SPEAKER_01]: He's the poultry doc. 23:05.277 --> 23:06.899 [SPEAKER_01]: He's on all the platforms too. 23:07.339 --> 23:10.341 [SPEAKER_01]: He has been involved with chicken, science for a long time. 23:11.302 --> 23:12.704 [SPEAKER_01]: and he helped to be review everything. 23:12.764 --> 23:15.626 [SPEAKER_01]: So everything, he wrote the forward in the book. 23:16.007 --> 23:21.572 [SPEAKER_01]: So that's a really great book to have for when troubles arise, and that's available for pre-order anywhere books are found. 23:23.094 --> 23:23.614 [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, great. 23:23.634 --> 23:27.999 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, I'll be sure to include all that in the show notes, and then lastly, as we wrap up here those two rapid fire questions. 23:28.039 --> 23:32.083 [SPEAKER_00]: The first one is, what has been a beneficial resource in your life that you want to share with the listeners? 23:34.776 --> 23:38.378 [SPEAKER_01]: So I'm going to rub chickens and it's definitely the poultry dock. 23:38.599 --> 23:42.261 [SPEAKER_01]: So it's really hard to find poultry veterinarians out there. 23:43.102 --> 23:47.244 [SPEAKER_01]: And he has made an online service so you can do virtual visits with him. 23:47.644 --> 23:51.487 [SPEAKER_01]: Just go to the poultry dock.com and then you can set up a little virtual visit. 23:51.827 --> 23:56.110 [SPEAKER_01]: If you do like the membership, you can use my code purely chickens or a free month. 23:56.570 --> 23:59.792 [SPEAKER_01]: Just to kind of get a feel for it because you're not going to be able to find a poultry 24:00.833 --> 24:09.338 [SPEAKER_01]: most likely in your area and if something goes wrong and it's a chicken that you lot of you might want to utilize that service and his service is very affordable. 24:10.679 --> 24:17.743 [SPEAKER_00]: Okay awesome I'll be sharing including in the show notes and then last question is what is something you can't stop talking about and I'm not going to let you say chickens. 24:21.305 --> 24:22.125 [SPEAKER_00]: What is something? 24:22.866 --> 24:24.167 [SPEAKER_00]: Well that was what I was going to say. 24:26.328 --> 24:27.408 [SPEAKER_01]: What is something that I can't 24:33.178 --> 24:36.601 [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, okay, so I have never been a cat person. 24:37.142 --> 24:39.784 [SPEAKER_01]: So this is gonna be weird for like my family and friends who know me. 24:40.284 --> 24:47.790 [SPEAKER_01]: I started fostering cats over the last year and a half, and I mostly do bottle babies, so I'll get them as babies. 24:47.850 --> 24:53.815 [SPEAKER_01]: I have another platform that's called Purely Kitties that I've been growing just to share my fostered experience. 24:54.541 --> 24:57.084 [SPEAKER_01]: And I'm obsessed with my foster fact. 24:57.445 --> 24:58.366 [SPEAKER_01]: I'm not a tap person. 24:58.406 --> 24:58.967 [SPEAKER_01]: So it's funny. 24:58.987 --> 25:01.330 [SPEAKER_01]: It's like, I'm always thought of myself as a dog person. 25:01.950 --> 25:03.132 [SPEAKER_01]: But I love my foster cats. 25:03.292 --> 25:07.718 [SPEAKER_01]: So I, every time you hit a new litter, I'm always telling my husband, which one can we keep? 25:07.758 --> 25:10.301 [SPEAKER_01]: And he's like, you can't keep all of them because then you can't foster. 25:10.701 --> 25:11.963 [SPEAKER_01]: Like, okay, good point. 25:11.983 --> 25:13.485 [SPEAKER_01]: But this one's orange, I need to keep it. 25:15.009 --> 25:15.970 [SPEAKER_00]: Yes, I know. 25:16.030 --> 25:17.691 [SPEAKER_00]: See, that's why I can't get into any of this. 25:17.791 --> 25:23.736 [SPEAKER_00]: I just, my attachment to the chickens whenever my friend is losing one or going through stress with it. 25:23.756 --> 25:25.478 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm like, I don't know if I can endure that. 25:25.498 --> 25:26.899 [SPEAKER_00]: And the same with the fostering the cats. 25:26.919 --> 25:32.063 [SPEAKER_00]: I thought about getting some barn cats, but I'm like, I don't know if I can keep them out in our shed all winter long. 25:32.083 --> 25:32.403 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know. 25:32.423 --> 25:34.805 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to bring them inside and I'm going to bring the chickens inside. 25:34.885 --> 25:38.608 [SPEAKER_00]: So I think your book helps set it up to be realistic, but they are. 25:46.398 --> 25:46.598 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. 25:46.858 --> 25:47.359 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. 25:47.499 --> 25:49.701 [SPEAKER_01]: I do have barren tasks by the way, and I have the door cat. 25:50.241 --> 25:51.963 [SPEAKER_01]: My barren cats don't want to come in the house. 25:52.103 --> 25:53.224 [SPEAKER_01]: They would much rather. 25:53.244 --> 25:57.427 [SPEAKER_01]: I did get them as sparrow, kittens that were like lost in the woods. 25:57.487 --> 25:59.489 [SPEAKER_01]: So if you get them feral, they don't. 25:59.809 --> 26:01.611 [SPEAKER_01]: I've lifetime a lot of them come in, but they don't want it. 26:01.671 --> 26:03.352 [SPEAKER_01]: They're like, no, we rather not thank you. 26:04.553 --> 26:04.954 [SPEAKER_00]: Sure. 26:04.974 --> 26:05.074 [SPEAKER_00]: Sure. 26:05.414 --> 26:07.275 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, no, this was so great. 26:07.416 --> 26:11.639 [SPEAKER_00]: Again, I'm sorry for the connection being a little bit delay, but I think you gave listeners a lot to think about. 26:11.659 --> 26:13.481 [SPEAKER_00]: So so much thank you so much for joining me. 26:15.558 --> 26:18.074 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, thank you so much for having me day and it was really good talk to you.