Happy 6th Birthday Bitchin’ Chickens

The sixth anniversary of Bitchin’ Chickens is looming. For the first four years I marked its birthday with a post listing some of my most popular posts, offering my reflections, feedback from followers and where I wanted to go moving forward.

Last year I skipped the celebration, opting instead to write a slightly earlier post to mark hitting one million views. By the time my fifth anniversary rolled around I had just come off five of my best months. It felt like I was riding a bit of a wave of a growing readership. The much hoped for trajectory over time is, of course, to get bigger. And then something unexpected happened. I was still plugging away and posting as usual but my numbers softened, then took a decided nosedive. Last year was starting to rival my numbers from four year previous. My blog is so much an expression of who I am, my baby, that it’s hard not to take that lack of support personally.

I wondered why things had changed. I don’t understand the worldwide web and algorithms. Why do some folks get a disproportionate amount of attention regardless of their merit? I scaled back a bit to take some time to focus on other parts of my life (I still work full-time, have a partner, house, garden and, of course, a flock of chickens).

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From the start I’ve always tried to explore and write about topics that interest me and that folks might not see on most chicken blogs. Someone recently made this comment on my article titled ‘Chicken Obituaries & Eulogies‘: “This website is weird as f-ck.”

My response was: “I actually take that as a compliment. I don’t want to be a cookie-cutter version of a chicken blog. Instead I’ve tried to write about a broad range of issues that involve chickens and chicken keepers. I want to be a one-stop shop for folks that keep chickens as well as appeal to those who don’t keep, and may never have, chickens but are interested in them all the same.”

I’ve also had people criticize the name of my blog as rude or using a ‘cuss word’. Clearly you can’t please everyone, not just all of the time, but in fact not just some of the time either.

Despite the peaks and valleys of readership I have kept true to myself. Does a subject grab my interest? Make me feel something? Am I still learning something new? The answer appears to be ‘yes’ because I’m still here. I’ve managed to produce a science-based blog and along the way attract folks that, not just subscribe, but collaborate with me: veterinarians, an avian pathologist, a laboratory scientist at a veterinary teaching hospital, vet techs and other chicken keepers.

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I am grateful to my faithful supporters and folks that validate what I’m doing. Here’s a sample of some of the much appreciated feedback I’ve received over the last year: 

I have been so engrossed in your site. It is amazing. I’m totally sharing it. No flock owner should be without it. – Melissa Howell

I really do want to thank you for your blog and Facebook page, they’re amazing resources and at least two of my girls sort of owe you their lives because it helped me catch issues early. You make a difference. Hang in there.- Joelle Lardi

I’m sending you a big Thank You. As I watched my hen slowly succumb to an incurable illness (likely reproductive cancer) I remembered you saying that we too often leave it too long before we euthanize a sick chicken, causing them undue suffering. Those words echoed in my mind as I tried to determine when she should be put down and I recognized right away when it was the right thing to do. Thank you so much for the knowledge and guidance you share with all of us. – Sherry Baikie

Thank YOU for all super info!! Dr. Vicki (Bowes) is awesome, and the writing and presentation make it easy for us to understand. Keep up the great work! – Denise Cook Notary

I may not keep chickens, but I recognize greatness when I read it.  What an inspiration you are.  Love your blog.  – Marjorie Little

I can’t thank you enough for your time. I’m sure I’m not the only one who emails and when you say ‘yes’ to doing something you are putting something else to aside. Thank you for responding back again. – Jessica Tinkham

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If you’ve read my articles long enough you’ll know I am technologically challenged, am entirely self-taught and struggle sometimes to not get overwhelmed when confronted by trying to figure things out. I bit the bullet and got a new computer recently. My fear was I would lose critical photos or files, or that there would be a learning curve to grasp new versions of programs. So far, I have persevered and managed to wrangle fellow chicken keeper and IT specialist Darren to sit down and help with setting up my files.

I’ve challenged myself in other ways this year as well. I am an educator by trade and although I am an old hat with public speaking I’m not used to seeing myself on video or hearing my voice on a podcast. I don’t have the skillset to produce polished media.

In the summer of 2023 I was invited to present at the (USA) National Backyard Chickens Summit. The gig entailed producing a 30-minute video on a given subject and being present at the virtual conference to engage with participants. I didn’t have enough time to manage that herculean task, but when asked to speak at the next Summit in the spring of 2024, I reluctantly agreed. The universe provided me with a local community member, a professional photographer/videographer who volunteered to put together my video presentation on Chicken Health Checks and First Aid Kits. It was a great first opportunity to get my feet wet while still having the support of a pro. being a presenter also required me to start a YouTube channel which has been a great platform to upload some practice videos.

Rogers Cable Set; Videographer Joani Thompson; and Me

One of my work colleagues volunteers for our local television community programming. He hosts a five minute spot in a one hour weekly slot with a handful of other volunteers. He had been pestering me to be his guest and after a few months I relented. It’s hard to cover ‘chickens’ in that amount of time and five minutes have never flown by so quickly. I obviously had so much more to say, so the manager of the show (a fellow chicken keeper) invited me on her own show for a one hour chat about chickens. It was done via zoom so it was a bit disconcerting talking to a screen but I managed not to move around, blow my nose or make some other embarrassing faux pas. I was impressed that I didn’t ‘um’ and ‘ah’, and looked like I actually knew something about the subject.

I don’t own a cellphone but my employer supplies me with one. It turns out it’s a great camera for taking close ups and moving targets like chickens. I interviewed Dr Emily Carrington, DVM who put her hen through a training regime learning a number of tricks. Lacey managed to get herself in the Guinness Book Of Records as the first chicken to complete eight tasks in one minute. Emily suggested I make a video. In fact I made a few, posted them on my new YouTube page and was totally blown away when one of them reached 1.7 million views within ten days. Then the hits came to a screeching halt as the algorithm moved on to the next flavour of the day. However fleeting, it was sweet to taste a moment of viral success.

Dr Emily Carrington, DVM, with Lacey, Guinness Book Of Records Holder

It turns out one of my followers is a librarian in the town where I work (I live on an island and commute via ferry to work) and invited me to the library’s podcast “Meet Me In The Stacks”. The hour long interview, titled ‘Chatting About Chickens’ got posted to their site with suggestions for online links and books to read about chickens. Next on the list is a podcast interview with The Poultry Nerds, another science-based chicken group who like the material I’ve produced and have invited me to talk about myth busters and refuting online chicken advice.

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My mentor Dr Bowes, vet/avian pathologist, and I have gotten together a number of times over the last forty months to work on several series: Avian Pathology Cases; Tailgate Necropsy; and Myth Busters: Refuting Online Chicken Advice. We took a break for most of 2024, but then got together three times over the fall to produce a number of posts involving new cases. They are definitely not everyone’s cup of tea and I have had a complaint about depicting photos of dead chickens. 

Dr Vicki Bowes

Inexplicably, my numbers have started to increase over the last few months (October being amongst my highest views ever) without me doing anything different. I have given up wondering how the online universe works and have kept my head down working on a whole new raft of posts that interest me and, I hope, you and other readers.

I want to give a big shout out to the folks that have supported me at various points in my journey: leaving comments and questions; collaborating with me on new stories; contributing articles and photos; and those that have helped me navigate the social media platforms (i.e. YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and this blog) and technology that allow me to share my vision of fostering a sense of community among small flock chicken keepers, advancing science-based information and advice, and to educate folks so that the health outcomes of their birds are improved.

I would like to extend an invitation for you to become a more active participant in this community: send me questions; photos of necropsies and health issues looking for a diagnosis; ideas for collaborations and offers of guest contributions; and interesting photos I can use for memes (with credit to you).  To drop me a line use the ‘contact’ button on my homepage. (I’ll give you an email address to send photos)

And remember the worldwide web is looking for ways to boost my site so please leave a like or a comment at the bottom of each post and share my blog far and wide. 

Your continued support is much appreciated.