June 26, 2023 • 21 mins
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What if we told you that raising backyard chickens could change lives and bring communities together? Join us as we have a heartfelt discussion with Reec Sweeney from Blackyard Chickenz, whose incredible journey from city life to urban farming has not only transformed his own life, but also made a positive impact on countless others.
Reec’s love for animals started with his grandparents, who instilled in him the importance of caring for creatures big and small. Reec’s passion doesn't end there - he's also dedicated to giving back to his community through his nonprofit organization, Positive America Youth.
In this inspiring conversation, we discuss the challenges and joys of raising backyard chickens and how simple acts of kindness can make a difference in our own communities, one chicken at a time. Tune in and be inspired to make a difference in your own life and the lives of others.
We did have some minor technical issues. But it didn’t matter to us. We had a great conversation. We hope y’all agree too!
Much love,
Mel & The Holler Gang
https://www.payusa.org/
“Where education fuels compassion.”
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey y'all.
I'm Mel and you are listeningto Wilma the Wonder Hen.
Are you a chicken, math leavenmama or daddy?
Together we'll dive into thelatest poultry keeping
adventures with a generous mixof some hilarious stories,
bringing you fascinatinginterviews with poultry owners
from all over.
You'll find tips and basicadvice from your local
veterinarian, along with newchicken keeping gadgets and
(00:22):
reviews.
I'm gonna see what Mr Jenglesand Wilma has to say about that.
We're going to encourage andhelp you build a stronger,
healthier flock.
Who's gonna see what Mr Jenglesand Wilma is up to?
Let's go let these heifers outBack y'all.
We are so excited I mean likereally excited We have Reese
Sweeney.
Is it Sweeney?
(00:42):
I don't want to say your name.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
It is You got it perfect, So you got it perfect
Okay and Reese is from BlackyardChickens and he is quite
popular.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
but I'm gonna let him explain who he is a little bit.
Just how Just give you give ourlisteners a little idea who he
is.
So if you could just let ourlisteners know, reese, a little
bit more about you.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Hey, what's up?
First of all, thank you forletting me come on your podcast.
I'm a big fan and I'm ready totalk a little bit with you.
Yeah, yeah, absolutelyDefinitely a fan of you and
Wilma.
Well, let me get to it So.
I do radio by trade.
I'm on 107.5 in Atlanta.
(01:29):
It's magic, It's the same radiostation as Steve Harvey Morning
Show.
That's what I do.
My other job is with thenonprofit organization called
Positive America Youth.
We do a lot of things like food, pantry, feed people and all
that types of stuff Really funwork, Really really heartwarming
work and, you know,appreciative work.
But on the other side I havethis small little homestead and
(01:51):
it's turned into a project toget kids interested in the
backyard lifestyle.
And chickens and rabbits andgoats oh my.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
That was a lot.
That was a lot at once.
I was hoping that you wouldbring up your organization
because I know, like I said,this reason is so humble though
I mean he's just he's so humbleBut I know a lot of people know
you from like TikTok andInstagram, but maybe they didn't
(02:25):
know a lot of the organizationsthat you're part of that you
give back to your own communityAnd the reason why you started
chicken keeping.
You know a lot of peoplestarted in COVID because you
know they wanted to.
You know, add chickens.
They were afraid of, you know,not being able to sustain their
family with food and things likethat, and that may be part of
it, but you said that you'redoing it to help the youth and
(02:49):
to provide for other families.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
That is.
you're definitely a very humbleman, But thank you.
We would like to hear maybesome reasons of why, other than
you know.
I know that you said that youwanted this is going to be to
help your community, but did youalways?
were you on a farm when youwere little?
I mean, did you grow up inAtlanta, the city, or were you
(03:16):
in the out, in the country?
I mean, i know has some?
Speaker 2 (03:20):
country parts to it.
They do.
Yeah, georgia definitely does,atlanta not so much.
But I didn't.
I wasn't ready for it, i didn't.
I wasn't raised just here, so Iwas born in New Jersey.
It's hardly no country partsthere.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
No, no, there's not.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Right, i was born in Montclair, new Jersey.
I moved around quite a bit whenI was young.
Me and my mom moved around alot, so I but I did.
I did have a great opportunityto live with my grandparents.
I live with my granddad and mygrandma.
It was like the best thing everAnd they were living, living in
a small town called Garry'sburg, north Carolina.
That's one of my.
(03:58):
My mom is from her eight, sevensiblings right And I lived with
my grandparents for a littlewhile And it was.
It was amazing.
My granddad owed some land.
He owned some land.
His next door neighbor had likesome chickens and pigs And I
just kind of fell in love withwith animals.
Then He let me get dogs.
I caught snakes.
I caught a jar full of bees onetime when I was little.
(04:20):
It was the scariest thing formy mother because she hates bugs
, so like I was trapping thebees in between the screen door
In the window right, my granddadsay he ran out of honey, so I
was.
I put flowers in between thewindows and the bees will come
in there And I cut a little holeout and the only way they can
get out was I put the jar up tothe hole And they would come in
(04:41):
the holes.
I just catch one, catch one.
At the end of the day I hadlike 20 bees and My granddad was
like genius I.
Didn't know what I was doing.
I had to be like six or sevenyears old and when, at the end
of the day, i stole my granddad,he was like I was wondering
what you over there doing?
He's like you cut all the bees.
I said yeah.
He said well, how you do it.
(05:01):
I showed him.
He said he calls me bubble.
He said bubble, i can't evenget mad at you for tearing my
window up.
I said pops, i was trying togive you some some honey, so
that's.
I mean, i grew up like that.
That was part of it.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
So when did you get into radio?
Was that something you alwayswanted to be is on the radio.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
I think my dad saw before me.
I played basketball in highschool and through college And I
thought you know, everybodythat plays in tries to play that
high level thinks they're goingpro right.
And then I started realizingeverybody was much taller than
me.
So I was like let me figurethis out.
So I thought I was gonna do like, uh, yeah, exactly.
(05:44):
So I was gonna be like, maybe,coach, i still love the game, i
still love the game, but, um, itwas.
It was I was coming, gettinginterested in different things.
The long story short, my.
When I say my dad saw before me, he used to say I think you're
gonna be a broadcaster.
He said, because every time youtalk, people listen, so you got
to pay attention to that right.
So, um, that's kind of wherethe bug got planted.
(06:06):
But it was a long story how Igot into radio.
But I ended up, uh, doingprofessional radio.
In 2013, i got my first uhopportunity to be at a large FM
station.
It was at a hip hop station AndI was doing overnight and I was
doing very well.
Well enough for them to say,hey, let me try you out on the
weekends and the daytime, andthat did really well.
Then the opportunity opened upand I got my first um, first
(06:30):
contract gig in 2016 on hot 1079 in Atlanta And that where it
went.
So so amazing for me up untilthe pandemic.
It went really really good.
I was number one in the market.
They're really well got on sometv shows and stuff like that,
sorry, we would tell me kick thething.
But uh it it went really welland I ended up doing radio, so
that's how I got into it.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Yeah, i did kind of.
I was uh doing my FBI thing,you know, because women are
really like being FBI agents,but I did see Yeah, we ain't
playing either, okay.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Yeah, I did see.
Yeah, yeah, we can.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Don't even try to hide it, because we can find it.
So it.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Just hiding.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
It makes it more fun for us to figure it out, but I
didn't see you.
I didn't see you're on, uh,some all kinds of different uh
tv shows and talk shows andthings like that.
Um, do you think that Growingup the way you did with your uh
grandparents and that do you doyou think that helped you now
(07:37):
with your chickens and with yourgoats?
Do you think you were moreready to get them?
And also, do you live in thecity or are you in the county?
Speaker 2 (07:47):
I did.
I lived in the City.
I just moved to the county.
Like I moved to the county infebruary, the city was tired of
my shenanigans.
They got sick of me.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
I said you know what?
Speaker 2 (08:01):
I've been put out of better places than this.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Because you know the city has a limit on how many
chickens.
It definitely limits anythingthat you want to do really.
Yes, no goats, no goats.
But it also limits how manychickens you can have.
You know, it's like five orseven or something like that
It's a really small, unrealisticnumber that I mean thank you,
(08:31):
it is.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Yeah, i was in the city.
They had too many rules, icouldn't do it.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Yeah, i don't know how anybody could live in the
city, although I know somepeople who own chickens that
live in the city, but we won'tsay How many chickens.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
How many right.
They only have five, if anybody.
We don't know.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
How many do you currently have?
how many chickens do you have?
how many did you start with andhow many do you have now?
Speaker 2 (08:58):
How many y'all is it?
They get 17 right now in there.
I may have I may or may nothave just ordered 20.
Chicken math is real chickenmath is math and so, um, it is
real.
Uh, i started out with two.
I started out with two chickens, two golden common.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
And where did you get those?
Speaker 2 (09:22):
It was from this farm not too far from here.
He was in the county not toofar from where I was living at
the time And the chickens werein terrible condition.
They were in bad shape.
I didn't know anything aboutchickens at the time So I know
you asked earlier.
Did growing up with mygrandparents kind of prepare me
for this?
When I stayed with them.
It didn't.
It didn't.
(09:42):
I didn't know any of the thingsto do, right, I was very young,
but I did grow a love for them.
So the love makes you want tofind things out and makes you,
you know, keep the interest andwant to make things better,
right And figure it out.
So it did, it did help withthat.
But the actual what did you doand how to do it?
(10:02):
No, not at all.
Not at all.
I got my granddad.
If you want to do something,you'll figure it out.
That's what I learned.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Yeah, yeah.
And now, since that you haveadded more, i assume that you're
trying to educate yourself more, like reading more, maybe
reading books.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
Yeah, I'm trying to Where are you getting your
information from Book, youtube,university, google, the College
of Google Institute.
Everybody I follow you.
He's a soccer chicken, urbanchicken farmer.
(10:42):
The blogs on Purina Purina'swebsite ask really good blogs.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Oh yeah, they do.
They have a lot of good stuff.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
So basically from those places.
Well, the only reason I ask isthe reason why I ask.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
I'm not judging like where you get your information
from.
I just know our listeners.
A lot of times they getconfused on where to go.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
You hear your mother's cousins.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
Brother, tell you, you know, to put XYZ in their
feed and it will fix everythingthey've ever had in their entire
life.
So I like that you aresuggesting going to real places,
You know, like Purina's website, you know there are different
YouTube universities for likechickens, and there's lots of
different books like Gail Damaroand things like that.
(11:27):
There are actually out therethat you can educate yourself.
Like you said, if you want to,you will find a way to make it
better for them.
So yeah, that's a great answer.
I appreciate that, i really do.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Also, i also don't.
I also will call the vet veryfast, like I'll call the vet and
ask him.
I'll call some local farmers,ask them a question.
If some will make the time ofday, some won't.
But it's like you know, itdoesn't hurt to ask a question,
especially because these animalsbasically have their lives in
our hands, right?
(12:01):
So I don't put my pride.
I put my pride to the side whenit comes to that And it's like
I don't mind asking people aquestion.
I do get books and I like tocross-reference And I just got
that, i think, from anjournalism background.
It's like, okay, if I get thispiece of information, I have to
cross-check it, because if Idon't, then I'm responsible for
putting out bad information.
You know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Yes, yes, especially with your account, so always.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
I would say anybody.
Yeah, definitely, That is avery that's a very good touch,
thank you.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Yeah, because you're, someone else is watching you
And anytime I put outinformation.
Yeah, Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
And I always say that .
I say I'm not an expert, I'mtrue, And if it's something I
don't know, I say I'm tryingthis out.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
Right And.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
I'll let you know how it goes.
So I always do that too.
It's like don't do this, i'mdoing this, we don't do this.
Let me try this out and showhow it goes.
Like I've got right now.
I got this water system rightnow And I said I was trying out
to see how it goes.
I've made like three mistakeswith this thing already, but I
think I got it under control now.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
So what kind of chicken do you have?
Oh, and I know you have goats,so can you tell our listeners
what kind of goats you got too?
Speaker 2 (13:13):
Yeah, i got a goat And the reason I want to do this
out here is actually take youguys around as we talk.
So I have goats.
I have four Nigerian pig begoats.
Let me see if I can get them tomake an appearance.
The little ones are a littleskittish.
They weren't raised by peopleSo I'm like every day trying to
feed them by hand a little bit.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
There we go.
Hey, maybe There they go.
Oh, let me try the other way.
Let me bring some treats andtry the other way.
But I have four Nigerian pig,be goats, All right.
no camera time for them.
They want no parts of it.
No camera time for you.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
You do when I come in here, she's probably like
where's my food?
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Right there, they go There, they are right there.
Oh, they are so cute, they are,i got three smaller ones And I
got Maisie like about three orfour weeks ago.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
So now you have to learn all about goats too.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
She's probably the most people friendly.
Yeah, I got a book that I'mreading right now.
I'm following a couple coolpeople Come here, Maisie, you
gonna let me pet you today Idon't have any food.
Hey, big girl, she's pretty.
She is very cool, she's prettycool to my rubs And I got what's
up And I got three more littleones that just keep running
(14:29):
around.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
But we wanted to know if you had some tips for people
.
I know you have chickens andyou also have goats, so maybe
give some of our listeners somegood, tangible tips that they
can use.
They can easily implement intotheir flock to create a
healthier, better flock.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
OK, so one of the hugest tips I've learned is my
chicken feeder And I'll send youa picture of it.
But my chicken feeder, it helpsso much because it doesn't
waste a lot of food.
And then 10 chicken like 10trash cans.
10 trash cans are the greatestbecause they can store the food
(15:05):
in them and rats can't eatthrough.
Rats eat through anythingplastic.
I learned that the hard way.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
Yeah, we have some of those 10 trash cans too.
They work very well Yeah.
So, can you give us a fewbenefits of why people should
own chickens?
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Yeah one.
it gets you outside, goingoutside and just being out in
the sun and having fun withthose chickens.
whether you're camera-forming,it just brightens up your day.
I hate to sound cheesy, but itreally does.
And if you're having a bad dayand you watch a little fat
chicken run across your yard,you immediately are having a
good day.
That is like the benefit nobodyknows.
(15:45):
And then being able to giveyour neighbors eggs and stuff
like that, because chances are,if you have chickens and other
animals, you have a dog and yourdog is loud because he's
probably watching everything inthe yard.
So bribe your neighbors witheggs, like give them eggs, and
now they don't care that yourdog is keeping them up at night,
because he sees things moving.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
Do you have just hands, or do you have any
roosters yet?
Do you plan on getting?
Speaker 2 (16:07):
a rooster.
I do plan on getting a rooster.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
I have What the heck?
Alright, now you're justplaying a game with it.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Okay, right, right.
I'm sorry.
I had a rooster in myneighborhood My old house and he
almost got me put out of theHOA, so I had to.
I had to re reassign andre-home my rooster, but I'm
looking forward to getting a newrooster soon.
I have.
I have all hands right now, allday.
I got a house full of ladiesright now.
(16:39):
So, I have some, some, somereally, really, really cool
birds.
I love them.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
Yeah, they are pretty amazing.
We do have one more question atthe end if there's anything
else that you'd like to share,anything else you'd like our
listeners to know, this you knowyou are feel free to tell us
anything you'd like to, but ifyou don't have anything and I
know you've been Very busy todayand I appreciate, appreciate
(17:04):
you being here But we just haveone more simple question at the
end, and also if there isAnything that our listeners
could do to help benefit yourorganizations like if you have
links or if you have, you knowThey donate online any of those
things.
We can get information at the.
You can send me Through anemail links and stuff and I'd be
(17:25):
glad to put that in our shownotes And then that would allow
our followers, if they chose to,to help with donating to your
organizations.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Oh.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
We appreciate you so much for what you do for your
community, and I think everyonecould do something on a smaller
scale.
I understand you do a lot, alot, a lot that makes a bigger
impact, but what are a fewthings that people could do in
their own communities that canmake an impact?
Speaker 2 (17:54):
If you can't do it all, do a little, and you can do
a little by supportingOrganizations that do it.
So, like us, we do feed a lotof people every month with our,
with our food pantry and some ofthe things we do.
But the help can come from, youknow, local sponsorships and
people just saying, hey, i can't, i can only give five dollars
for that.
Five dollars to us because ofour partnerships like Walmart
(18:15):
and food banking, stuff likethat, that can go a long way
with the family and eat.
You know what I mean.
So, like you may not feel liketwenty dollars is anything, but
that twenty dollars couldPossibly go towards feeding a
family for like three or fourdays, you know, through the
resources that we have.
So, find a good organization now, all of the big names are good.
One honestly.
Find a good organization isdoing the work and try to
(18:37):
support them and And shop locals.
You got some local farmershaving eggs or chickens or goat
milk or cheese or or Lotion.
Shop with them and support themso they can continue to thrive
and take care of their, their,their farm and, as well, let's
take care of their community aswell, because chances are
they're they're given a neighborthat doesn't have food.
(18:57):
You know eggs or milk orsomething like that.
You know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
Yeah, i agree That's.
That's very, very true.
So our last and final questionis if you could put anything on
a billboard, what would it beand why?
Speaker 2 (19:13):
Be nice today.
That's what it would.
It would say be nice today.
You never know Who needs to seethat.
Somebody could be going goingthrough a crazy experience.
Somebody could be going throughJust they may run into somebody
that that's not having a greatday and being nice to that
(19:34):
person or being cordial thatperson Is being courteous that
person can change the wholetrajectory over that person is
going through.
You know, you never know what'sgonna set somebody off and push
them over the edge.
But I just know it's reallyhard to be angry to a kind
person and I do that in mycomments.
Somebody says something weirdand I'm like I have a blessed
(19:54):
day.
They don't really like to arguewith you after that.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
You know what I mean, that that is so true and we'll
might get some of the weirdestcomments and I'm gonna It
started.
Instead of just ignoring them,i'll just, you know, smile, give
them a big smile, or something.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
I don't come back to That's it.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
I can't take much.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
Yeah, you give a little smiley face emoji and
they'll keep doing comments andjust tell them Hey, thank you
for the algorithm.
I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
Yeah, Thank you for the engagement.
Okay, well, we thank you somuch and we appreciate you and
we will see you around on.
We'll see you around till next.
Yes.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
Yes, and and next time, hopefully, i'll have more
than just a Blue buff like youand this wine dot.
in these Rhode Island red mixesI got like these crazy chicken
mixes I don't know what they are, they lay pretty eggs.
Hopefully I'll have morevariety next time we speak.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
Yes, yes, and be careful though, because Chicken
mouth is a is a virus, and onceyou get it, you're infected.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
It's oh, it's too late for me.
It's too late for me.
I have full-blown CM, havefull-blown, see him.
I started with two, twocomments.
Who's so to a golden comment.
I have 17 chickens, four goats,five rabbits, two dogs I'm
getting.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
Hey, poor Racy, the animals just took him out again.
Well, we appreciate you, reese.
Thank you so much.
I'm Mel and you are listeningto Wilma the Wonderhand.
Hey y'all.
I'm Mel and you are listeningto Wilma the Wonder Hen.
Are you a chicken, math leavenmama or daddy?
Together we'll dive into thelatest poultry keeping
adventures with a generous mixof some hilarious stories,
bringing you fascinatinginterviews with poultry owners
from all over.
You'll find tips and basicadvice from your local
veterinarian, along with newchicken keeping gadgets and
(00:22):
reviews.
I'm gonna see what Mr Jenglesand Wilma has to say about that.
We're going to encourage andhelp you build a stronger,
healthier flock.
Who's gonna see what Mr Jenglesand Wilma is up to?
Let's go let these heifers outBack y'all.
We are so excited I mean likereally excited We have Reese
Sweeney.
Is it Sweeney?
(00:42):
I don't want to say your name.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
It is You got it perfect, So you got it perfect
Okay and Reese is from BlackyardChickens and he is quite
popular.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
but I'm gonna let him explain who he is a little bit.
Just how Just give you give ourlisteners a little idea who he
is.
So if you could just let ourlisteners know, reese, a little
bit more about you.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Hey, what's up?
First of all, thank you forletting me come on your podcast.
I'm a big fan and I'm ready totalk a little bit with you.
Yeah, yeah, absolutelyDefinitely a fan of you and
Wilma.
Well, let me get to it So.
I do radio by trade.
I'm on 107.5 in Atlanta.
(01:29):
It's magic, It's the same radiostation as Steve Harvey Morning
Show.
That's what I do.
My other job is with thenonprofit organization called
Positive America Youth.
We do a lot of things like food, pantry, feed people and all
that types of stuff Really funwork, Really really heartwarming
work and, you know,appreciative work.
But on the other side I havethis small little homestead and
(01:51):
it's turned into a project toget kids interested in the
backyard lifestyle.
And chickens and rabbits andgoats oh my.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
That was a lot.
That was a lot at once.
I was hoping that you wouldbring up your organization
because I know, like I said,this reason is so humble though
I mean he's just he's so humbleBut I know a lot of people know
you from like TikTok andInstagram, but maybe they didn't
(02:25):
know a lot of the organizationsthat you're part of that you
give back to your own communityAnd the reason why you started
chicken keeping.
You know a lot of peoplestarted in COVID because you
know they wanted to.
You know, add chickens.
They were afraid of, you know,not being able to sustain their
family with food and things likethat, and that may be part of
it, but you said that you'redoing it to help the youth and
(02:49):
to provide for other families.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
That is.
you're definitely a very humbleman, But thank you.
We would like to hear maybesome reasons of why, other than
you know.
I know that you said that youwanted this is going to be to
help your community, but did youalways?
were you on a farm when youwere little?
I mean, did you grow up inAtlanta, the city, or were you
(03:16):
in the out, in the country?
I mean, i know has some?
Speaker 2 (03:20):
country parts to it.
They do.
Yeah, georgia definitely does,atlanta not so much.
But I didn't.
I wasn't ready for it, i didn't.
I wasn't raised just here, so Iwas born in New Jersey.
It's hardly no country partsthere.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
No, no, there's not.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Right, i was born in Montclair, new Jersey.
I moved around quite a bit whenI was young.
Me and my mom moved around alot, so I but I did.
I did have a great opportunityto live with my grandparents.
I live with my granddad and mygrandma.
It was like the best thing everAnd they were living, living in
a small town called Garry'sburg, north Carolina.
That's one of my.
(03:58):
My mom is from her eight, sevensiblings right And I lived with
my grandparents for a littlewhile And it was.
It was amazing.
My granddad owed some land.
He owned some land.
His next door neighbor had likesome chickens and pigs And I
just kind of fell in love withwith animals.
Then He let me get dogs.
I caught snakes.
I caught a jar full of bees onetime when I was little.
(04:20):
It was the scariest thing formy mother because she hates bugs
, so like I was trapping thebees in between the screen door
In the window right, my granddadsay he ran out of honey, so I
was.
I put flowers in between thewindows and the bees will come
in there And I cut a little holeout and the only way they can
get out was I put the jar up tothe hole And they would come in
(04:41):
the holes.
I just catch one, catch one.
At the end of the day I hadlike 20 bees and My granddad was
like genius I.
Didn't know what I was doing.
I had to be like six or sevenyears old and when, at the end
of the day, i stole my granddad,he was like I was wondering
what you over there doing?
He's like you cut all the bees.
I said yeah.
He said well, how you do it.
(05:01):
I showed him.
He said he calls me bubble.
He said bubble, i can't evenget mad at you for tearing my
window up.
I said pops, i was trying togive you some some honey, so
that's.
I mean, i grew up like that.
That was part of it.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
So when did you get into radio?
Was that something you alwayswanted to be is on the radio.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
I think my dad saw before me.
I played basketball in highschool and through college And I
thought you know, everybodythat plays in tries to play that
high level thinks they're goingpro right.
And then I started realizingeverybody was much taller than
me.
So I was like let me figurethis out.
So I thought I was gonna do like, uh, yeah, exactly.
(05:44):
So I was gonna be like, maybe,coach, i still love the game, i
still love the game, but, um, itwas.
It was I was coming, gettinginterested in different things.
The long story short, my.
When I say my dad saw before me, he used to say I think you're
gonna be a broadcaster.
He said, because every time youtalk, people listen, so you got
to pay attention to that right.
So, um, that's kind of wherethe bug got planted.
(06:06):
But it was a long story how Igot into radio.
But I ended up, uh, doingprofessional radio.
In 2013, i got my first uhopportunity to be at a large FM
station.
It was at a hip hop station AndI was doing overnight and I was
doing very well.
Well enough for them to say,hey, let me try you out on the
weekends and the daytime, andthat did really well.
Then the opportunity opened upand I got my first um, first
(06:30):
contract gig in 2016 on hot 1079 in Atlanta And that where it
went.
So so amazing for me up untilthe pandemic.
It went really really good.
I was number one in the market.
They're really well got on sometv shows and stuff like that,
sorry, we would tell me kick thething.
But uh it it went really welland I ended up doing radio, so
that's how I got into it.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Yeah, i did kind of.
I was uh doing my FBI thing,you know, because women are
really like being FBI agents,but I did see Yeah, we ain't
playing either, okay.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Yeah, I did see.
Yeah, yeah, we can.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Don't even try to hide it, because we can find it.
So it.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
Just hiding.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
It makes it more fun for us to figure it out, but I
didn't see you.
I didn't see you're on, uh,some all kinds of different uh
tv shows and talk shows andthings like that.
Um, do you think that Growingup the way you did with your uh
grandparents and that do you doyou think that helped you now
(07:37):
with your chickens and with yourgoats?
Do you think you were moreready to get them?
And also, do you live in thecity or are you in the county?
Speaker 2 (07:47):
I did.
I lived in the City.
I just moved to the county.
Like I moved to the county infebruary, the city was tired of
my shenanigans.
They got sick of me.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
I said you know what?
Speaker 2 (08:01):
I've been put out of better places than this.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
Because you know the city has a limit on how many
chickens.
It definitely limits anythingthat you want to do really.
Yes, no goats, no goats.
But it also limits how manychickens you can have.
You know, it's like five orseven or something like that
It's a really small, unrealisticnumber that I mean thank you,
(08:31):
it is.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Yeah, i was in the city.
They had too many rules, icouldn't do it.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Yeah, i don't know how anybody could live in the
city, although I know somepeople who own chickens that
live in the city, but we won'tsay How many chickens.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
How many right.
They only have five, if anybody.
We don't know.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
How many do you currently have?
how many chickens do you have?
how many did you start with andhow many do you have now?
Speaker 2 (08:58):
How many y'all is it?
They get 17 right now in there.
I may have I may or may nothave just ordered 20.
Chicken math is real chickenmath is math and so, um, it is
real.
Uh, i started out with two.
I started out with two chickens, two golden common.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
And where did you get those?
Speaker 2 (09:22):
It was from this farm not too far from here.
He was in the county not toofar from where I was living at
the time And the chickens werein terrible condition.
They were in bad shape.
I didn't know anything aboutchickens at the time So I know
you asked earlier.
Did growing up with mygrandparents kind of prepare me
for this?
When I stayed with them.
It didn't.
It didn't.
(09:42):
I didn't know any of the thingsto do, right, I was very young,
but I did grow a love for them.
So the love makes you want tofind things out and makes you,
you know, keep the interest andwant to make things better,
right And figure it out.
So it did, it did help withthat.
But the actual what did you doand how to do it?
(10:02):
No, not at all.
Not at all.
I got my granddad.
If you want to do something,you'll figure it out.
That's what I learned.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Yeah, yeah.
And now, since that you haveadded more, i assume that you're
trying to educate yourself more, like reading more, maybe
reading books.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
Yeah, I'm trying to Where are you getting your
information from Book, youtube,university, google, the College
of Google Institute.
Everybody I follow you.
He's a soccer chicken, urbanchicken farmer.
(10:42):
The blogs on Purina Purina'swebsite ask really good blogs.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Oh yeah, they do.
They have a lot of good stuff.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
So basically from those places.
Well, the only reason I ask isthe reason why I ask.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
I'm not judging like where you get your information
from.
I just know our listeners.
A lot of times they getconfused on where to go.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
You hear your mother's cousins.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
Brother, tell you, you know, to put XYZ in their
feed and it will fix everythingthey've ever had in their entire
life.
So I like that you aresuggesting going to real places,
You know, like Purina's website, you know there are different
YouTube universities for likechickens, and there's lots of
different books like Gail Damaroand things like that.
(11:27):
There are actually out therethat you can educate yourself.
Like you said, if you want to,you will find a way to make it
better for them.
So yeah, that's a great answer.
I appreciate that, i really do.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Also, i also don't.
I also will call the vet veryfast, like I'll call the vet and
ask him.
I'll call some local farmers,ask them a question.
If some will make the time ofday, some won't.
But it's like you know, itdoesn't hurt to ask a question,
especially because these animalsbasically have their lives in
our hands, right?
(12:01):
So I don't put my pride.
I put my pride to the side whenit comes to that And it's like
I don't mind asking people aquestion.
I do get books and I like tocross-reference And I just got
that, i think, from anjournalism background.
It's like, okay, if I get thispiece of information, I have to
cross-check it, because if Idon't, then I'm responsible for
putting out bad information.
You know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Yes, yes, especially with your account, so always.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
I would say anybody.
Yeah, definitely, That is avery that's a very good touch,
thank you.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Yeah, because you're, someone else is watching you
And anytime I put outinformation.
Yeah, Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
And I always say that .
I say I'm not an expert, I'mtrue, And if it's something I
don't know, I say I'm tryingthis out.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
Right And.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
I'll let you know how it goes.
So I always do that too.
It's like don't do this, i'mdoing this, we don't do this.
Let me try this out and showhow it goes.
Like I've got right now.
I got this water system rightnow And I said I was trying out
to see how it goes.
I've made like three mistakeswith this thing already, but I
think I got it under control now.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
So what kind of chicken do you have?
Oh, and I know you have goats,so can you tell our listeners
what kind of goats you got too?
Speaker 2 (13:13):
Yeah, i got a goat And the reason I want to do this
out here is actually take youguys around as we talk.
So I have goats.
I have four Nigerian pig begoats.
Let me see if I can get them tomake an appearance.
The little ones are a littleskittish.
They weren't raised by peopleSo I'm like every day trying to
feed them by hand a little bit.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
There we go.
Hey, maybe There they go.
Oh, let me try the other way.
Let me bring some treats andtry the other way.
But I have four Nigerian pig,be goats, All right.
no camera time for them.
They want no parts of it.
No camera time for you.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
You do when I come in here, she's probably like
where's my food?
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Right there, they go There, they are right there.
Oh, they are so cute, they are,i got three smaller ones And I
got Maisie like about three orfour weeks ago.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
So now you have to learn all about goats too.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
She's probably the most people friendly.
Yeah, I got a book that I'mreading right now.
I'm following a couple coolpeople Come here, Maisie, you
gonna let me pet you today Idon't have any food.
Hey, big girl, she's pretty.
She is very cool, she's prettycool to my rubs And I got what's
up And I got three more littleones that just keep running
(14:29):
around.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
But we wanted to know if you had some tips for people
.
I know you have chickens andyou also have goats, so maybe
give some of our listeners somegood, tangible tips that they
can use.
They can easily implement intotheir flock to create a
healthier, better flock.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
OK, so one of the hugest tips I've learned is my
chicken feeder And I'll send youa picture of it.
But my chicken feeder, it helpsso much because it doesn't
waste a lot of food.
And then 10 chicken like 10trash cans.
10 trash cans are the greatestbecause they can store the food
(15:05):
in them and rats can't eatthrough.
Rats eat through anythingplastic.
I learned that the hard way.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
Yeah, we have some of those 10 trash cans too.
They work very well Yeah.
So, can you give us a fewbenefits of why people should
own chickens?
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Yeah one.
it gets you outside, goingoutside and just being out in
the sun and having fun withthose chickens.
whether you're camera-forming,it just brightens up your day.
I hate to sound cheesy, but itreally does.
And if you're having a bad dayand you watch a little fat
chicken run across your yard,you immediately are having a
good day.
That is like the benefit nobodyknows.
(15:45):
And then being able to giveyour neighbors eggs and stuff
like that, because chances are,if you have chickens and other
animals, you have a dog and yourdog is loud because he's
probably watching everything inthe yard.
So bribe your neighbors witheggs, like give them eggs, and
now they don't care that yourdog is keeping them up at night,
because he sees things moving.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
Do you have just hands, or do you have any
roosters yet?
Do you plan on getting?
Speaker 2 (16:07):
a rooster.
I do plan on getting a rooster.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
I have What the heck?
Alright, now you're justplaying a game with it.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Okay, right, right.
I'm sorry.
I had a rooster in myneighborhood My old house and he
almost got me put out of theHOA, so I had to.
I had to re reassign andre-home my rooster, but I'm
looking forward to getting a newrooster soon.
I have.
I have all hands right now, allday.
I got a house full of ladiesright now.
(16:39):
So, I have some, some, somereally, really, really cool
birds.
I love them.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
Yeah, they are pretty amazing.
We do have one more question atthe end if there's anything
else that you'd like to share,anything else you'd like our
listeners to know, this you knowyou are feel free to tell us
anything you'd like to, but ifyou don't have anything and I
know you've been Very busy todayand I appreciate, appreciate
(17:04):
you being here But we just haveone more simple question at the
end, and also if there isAnything that our listeners
could do to help benefit yourorganizations like if you have
links or if you have, you knowThey donate online any of those
things.
We can get information at the.
You can send me Through anemail links and stuff and I'd be
(17:25):
glad to put that in our shownotes And then that would allow
our followers, if they chose to,to help with donating to your
organizations.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
Oh.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
We appreciate you so much for what you do for your
community, and I think everyonecould do something on a smaller
scale.
I understand you do a lot, alot, a lot that makes a bigger
impact, but what are a fewthings that people could do in
their own communities that canmake an impact?
Speaker 2 (17:54):
If you can't do it all, do a little, and you can do
a little by supportingOrganizations that do it.
So, like us, we do feed a lotof people every month with our,
with our food pantry and some ofthe things we do.
But the help can come from, youknow, local sponsorships and
people just saying, hey, i can't, i can only give five dollars
for that.
Five dollars to us because ofour partnerships like Walmart
(18:15):
and food banking, stuff likethat, that can go a long way
with the family and eat.
You know what I mean.
So, like you may not feel liketwenty dollars is anything, but
that twenty dollars couldPossibly go towards feeding a
family for like three or fourdays, you know, through the
resources that we have.
So, find a good organization now, all of the big names are good.
One honestly.
Find a good organization isdoing the work and try to
(18:37):
support them and And shop locals.
You got some local farmershaving eggs or chickens or goat
milk or cheese or or Lotion.
Shop with them and support themso they can continue to thrive
and take care of their, their,their farm and, as well, let's
take care of their community aswell, because chances are
they're they're given a neighborthat doesn't have food.
(18:57):
You know eggs or milk orsomething like that.
You know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
Yeah, i agree That's.
That's very, very true.
So our last and final questionis if you could put anything on
a billboard, what would it beand why?
Speaker 2 (19:13):
Be nice today.
That's what it would.
It would say be nice today.
You never know Who needs to seethat.
Somebody could be going goingthrough a crazy experience.
Somebody could be going throughJust they may run into somebody
that that's not having a greatday and being nice to that
(19:34):
person or being cordial thatperson Is being courteous that
person can change the wholetrajectory over that person is
going through.
You know, you never know what'sgonna set somebody off and push
them over the edge.
But I just know it's reallyhard to be angry to a kind
person and I do that in mycomments.
Somebody says something weirdand I'm like I have a blessed
(19:54):
day.
They don't really like to arguewith you after that.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
You know what I mean, that that is so true and we'll
might get some of the weirdestcomments and I'm gonna It
started.
Instead of just ignoring them,i'll just, you know, smile, give
them a big smile, or something.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
I don't come back to That's it.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
I can't take much.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
Yeah, you give a little smiley face emoji and
they'll keep doing comments andjust tell them Hey, thank you
for the algorithm.
I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
Yeah, Thank you for the engagement.
Okay, well, we thank you somuch and we appreciate you and
we will see you around on.
We'll see you around till next.
Yes.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
Yes, and and next time, hopefully, i'll have more
than just a Blue buff like youand this wine dot.
in these Rhode Island red mixesI got like these crazy chicken
mixes I don't know what they are, they lay pretty eggs.
Hopefully I'll have morevariety next time we speak.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
Yes, yes, and be careful though, because Chicken
mouth is a is a virus, and onceyou get it, you're infected.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
It's oh, it's too late for me.
It's too late for me.
I have full-blown CM, havefull-blown, see him.
I started with two, twocomments.
Who's so to a golden comment.
I have 17 chickens, four goats,five rabbits, two dogs I'm
getting.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
Hey, poor Racy, the animals just took him out again.
Well, we appreciate you, reese.
Thank you so much.
I'm Mel and you are listeningto Wilma the Wonderhand.
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