You never know what might grab people’s attention on social media. For Cody Poole of Texas, it was chickens.
The senior College Station FFA member in February 2019 launched his Instagram page, called “Codys Chickstagram,” to showcase his flock of nearly 70 chickens. His intent was to share his knowledge of poultry with fellow FFA members and classmates.
“I didn’t think I’d get more than 100 followers when I first started,” Poole says. ”But soon I realized that people started following me from other places, which honestly freaked me out a bit. Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo even began following the Chickstagram.”
By December 2020, Cody’s Chickstagram had more than 2,300 followers.
Poole’s idea for Chickstagram began in agriculture class when a fellow FFA member hatched five baby chicks in an incubator for her supervised agricultural experience (SAE). The high school students adored the chicks almost immediately.
“All the students started to bond with them. Everyone enjoyed holding them and feeding them,” Poole says. “When my classmate was unable to take the chicks home with her, I volunteered to bring them home with me. I love animals, and I live in a house on 25 acres, so there is room to roam.”
Poole started his own poultry SAE when he was a freshman and has also competed in poultry judging. Before he began raising laying hens, he raised broiler hens, or meat birds.
“I started raising broilers when I was 8 years old, so I was used to having birds at home, but only for six weeks out of the year,” he says. “Laying hens are a year-round commitment.”
After Poole took the baby chicks home, several classmates continued to ask about their development. He launched Cody’s Chickstagram to help classmates follow along with their growth. Poole owns about 100 birds total, including 67 chickens. The rest are a mix of pheasants, quail, ducks and guinea fowl.
“I enjoy sharing pictures of them, and people really like to see the birds dressed up in hats or digitally edited photos they aren’t used to seeing,” Poole says. “I include captions that are informational about the poultry industry or about the breed. At least 80% of my birds have names.”
Poole’s favorite chicken, Walka, is a cross of a Maran. He also has Rhode Island Reds, barnyard crosses, and Silkies, which look like “big cotton puffballs running around.”
Poole’s chickens lay about 18 to 24 eggs each day, and he says it’s fun to work behind the scenes in the poultry industry and document it through his Chickstagram.
“Consumers at the grocery store only see plain old white eggs,” he says. “I get all kinds of eggs – teal, pink, green, brown, white and cream color.”
Poole hopes to attend Texas A&M University and study poultry science after high school. Meanwhile, he plans to continue sharing his knowledge about poultry and giving regular updates on his birds through his Chickstagram.
“I urge others to find their passion and go with it. Poultry is my passion; I love it,” he says.
