Reviews by BigBlueHen53

Thanks to our BYC sponsors! This is a wonderful site, I've learned so much here! It's s great community

Good information, helpful and well written, thank you. I date my eggs on the large end so I always know exactly how old they are; I like to use two-week old eggs for hard-cooked eggs as they peel easier. But a friend gives me undated eggs and I will now be using the float test in the future on her eggs to test for freshness after reading this article, thank you so much!

I always enjoy @Ridgerunner's comments and responses to questions asked in the forum, and this article did not disappoint! Well thought-out, balanced, thorough and articulate, it not only discusses chickens' standard space requirements, but also explains the reasons behind those requirements. Armed with this information, the chicken owner can better determine the space requirements for their own situation based on their flock size, climate and location, breeds and temperaments, and even their own personal habits. The standard four square feet per bird of coop space thus becomes more of a general guideline than a rule set in stone. Thanks, @Ridgerunner. Nicely done.

This article explains why chickens are good for us. They teach us so many good life lessons! This article put so many of these life lessons into a perspective I had not seen so clearly before. Kudos to the author for her keen observations and clever philosophical observations. Would like to see more from this writer. Well done!

Great article, @azygous, thanks! I have bookmarked it/saved to my favorites so I can access it again quickly if/when I ever need it. Thanks so much to you and the other BYC experts who are so willing to share your knowledge, experience and expertise with newbies, rank beginners, and folks like me, who have had chickens for years but have been bumbling our way around in a fog of ignorance because we just didn't know what we didn't know! Our chickens thank you!

Blooie is my kind of cook! Hugs, hugs and hugs!

I really like this! It's cute, engaging, informative, articulate and above all, well written! Thank you! I wish I could get it in hard copy, hard bound; it would make a nice coffee-table picture book and also a good addition to a children's library. Really nice photos, congratulations on a very nice article!

I have 5 BOs myself, by the way, in my flock of mostly EEs, but if I didn't, your article would definitely incline me toward wanting some. Your love for the breed shines like your girls' golden feathers in the sunshine!

Thank you for taking what could have been intimidatingly technical information and making it interesting, engaging and informative. The complexities of genetics have always been a little challenging for me, and of course it is a complex subject, but I came away from your article with a clearer understanding of how this works in chickens ( of course they would have to be so different from humans, lol!). I'm sure I'll come back to it many times to enhance my understanding. I loved the diagrams. I also love it when a writer shows a masterful use of language, grammar, spelling, syntax and punctuation, as you did. Very well done!

Gives me courage to try this myself soon. Thank you for taking the fear and mystery out of it!

Good article, practical and pithy, full of useful information, well-organized and articulate. Will look for more from this author.

I had a beautiful black rooster that may have been an Australorp. He was a good boy, calm and kind to his hens, not aggressive to people but protective of his girls. He was quite the singer too, he crowed up the sun, the moon and every star! I'd like another like him and some hens as well but would like more info! More pics too! Thanks.

Shad, for content I would give this ten stars if I could. I could not put it down and found it absolutely eye-opening. I'm wondering now if my chickens will arrange themselves into tribes and I can keep all 3 roosters for my 25 hens.

So why only 4 stars? Sorry - I'm an editor by genetics! I wish I could go over this with a fine-nibbed pen! There are just a few grammatical issues or places where I think your fine mind outraced your typing speed. Your research and observations are impeccable, however, and this was a truly incredible read! Thank you so much for sharing!

I totally agree with the author's opinions and observations! She articulated nicely all my own reasons for enjoying chickens. Thank you so much!

I really enjoyed this informative and engaging article! It had a captivating, humorous lead (chickens with polka dots, lol!), a wealth of interesting information throughout, and an upbeat, challenging conclusion.

The article was well-written and well-balanced, with the author presenting even the birds' somewhat less desirable characteristics humorously in the most favorable possible way. (Yes, the birds are noisy, both day and night, and therefore best suited to people with no near neighbors, but once you learn to identify their alarm calls from their "just-keeping-tabs-on-each-other" and other assorted gronks, honks and alerts, they'll make a great intruder alert system!)

I loved learning how smart, curious and independent these critters are, and how loyal and devoted to family. They are, to me, a curious mix of beauty and ugliness (no offense, I speak of myself in the same terms!), and of grace and awkwardness.

I had some once, long ago and far away. I was not impressed with them then, but my ignorance of them was truly abysmal. Perhaps now that I understand them better, as a result of this article, I might try again. They deserve more respect than I was able to give them back then. Also, I have more trees, more ticks and fewer neighbors now so they might be a lot happier this time around.

I enjoyed your article very much. It was very well done. Thank you.

Buck, buck, buck, buCCAAAW. See, I am a chicken at heart, and I want to live in your Hen Hilton! I honestly have to say there is only one flaw with your design: that I am not a bird in your flock; that is to say, that I am not chillin' in your cackle-crib. I love that you have a swing, and a ladder, and A/C via mist -and-fan... and, let's see, nipple dripper drinkers, and, and, AND! Hey, I'm just wishing I'd had the foresight to do all that "plumb-and-level" stuff you did on yours! No excuse, third-gen construction brat here..... but... I'm new to this area and all this rain and humidity stuff, so it just never occurred to me. Desert girl here! Where I come from, the ground is like concrete and doesn't shift around and go slip-sliding away, lol. Oh well ... live 'n learn, right? Your design takes the cake! And the cupcakes, and the champagne and the soufflé, to be honest! Well done! Hats off to you! Your article is well-written, beautifully illustrated and a joy to read! May all your eggs be golden!