Recent content by DearYvette

Quote: I find the language in this ordinance confusing. For example, as of March 1992, the town has tried to identify which animals can be kept as "household pets": § 108-5.22. Animals. [Amended 3-2-92 by Ord. No. 0-3-92-008] A. Keeping of animals on residential lots. (1) No...

I have read the archives here, and I'm still a bit confused. It seems like commercial poultry foods are generally designed to provide nutrition for the time it takes to raise a laying chicken or a fryer chicken. But what if you want pet chickens, and you don't want to force the issue of laying...

Quote: Disclaimer: I don't know anything about chicken lice, either...BUT, just today, Terry Golson posted about her hens having bit of a lice outbreak (in the frozen Northeast). Here is how she dealt with it, bypassing the bath: http://www.hencam.com/henblog/2011/02/the-chickens-have-lice...

Quote: Disclaimer: I don't know anything about chicken lice, either...BUT, just today, Terry Golson posted about her hens having bit of a lice outbreak (in the frozen Northeast). Here is how she dealt with it, bypassing the bath: http://www.hencam.com/henblog/2011/02/the-chickens-have-lice...

Quote: SamG347, Again, thank you for your input! There are a whole slew of design considerations out there for top-bar-hives. All things being equal, this is still my preference, in terms of managing a hive without being able to lift an 80-lb box of honey. I defer to your real-life...

Quote: SamG347, This are really good things to think about, some of which I wouldn't have thought of, at this stage. Thank you very much for mentioning them! The hive I'm interested in buying comes with a "cut-out and repair bar" (http://www.thegardenhive.com/the-garden-hive-repair-bar/)...

Quote: I've been researching bees recently, and I find this interesting, as it's the exact opposite of what I've concluded. I like the idea of the top-bar hive because it's possible to check on the bees and tend to them or harvest honey without: 1) disturbing the bees, 2) disassembling the...

Desert Rooster, mgw, 4-H chicken mom, Bantimna, Thank you very much for your warm welcomes! This really is the nicest forum. I have learned so much here. Yvette.

Wild Trapper, Thanks very much for your reply. Quote: Best advice, ever! Thanks for the reminder to not over-think it so much as to obliterate all possible joy. Why have chicken-OCD when I don't even have chickens yet? :-) Quote: I just recently came across "The Natural History of the...

abhaya, Quote: Thank you very much for your reply. I see the differences between thinking of chickens as livestock and thinking of them as pets, and these differences make perfect sense to me. From a practical perspective, especially. My worry about worming is strictly from a pet-owner's...

nobodyherebutuschickens, Thank you! I had an iguana for almost 11 years who was extremely tame and exceptionally sweet (for a lizard, or otherwise). Reptiles use their tongues to get information about things (like: what is this? can I eat it? is it animal, vegetable, or mineral?), so they go...

Thank you, Anna! Between now and when I get my chickens, I'll have to figure out what to do about "surprise" roos. Most definitely. I'll certainly not be able to keep a rooster in suburban Boston. I'll have to figure out what to do about it, before it happens. I was thinking of the 4x8 coop...

Muscovies and Wild Trapper, Thank you for your welcomes. Yvette.

WhiteMountainsRanch, thank you very much for your reply! #5 You all have me thinking, now. Before I asked the question, I'd done a fair amount of hunting and pecking about organic chicken vaccines...in particular, Marek's and coccidiosis, which, as I mentioned a moment ago, are the only ones...

Chick_In_The_Burbs, thank you! One of my chosen future flock children that I didn't list was a Silkie bantam. While I've chosen the other breeds for egging and cold-hardiness, silkies aren't known to be prolific eggers (as far as I can tell), but they are reputedly sweet and loving chickens...