forum reorganization

[TimG]

Quote:
Is that the thread that has a picture of a chicken with a bad hair day and a few smiley-only responses?

I think it is beneficial to have a social aspect to the forums. I did not mean to suggest that every topic and post should be super serious and exactly to the point. I do recognize it is a difficult line to find and police and that it would be best if separating social from serious didn't feel like being policed. I do not think there is an easy answer.

I am glad to find that I am not alone in my feelings about this forum and see that there are people who think it worth some effort to make some changes. I appreciate that.

I think the BYC Breed Database is a very useful addition to the forums. When the "official" breed threads started popping up, I envisioned those serving a similar purpose with some more general and perhaps changing information. Things like who is breeding and selling different varieties of the breed; pictures and discussion of the qualities of the birds in the pictures; what problems breeders are having; when and where shows are being held. I sense that those sorts of discussions do take place in the "official" threads, but I miss a lot of it and expect newcomers to the forum do too.

 

[Chris09]

Quote:
I have to agree with Katy and others that there should be a, "breed's club area" that has links to the Breed Clubs and there Club Form..
I agree that these Breed Club Forms are in no way in competition with BYC.
The Clubs below all have a Breed Club Form but unfortunately if one posts a link to the Breeds Club Form to help a newbie out it with a question that may have been asked ( the link) is deleted.

« International Waterfowl Breeders Association »
« Plymouth Rock Fancier's Club of America »
« Rhode Island Red Club of America »
« American Brown Leghorn Club »
« Modern Game Bantam Club of America »
« Exhibition Turkey Fanciers »
« International Cornish Breeders Association »
« Wyandotte Fanciers Forum »
« New Hampshire Fanciers Forum »
« Orpington Fanciers Forum »
« Dorking Breeders Club »
« Java Breeders Of America »
« Bantam Duck Breeders Forum »
« Dominique Club of America »

Edited to add « Dominique Club of America »

Chris

 

[EweSheep]

Interesting thread!

I even use the BYC link for the Welsummer Club of North America so people can go in here and talk or chat with all the chicken folks in here. It really does promote BYC as well.

And for the breeds threads, at the beginning, we should post the SOP on it along with the dates it was published. Too many of our members are asking for the SOP and can not get it on APA website. So where can we find it? HERE, that is! I know each and every breed club have the SOP link somewhere in it but for those who are nitty gritty and wanted more of the standard information, BYC is a good source.

I must admit Yahoo chicken sites have less traffic in a day......Yahoo gives problems and sometimes people get really nasty in there. When one wants an opinion, we give our opinion then all the mud slinging goes on...just pitiful if you ask me. I would ignore all emails coming to me when they start harassing our members, they would get banned from the club permanently.

Sometimes our breed websites don't have the chat room or not enough people at a night would be on to chat, so BYC is another good place to chat.

I would be interested to see how this will pan out for the breed section. If a newbie wants more information, a link will help them find the answer they need about the breed or ask the question again if they could not get the time to read all that. I did ask if we can break up the threads in two sections, one older and one newer. Many of them wanted the threads to stay together, old and new, and keep it under one thread for one breed unless you have a totally different question about the breed.

 

[cashdl]

I think a seperate area or seperate thread would be good. I have noticed that threads get closed for review when discussion gets heated and it is against the rules to open another thread about the same subject. So when a thread gets shut down because someones feelings were hurt the rest of us have to wait. When the marans thread was closed for review, I of course choose that moment to desperately need to ask a question about a personality problem and was wondering if it was just the lines I had. I looked later and there was another thread, great, so I start reading it, and what do you know, they weren't supposed to start another thread apparantly untill they were given the all clear. I finally found the answer from a breeder elsewhere. It was kinda irritating though. So if there was a social thread about the breed and a breeders thread that would be great. I can be as chatty as the next person, but I would love a place to go to see who has what for sale, what breed specific problems people are having, what breeders there are.

Lanae

 

[stoneunhenged]

One idea would be to go to the next level of detail and start variety --as opposed to breed-- forums for those breeds with multiple varieties. Example: The Official Black Copper Marans Thread. As we get more and more people on this forum I agree that eventually the sheer volume of posts can drag down a thread.

 

[rancher hicks]

Well for what it's worth here's my two cents.

1. I agree that doing a "specific" search is a waste of time. Me I just go to the Delaware site and jump in. No need to be polite IMO . We're all friends here and this is life. Just jump in and ask.

2. If you are looking for something "breed" specific then you need the SOP for that breed. I have a copy of the one for Delawares right here on my desk and as with many things I quote the source of my information not just give my OP.

3. Whether hatching or incubating or dealing with coop issues, heaven knows I have read every book there is. What the newbies need to learn is how to sort opinions from truth, whether it be legal advice or what is best to feed your birds to keep them healthy.
Certainly what works in GA is not going to work here, in regards to the cold. So I ask in the NYS posting and folks there are very kind and give me their advice and I am an adult and choose whether or not to take it.

4. I agree that some postings dissolve into a conversational form but like I said we're friends and some are more like family to me so it's no big deal. Heaven knows I'm a very insecure person so if I can deal with it anyone can.

5. BYC is not a "formal" club and I hope the mods don't try to make it so. As always I recommend subscribing to Back Yard Poultry magazine or Practical Poultry and file it in your memory. If you forget just ask here. Lord have mercy there are many folks here who will tell ,
you where to go...........to get the information you need. The public library is a great place, as is the book store. Just remember all information is limited to the authors specific ideas and opinions. What works for one does not work for all. You have to personalize to
you own specific circumstances.

6. As new members join BYC they will have the same questions many of us had when we joined and these will have to be asked again, and so it goes. Newbies ask away. Is it really that big of a deal to ask the same question that someone else asked two years ago?
(please do some research first before you get chickens. I really hated the question, "what do we do now, we put an egg in the incubator to see what would happen and it hatched". Just get the "basics" then folks will help you modify to your "specific" needs.)


7. Perhaps those who are best buds can take their personal conversations to the PM section of the forum or an IM place on the internet. I do have to admit that I feel like I'm eaves dropping sometimes, when things get personal.

8. Please if you put yourself out there with something personal and get a response your not looking for, DON'T do it if you can't handle some one who doesn't agree. Me I just try to move on and not stick my oar in the water. IMO some questions should NOT be asked here.

Finally mods this is a great casual, non-formal forum and works for me. I have learned a great deal about chickens and some things I'd rather not have known.

My hatch rate has gone up and casualties have gone down. In two years and over a hundred chicks I've lost one. Not to bad IMO. I credit this forum and some unmentioned. I'd be a liar if I said I didn't get ticked off from time to time, but then I step back and cool my jets. Perhaps we should remember, "when we find the perfect forum, it won't be after we get there".

Love ya all

Rancher

 

[flgardengirl]

Perhaps people could have a thread strictly on say, the topic of Marans (which they do) and then another called 'Marans chat...Lets talk about our birds'. That way people who only want to discuss strictly physical, genetic, showing etc of thier birds can post only on that thread and avoid the latter 'chattier' thread. I am just using the Marans thread as an example, it probably could apply to alot of threads.

I think one of the reasons the orginal Marans thread went a little chattier was because some people were tired of hearing thier and others birds slammed immediately after them being posted. Yes they may not have been perfect etc. but I think the whole "tone' of the thread did turn off a lot of newbies (there are kids who are new and tenderhearted and don't need that when they are just starting out).
I have seen a lot more newbies joining in on the conversation and feeling comfortable etc. since the tone of the thread has been more relaxed. I am not saying it should be so off topic/ chatty but maybe just starting a new thread where Marans talk discussion of your birds besides just showing etc. where newbies would feel more welcome would help that situation. There is no reason to think that the two threads would be competing against each other...just compliment each other instead and people could post on both depending on what they want to talk about.

 

[rebel-rousing-at-night]

Quote:
I have tried BYC's search engine many times and it is difficult at best. . .

Have to agree here. I try to search for answers before I ask a question because I don't want to bog down the site with repetative inquiries. However, the search engine pulls up every single anything that might have ever possibly maybe at one time mentioned whatever I'm looking for. After a few pages of "chatty" posts I just give up and ask the question. It's sometimes just easier to go that route.

Ditto with trying to find the info

 

[mountaintopchicken]

Oh I feel the OP's pain. I no longer click on the Marans thread.

I wish there were a separate sub forum for each breed. That way there could be both chat and specifics about the breed. Having ONE long thread for each breed is awful - kind of like having a website that you have to scroll down to infinity instead of being able to click on separate pages. It is so much more usable to have a poster come along and ask a question - say about mossiness in one line, and then have someone else start another topic under a sub forum about importing, and someone else ask a question about the standard, again all under a sub forum. All of these topics and issues in one long thread of hundreds of pages? An unreadable mess!

So my tiny little vote would be for one subforum per breed -

Breeding and Genetics
------->Breed Subforums
------------>Araucanas
------------>Orpingtons
----------->Marans
----------->etc.

Doesn't that seem more usable? After all, one breed thread can only go on for so many hundreds of pages. Then it will have to be closed and a new breed thread started, adding to the mess. Then you have multiple threads of hundreds of pages to try and search - EEEK!

 

[FireTigeris]

Quote:
I have seen this work well, and then the chat thread could be sticky and everything else in the subforum are specific questions.

Then the search would work better, "crooked toes Marans" would actually return a topic.

So would "SOP Orpingtons" or "Judge my Orpingtons"

The Atrai board I'm on has a High Score Thread with is the chat itself and the subforums are system specific w/o chatting.