Health section?

[Mykee]

I really like the new format for the website! I would like to see a health section besides the emergencies, though, where we can ask health questions that don't need to be answered in the hour type of thing. I think this would help with prioritization and organization. As well as the fact that the emergencies section has a lot of new posts coming in, so ones that aren't that urgent tend to get buried.
Thanks for all you guys do!

 

[NajmoNests]

I agree with this thought! This would give a place for queries that do not require immediate attention. Great idea!

 

[Arielle]

Great idea!

 

[CMV]

I spend a lot of time over in the Emergencies/Injuries/Diseases and Cures section, and I have to disagree with the need for a specific health section. I believe it would be redundant. Health questions are addressed in a variety of sections depending on what the specific question relates to. Incubating and Hatching Eggs deals with embryonic questions and problems. Raising chicks addresses chick health concerns. Feeding and Watering your Flock deals with dietary health. Predators and Pests often answers questions regarding bugs and worms. Health concerns are more than covered in the already existing format.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Judy]

I can understand the logic of this suggestion, but it brings up some concerns for me. We move a fair number of posts into Emergencies, apparently because people sometimes feel their problem may not be "important" or "pressing" enough to go in emergencies. I'm afraid a separate health section might create more of this, and that this might delay getting a bird the help it needs.

CMV has a good point, too. A healthy world for a chicken involves not just food but housing, safety, etc. -- or, several of the forums.

But it's not my intention to stop the conversation dead. What sorts of subjects do people feel would belong in a new health forum?

 

[NajmoNests]

Possibily maintainence issues ie: worming - products and dosages for chickens;
antibiotics - products, dosage for chickens;
calculations for metric and Tbl spoon usage such as in water, oral, etc.
These are some of the things I would search therein for.

 

[Judy]

That sort of information is in the sticky "helpful references, etc." at the top of emergencies.

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

Great discussion. We actually had these separated at one point in our past and found that there was a lot of duplication. Many feel like anything wrong with their chickens needs urgent attention, so when given the option they will post in the section marked "emergency" first.

At some point it may make sense to separate the section out into "Diseases" and "Injuries" but for now we've found it beneficial to have them combined.

 

[Mykee]

OK, so I understand everyone's opinions, but posts tend to get buried because this forum is so active

. I think it would be helpful to have the threads organized into day, month, year, etc. categories so we could look at threads from, for example, yesterday, without having to scroll through two or three pages of posts. I think it would also make looking for a post we have been directed to easier. At least for the more active forums, like emergencies.

 

[Judy]

You have a point about posts getting buried due to activity, particularly in Emergencies. Emergencies is the one forum that I find myself going back 2 or 3 pages, because of the speed and number of threads posted. Also, a bunch of members periodically look through the unanswered posts to try to catch anything significant that may have been missed. Every now and then, someone posts a thread that says something like, let's all not forget to check those unanswered posts for peeps who need help. Not quite sure what you mean about a post you've been directed to -- usually, that is done with a link.

Also, as peeps get accustomed to the workings of this search engine, which is so much better than the last one, I think this problem will lessen some. Here's a link to the tutorial on this search engine:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/search-and-advanced-search-tutorial