This forum has been much different lately.

[CrazyChicken Lady]

Not me, but they gave that advice in 3 different threads.

If someone is saying that, Lord help us all.

 

[WestTNriverrat]

Exactly!!!!!! What the heck is up with that??? Someone has a dying bird, in urgent need of help, and the people who are supposed to help save it don’t notice because they’re too busy screwing around with their friends.

It is a problem! The endless tide of meaningless messages has to stop!

I somewhat agree with you. I think those that are most knowledgeable and can help should when they are free to do so. I don’t think it’s fair to say they have to stop doing something on their free time and do this something else. If that were the case they should be considered an employee and be paid.
Just because I have an emergency and ask advice don’t mean jimmy joe has to stop doing whatever and immediately help and for free medical advice I should expect to wait. Now Betty Jane need not be telling me how sorry she is to hear about my problem and offer any advice if she isn’t knowledgeable and is just basing it off what she has googled on the intrawebbs.

 

[roosterhavoc]

If someone is saying that, Lord help us all.

Well....putting a broody hen under a bucket would definitely keep her from going anywhere. So....it’s accurate advice. I’m not so sure I’d use it though.

 

[Sierra G]

Hard for newbies to know to do this.

If the poster hasn't taken the time to do a cursory internet search - which, honestly, would answer a substantial portion of the questions posed here on BYC - they certainly can't be expected to troll the forums long enough to sort the chaff from the wheat.

I would bet that a substantial percentage of newbies arrive here after doing a basic internet search. Then rather than read the articles that brought them here they ask for some one on one support. Because let's face it, most of the basic questions and the more common advanced ones have been asked and answered a half dozen times each.

Maybe it would be helpful to curate the collection. Some threads that are inaccurate or just confusing could be removed, some kind of embedded tagging system could be used so that the search results can return the best answers first, and categories could be created for the questions that get asked a lot. A sticky post with an official answer could open each thread and older threads answering the question could be moved into the new category. Granted, it's new work with no one to do it, but creating the FAQ categories and the official answers would be a start. Then people could suggest other threads be moved over time rather than having a mod try to do a comprehensive reorganization.

 

[Sierra G]

I agree, fake it till you make it isn't the way to go when the lives of someone livestock or pets are concerned.

But if someone learns something from someone and repeats it, how is that inappropriate? Isn't part of the purpose of being here to share what we have learned, grow, and keep sharing what we learned from someone else?

I suppose that depends on what you mean by "learns". Experience depends on more than one occurance of an event. It goes back to the every problem is a nail if all you have is a hammer. If you "learn" how to treat an egg bound hen you shouldn't think that experience is relevant to a six week old roo. And, while you learned enough to treat your hen, you may not have learned enough to actually diagnose the situation in someone else's hen.

It's about knowing which questions to ask as much as about which answers you give.

And about finding a balance between the situations you can help with and the ones you should leave alone.

 

[Geena]

answered a half dozen times each.

More like a half a million.

I think your ideas are great, but the problem is that very few people seem to make use of FAQ, sticky posts and such. Apparently it's either too much trouble for them to bother looking around or they just like the attention they receive from posting their own thread, because the same few questions get asked thousands of times, quite often multiple times in the same day by different posters.

 

[Isadora]

More like a half a million.

I think your ideas are great, but the problem is that very few people seem to make use of FAQ, sticky posts and such. Apparently it's either too much trouble for them to bother looking around or they just like they attention they receive from posting their own thread, because the same few questions get asked thousands of times, quite often multiple times in the same day by different posters.

People want what they want when they want it, which is now. Don't want to bother to peruse FAQs when they could ask a question and get it answered fairly quickly.

 

[Sierra G]

I somewhat agree with you. I think those that are most knowledgeable and can help should when they are free to do so. I don’t think it’s fair to say they have to stop doing something on their free time and do this something else. If that were the case they should be considered an employee and be paid.
Just because I have an emergency and ask advice don’t mean jimmy joe has to stop doing whatever and immediately help and for free medical advice I should expect to wait. Now Betty Jane need not be telling me how sorry she is to hear about my problem and offer any advice if she isn’t knowledgeable and is just basing it off what she has googled on the intrawebbs.

I think "the people who are supposed to help save it" is a stretch.

In the first place people new to the forum often haven't bothered to ask for help until a problem has been going on for days. Assuming strangers on the internet will be able to fix a problem you've let progress into something serious is asking too much.

In the second place when you decide to own pets or livestock you're taking responsibility for their welfare. If you pay a vet for help you're sharing the responsibility. But if you're just asking strangers for advice you're still responsible for evaluating what you're told and what you do. If you can't accept that you shouldn't keep chickens or ask for advice.

Most people wouldn't take free medical advice without considering the source. I think applying the same objectivity to chicken health isn't asking too much. As other people have indicated there are any number of resources other than BYC for people to use. And it should be clear to anyone who's seen the site that it's not WebMD for poultry. When people are going to have a baby they'll read 3 books on naming it and two more on care and feeding and maybe a few on education and planning for a baby's future. Reading one book on chicken keeping before you buy a half dozen chicks at TSC doesn't seem like asking too much. It's certainly preferable to raising them in your bathtub and asking "the people who are supposed to help" every time a new problem arises.

 

[chickmamato7]

I ran a large homeschool list that went through similar growing pains. Religious vs non-religious, political opinions... some people just can't accept different views and seem to thrive on instigation.

Rather than lock peaceful and sincere threads that got hijacked, I placed the persistent trouble makers on moderated status. The trouble makers could only post if I approved their messages. I also required new members to read and accept the rules for posting before accepting their membership to the group. A monthly reminder of the rules was sent automatically to the membership. Peace was restored and my group survived for 20 years without further (major) issue.

I also found myself battling misinformation regarding the homeschool regulations. It was imperative to the group's reputation that only accurate information be disseminated. I spent many hours correcting misinformation, often at times that were not convenient to my personal life. Finally I made a commonly asked questions link and any time a similar question was asked, I just clipped and pasted. I also released informational posts at the relevant time of year that the questions were typically asked. I could see that working well with chickens, since spring often brings rooster and broody hen issues and winter brings heating the coop questions...

 

[Sierra G]

People want what they want when they want it, which is now. Don't want to bother to peruse FAQs when they could ask a question and get it answered fairly quickly.

I agree completely. But the FAQ is a resource, and it's always there. There are threads where people did a cry for help and there were no responses. Makes me wonder what they did next and what the outcome was.