Great idea for larger livestock, such as sheep, goats, cattle, etc.; but generally not such a great idea for chickens. Even trained livestock guardian dogs that are good with other animals have been known

Most of the people I know who raise chickens cull the extra roosters and older hens at least annually. It just makes good economic sense not to keep feeding animals that aren't producing something of value.

Hey, @riverflows, fancy meeting you here, after so long! I grew up in Monterey Park, California, which is a suburb of Los Angeles, and my mom always loved organic gardening and landscaping, complete with

Lovely read, my friend! I've missed you, and all my Hive peeps! Great food for thought as I head off to bed. Take care!

Actually, having majored in biology, anatomically we are omnivores, which is why we have both flat molars for breaking down tough plants, and canines for tearing meat. And a study of the way our digestive

At this point, I can't yet say from personal experience, as I haven't had enough of each kind to compare in any meaningful way. Most our birds are supposed to be purebreds, aside from the two hen crosses

The Swedish Flower chickens now have their own coop and run, separate from the other chickens, so any eggs we get from them now, we automatically know are purebred. The two Svart Hona roosters are now

Fellow plant hoarder here, mine are currently mostly in the house, because it has been freezing each night for the past couple of weeks. I need to increase the humidity for them to be happier. It's too

Oh, I am SO on the same page. I've loved mushrooms since I was a kid, and one of the things that excited us when we first looked at the place we ultimately bought was that we found some past-their-prime

I'd be interested in your insights along these lines. I've been considering this as well.

I can relate, and I agree. The vast majority of my Hive is powered up, and I don't personally want to power down, even to take advantage of an arbitrage opportunity. But I completely understand, and agree

Hey, @riverflows, great to hear from you! Sorry for not seeing this earlier, but we've been crazy busy, or maybe just crazy, as usual. Hopefully things will calm down a little and I'll be able to write

Indeed it was, and it really was unintentional. The universe has a seriously warped sense of humor. Always has. ;-)

Looks identical to our Toby when he was a baby. He never developed the red markings on the side of his head, which led us to realize that he is not a red eared slider, but a closely related species. My

Looks like a fun time was had by all, with the obvious exception of the carp. ;-) Funny thing, my husband and his daughter, now 31, have a longstanding tradition that carp don't actually exist, which leads

He and his lovely wife have . . . five kids, if I remember correctly? AND he gardens, and fish wastes are FABULOUS for the garden. NONE of those fish will go to waste. ;-) Plus, and I can't believe I didn't

Right there with you. I remember being completely shocked when I learned about the black town of Rosewood, Florida, being entirely destroyed, and its residents either killed or driven away, which happened

Hey you, @dreemsteem, fancy meeting you here! Lovely to read your piece! One of my best friends in Florida has both an outdoor shower, and a purple claw-footed bathtub, which are situated on a wood and

Yeah, I was at work when Challenger exploded, and didn't even hear about it until that evening, when a waitress at the restaurant where my dad played piano asked if I'd heard about it, and I said yes,

Ah, mildly envious, as I've not yet made it to the UK, despite the vast majority of my heritage hailing from there, primarily Scottish, Irish, and English, though I'm pretty sure that there has to be Welsh