Recent content by VHoff

A sunny day in January made for a happy flock

Oh, wow, I had no idea! Thanks for the clarification.

What does that actually mean? I'm not familiar with the term in this context.

Thank you! I think parenting is difficult work for human children and animal "children" alike-- hard love is always going to be difficult to mete out, but one hopes for happy and healthy children in the end who may (or may not) appreciate your efforts.

I appreciate the full range of suggestions with the understanding that there may be different approaches and different experiences for everyone. I also don't take much as absolute-- rather, I try to synthesize what others say and adapt it to my circumstances using my common sense and instinct...

Good to know about the hen/chick bonding period. Marans are supposed to be very good mothers, but I don't know how the bonding issue might affect that. Yeah, I'm OK with processing adult chickens that will also end up as dinner, but I think I'm too much of a wuss to kill chicks myself. If I...