Discussions
Reply to: If you just started gardening or raising chickens/rabbits, how has it gone? Posted June 21, 2020

I love it!  We only have 4 laying hens that my DIL bought off a farmer friend.  Buying laying hens rather than chicks was the way for us to go, as we wanted eggs immediately, so we missed the chick phase.  I find them delightful animals!  They greet me when I come out, love my table scraps, and are crazy about all the clover, dandelions, and other weeds we throw in.  What have I learned?  It’s not a cheap investment in money or time.  You have to buy or cobble together the coop, the runs, the food, the straw, the waterer and feeders, and you have a patch of ruined yard, poop you have to clean, and frustrating chases of the occasional escapees.  But, they are an ongoing source of protein, you can compost the poop, they teach our youngsters how our animals require consistent and conscientious care and attention, and they really are  fun to be around. I doubt we’ll be eating them (we named them, of course) but it makes me feel good to have that option should things get really bad.

Reply to: Wuhan coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Posted June 21, 2020

My family has some serious health issues which require frequent visits to the doctor/hospital.  While I do have a supply of N95’s, I gave half away to a nurse in Seattle when the crisis started, and am now running low. Plus, I hate wearing the darn things, especially the homemade cloth ones.  So, I have been following the research out there on the efficacy of face shields (just one example:  https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2765525) and it appears very promising.  I decided to buy some American-made ones after reading about Georgia Institute of Technology engineers working on PPE. You can get really cheap ones, many from China, and they are probably fine, but I wanted one that was engineered carefully.   I decided on this one “www.myvisorshield.com” as it appeared to be a quality product, and it offered two sizes to work with shorter or longer face/necks.  Have you wonderful people done any investigating on visor shields you could share with us?

Reply to: Wuhan coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Posted February 26, 2020
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Reply to: If you just started gardening or raising chickens/rabbits, how has it gone? Posted June 21, 2020

I love it!  We only have 4 laying hens that my DIL bought off a farmer friend.  Buying laying hens rather than chicks was the way for us to go, as we wanted eggs immediately, so we missed the chick phase.  I find them delightful animals!  They greet me when I come out, love my table scraps, and are crazy about all the clover, dandelions, and other weeds we throw in.  What have I learned?  It’s not a cheap investment in money or time.  You have to buy or cobble together the coop, the runs, the food, the straw, the waterer and feeders, and you have a patch of ruined yard, poop you have to clean, and frustrating chases of the occasional escapees.  But, they are an ongoing source of protein, you can compost the poop, they teach our youngsters how our animals require consistent and conscientious care and attention, and they really are  fun to be around. I doubt we’ll be eating them (we named them, of course) but it makes me feel good to have that option should things get really bad.

Reply to: Wuhan coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Posted June 21, 2020

My family has some serious health issues which require frequent visits to the doctor/hospital.  While I do have a supply of N95’s, I gave half away to a nurse in Seattle when the crisis started, and am now running low. Plus, I hate wearing the darn things, especially the homemade cloth ones.  So, I have been following the research out there on the efficacy of face shields (just one example:  https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2765525) and it appears very promising.  I decided to buy some American-made ones after reading about Georgia Institute of Technology engineers working on PPE. You can get really cheap ones, many from China, and they are probably fine, but I wanted one that was engineered carefully.   I decided on this one “www.myvisorshield.com” as it appeared to be a quality product, and it offered two sizes to work with shorter or longer face/necks.  Have you wonderful people done any investigating on visor shields you could share with us?

Reply to: Wuhan coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Posted February 26, 2020