# If you want BYCows to stay the way it is...  Show it!



## GrassFarmerGalloway

The people over at the other BYC are thinking about merging this forum with goats and sheep.  I, personally, think that would ruin things.  We're a group of cow people.  I think it would be best for us.

Do you agree/disagree?  Say!  If you agree with me, PM Nifty and say!

~GFG


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## farmy

I think I agree... its nice to have individual forums for cows. I would like to see them start one for sheep and goats as well, but make it its own forum.  But Im new around here so I dont know how much weight my opinion carries!


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## Farmer Kitty

Post your thoughts here. I will let Nifty know about this thread so he can read your opinions.

And for the record, I believe they should be separate.


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## wynedot55

well i think it needs to stay the way it is.an im not saying no more on the sub.


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## GrassFarmerGalloway

farmy said:
			
		

> I think I agree... its nice to have individual forums for cows. I would like to see them start one for sheep and goats as well, but make it its own forum.  But Im new around here so I dont know how much weight my opinion carries!


Your opinion counts as much as anyones.


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## Farmer Kitty

GrassFarmerGalloway said:
			
		

> farmy said:
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> I think I agree... its nice to have individual forums for cows. I would like to see them start one for sheep and goats as well, but make it its own forum.  But Im new around here so I dont know how much weight my opinion carries!
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> Your opinion counts as much as anyones.
Click to expand...

AGREED!


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## Kute Kitten

I think BYCows should stay a cow fourm, only.


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## Thewife

I vote for cows only!

I'm sure Hubby and the boy would vote cows too! They say this place has already put too may ideas in my head!


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## Imissmygirls

Goats and sheep should have a separate forum. Cows needs to stay just cows.  It would be like saying horses and cows go together. They may have 4 feet but a totally different animal/purpose.  Size matters too. Large animals present different challenges than goats/sheep.
 Playing devil's advocate, the only reason I would see for combining them would be under a homesteading grouping, in which case chickens should join them.
At that point, I quit. I don't have time to wade through all those posts!


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## jhm47

Just because they're ruminants doesn't mean that they should be handled and raised the same way.  Leave things alone.  Give the goat/sheep people their own site, and everyone will be happier.


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## laughingllama75

I vote for keeping this a cows only forum. I like having a section where we can discuss other pets, but to sift out goats and sheep would be too much. JMO


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## kstaven

laughingllama75 said:
			
		

> I vote for keeping this a cows only forum. I like having a section where we can discuss other pets, but to sift out goats and sheep would be too much. JMO


The suggestion was to add subforums for these animals here. Not to intermix the sections. So I do not see a problem with it. The other animals would have there own subforums. Cow sections would still be cow sections. Goat sections would be goat sections etc............


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## laughingllama75

Oooohhhh........my bad! I guess I misunderstood.


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## GrassFarmerGalloway

Hmmm...

I still think that it would be best to leave things the way they are here.  If you're going to have those sections anyway, why not have them under another name?

I see it this way:  We are a small, elite group of people who own some of the largest domesticated animals.  Anyone with half an acre of yard and a little money to burn can have a goat or a sheep.  But not just anyone can have a cow.  We have almost formed a little clan of people who love bovines.  Having a sudden intrusion of goat and sheep people would mess up forum politics.  All of a sudden, it would be harder to know everyone's name.  We wouldn't be as close.

Don't get me wrong, I like goats.  I'm thinking of getting one someday.  But leave the goats people to be goat people and us to be cow people.


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## Farmer Kitty

kstaven said:
			
		

> laughingllama75 said:
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> I vote for keeping this a cows only forum. I like having a section where we can discuss other pets, but to sift out goats and sheep would be too much. JMO
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> The suggestion was to add subforums for these animals here. Not to intermix the sections. So I do not see a problem with it. The other animals would have there own subforums. Cow sections would still be cow sections. Goat sections would be goat sections etc............
Click to expand...

Funny, I don't see any suggestion except to add the goats etc. here.

Here are the posts pertaining to BYCows. They can be found at http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=180006&p=4
Rather than list the first two and repeating it over, this one (the third one) has them in full.


			
				bheila said:
			
		

> Sunny the Hippie Chick said:
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> Reinbeau said:
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> What about backyardherds.com.  Too bad BYCows is already in existence, all herd animals could have been included in there.
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> Maybe they could change backyardcows to backyardherds and include all farm herd animals into it.. It might get that thread going a bit better too.. Its a bit slower than BYC....
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> Click to expand...
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> I think that's a great idea  I don't know if the cow folks would like it too much.  But BYChickens isn't just about chickens either.
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> Nifty, are you reading all of these great ideas? Hmmm?
Click to expand...




			
				Skip said:
			
		

> bheila said:
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> Sunny the Hippie Chick said:
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> Maybe they could change backyardcows to backyardherds and include all farm herd animals into it.. It might get that thread going a bit better too.. Its a bit slower than BYC....
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> I think that's a great idea  I don't know if the cow folks would like it too much.  But BYChickens isn't just about chickens either.
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> Nifty, are you reading all of these great ideas? Hmmm?
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> Click to expand...
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> I'm there, and I don't think we'd want it over there.  We like backyardcows, and that's good enough for us.
Click to expand...

Another one covering a couple posts


			
				conroy said:
			
		

> Rainbow Eggs said:
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> griffin45 said:
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> Cows are covered, why not www.backyardgoatsandsheep.com
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> Chris
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> That's excellent! I'd vote for that one.
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> Click to expand...
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> I didnt see that post  I LIKE IT!!
Click to expand...

My response.


			
				Farmer Kitty said:
			
		

> I'm against merging BYCows and goats. BYCows has been established as a cow site. We have worked hard for it.
> 
> Of course, our membership is smaller than BYChickens.
> 1. BYCows hasn't been around as long.
> 2. While you can have chickens in an apartment or backyard in town you can't do that with a cow. No way to be covert about them and most towns and cities do not allow cows.


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## m.holloway

My 2 cents!! I love it the way it is.


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## Imissmygirls

Comparing chickens to cows is like comparing pennies to thousand dollar bills.  It's money, but surely not the same.   People aren't investing $3.00 in a small pet bird. For all purposes, a beginner's cow is a couple hundred and that is just the start of it.  Literally, None of us can afford to become addicted to cows-- although if anyone hits the lottery it's an option!  Even wynedot has to restrain himself at auctions!! And breeding a herd isn't a hobby, it's an occupation.
So for the chicken folks to group herding animals together is merely the unknowledgible speaking. 
AS for making them a sub-group of BYC, do that many of byc members have goats and sheep that they would be helpful and/or contributing to conversations? If not, you may as well keep them separate.  I know in our area, there is very little overlap in the farm species.  Those families in 4H show one species--very seldom more than one.
Just my 2 cents-- the sheep/goats need their own forum.


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## 1sherman

Hello.   I am a new member...I also belong to BYC.  AND I LIKE BOTH THE WAY THEY ARE NOW.   I have sheep and goats and would love to see a BYS&G....can't we add another and just keep COWS....COWS.....your right they belong to a group by themselves not with other smaller animals....
You said everyone add their two cents worth ...SO I DID....

I have been reading comments for several months and think you are all great....  wandabean


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## WildRoseBeef

I have to agree with everyone on here about this.  I really don't like the idea of a Backyard Herds forum because chances are that the folks that are associated with goats and sheep won't be participating in the discussion or politics on cattle or vice versa.  You can't raise a cow or two in a suburb one-acre back yard; you can with goats and chickens.  Like IMMG and GFG said, we cattle folk are an elite group of people that raise cattle not because it's a hobby or an interest, but because its a way of life, something that is much harder to let go than say sheep, goats or chickens, per say.  With goats and sheep folk getting in the midst of things, we're going to get two separate groups of people that is highly likely to not be communicating with each other on the same forum except on the chat threads.  The goat/sheep people will stay on their goat/sheep subforums or threads or whatever they're called and the cattle folk will stay on their threads/subforums/forums.  Sure this BYCows don't have a lot of members but so what?? This forum is about as active as any forum can be, no matter if we got 2000 less members than BYChickens or the other sister forums.  But the number of members have got nothing to do with this.  It's the fact that if we introduce a few sheep/goat subforums it'll really skew things.  So with that, I would much rather leave BackYardCows as it is from now on and have a separate Goat/Sheep forum for the goat/sheep folks.

And maybe you can add a BYPigs forum in the process. 

That's all I gotta say about that.


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## GrassFarmerGalloway

WildRoseBeef said:
			
		

> I
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> And maybe you can add a BYPigs forum in the process.
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> That's all I gotta say about that.


Ha!

I don't think quite enough people have pigs for THAT yet...


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## kstaven

WildRoseBeef said:
			
		

> I have to agree with everyone on here about this.  I really don't like the idea of a Backyard Herds forum because chances are that the folks that are associated with goats and sheep won't be participating in the discussion or politics on cattle or vice versa.  You can't raise a cow or two in a suburb one-acre back yard; you can with goats and chickens.  Like IMMG and GFG said, we cattle folk are an elite group of people that raise cattle not because it's a hobby or an interest, but because its a way of life, something that is much harder to let go than say sheep, goats or chickens, per say.  With goats and sheep folk getting in the midst of things, we're going to get two separate groups of people that is highly likely to not be communicating with each other on the same forum except on the chat threads.  The goat/sheep people will stay on their goat/sheep subforums or threads or whatever they're called and the cattle folk will stay on their threads/subforums/forums.  Sure this BYCows don't have a lot of members but so what?? This forum is about as active as any forum can be, no matter if we got 2000 less members than BYChickens or the other sister forums.  But the number of members have got nothing to do with this.  It's the fact that if we introduce a few sheep/goat subforums it'll really skew things.  So with that, I would much rather leave BackYardCows as it is from now on and have a separate Goat/Sheep forum for the goat/sheep folks.
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> And maybe you can add a BYPigs forum in the process.
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> That's all I gotta say about that.


And if as you say the various types of animal owners stay in their respective animal sections how will it change the cow discussion? Reality is that it doesn't skew anything. All it does is combine more farm animal interests into an easier to manage format.

Pigs! Will take note of that.  Thanks for the idea.


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## Farmer Kitty

Maybe if someone would tell us a little more about what might happen, if they are merged, it may help. Such as, subforums. Do we keep the catergories we have now? You know, a little bit of how it could be.
As things stand I would say only feathers are being ruffled.


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## Thewife

I admit, I don't want it for my own selfish reasons!
I already get lost trying to keep up here sometimes, more people would mean more post to read, that would lead to more forgetting to go back and post where I was going too!

To be completly honest, after reading around, I think if it does need to be put somewhere, I think this would be the best place for it.
What I would like to see, is more of a homestead type board. Sheep/goat/rabbits/alpacas/llamas and any other odd ball critters people come up with, would be interesting! Maybe some canning, building stuff, sewing, hunting and how to wipe out slugs without hurting my birds?


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## DuckLady

thewife said:
			
		

> and how to wipe out slugs without hurting my birds?


Ducks!
Ducks are voracious slug eaters. (Sorry to go OT)


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## Farmer Kitty

terrielacy said:
			
		

> thewife said:
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> and how to wipe out slugs without hurting my birds?
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> Ducks!
> Ducks are voracious slug eaters. (Sorry to go OT)
Click to expand...

 For those who don't know terrielacy from BYChickens, she's a huge duck fan. 

 to the herd.


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## Thewife

to the herd Terrielacy!

Being a huge duck fan, you know darm well what will happen if I pull the ducks off of border patrol and put them in the garden with my fish pond!


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## DuckLady

Thank you FK and the wife! Glad to be here!


			
				thewife said:
			
		

> to the herd Terrielacy!
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> Being a huge duck fan, you know darm well what will happen if I pull the ducks off of border patrol and put them in the garden with my fish pond!


Yes they will be happy ducks and deservedly so as well!


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## wynedot55

ive know terrilacy for a long long time.back in the days of miss cee cee.


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## kstaven

Farmer Kitty said:
			
		

> Maybe if someone would tell us a little more about what might happen, if they are merged, it may help. Such as, subforums. Do we keep the catergories we have now? You know, a little bit of how it could be.
> As things stand I would say only feathers are being ruffled.


The point is that nothing in the cow section would be taken away or lost. There would just be some new sections added below it that are specific to other animals. Much like when you look at the forum index and see MAIN, BREEDS, SOCAIL. BELOW those you would now see GOATS and then their related topics in that box ........

Done in this way traffic to the cow section would not increase with any unrelated material.


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## Nifty

Hi everybody!



Thank you very much for all your posts, thoughts, and suggestions!

After a *lot *of thought and discussion we're excited to make an announcemnt regarding BackYardCows.com.

*Background:*
We often receive requests to start new forums on a plethora of different animals.  We'd love to be able to create a unique forum for each species, but have found that we'd spread ourselves too thin.   We've been looking at a plethora of options and are happy to have found something that is a win-win situation that will maintain the great resources here at BackYardCows, but also provide a way to help more people with more questions about their own specific herds of animals.

Within the next few days we'll be launching a new site called www.BackYardHerds.com.    This site will have categories for animals from goats and sheep to Llamas and horses.  Instead of maintaining a forum with herds and also a cow forum, we've decided to copy everything from BYC over to the new site in it's own "Cow" section.   This will be the best of both worlds:   People only interested in cows can stick just to that section while those who want to branch out to other areas can do so.

Here's the plan:

1)  Copy everything from BYCows to the new site (BYH)
2)  Ensure that everything is functioning properly
3)  Add all the new Categories (for each animal) and sub forums
4)  Forward the BYCows domain to BYH so all the BYCows links will still work.

Again, we've done a lot of thinking on this and really hope everyone can support us as we take these steps.    There will be a little while of construction and organization, but once the dust settles we expect that we'll be left with an even better community of like minded people able to help out and hang out.  

If you have any questions please let us know.

(on a related note, we hope that those who have experience with some of the other animals will assist us in the development and organization of the new site.  We want this to be something that everyone participates in and helps to create and grow together!)


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## Farmer Kitty

I have been in communications with Nifty. I like what he is proposing. It will still keep BYCows together as we know it. We will still have our special and unique commnunity. It will just be in a big family of communities all aimed at specific animal breeds under one "roof". Stay tuned for more info as things get rolling.


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## Thewife




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## GrassFarmer

thewife said:
			
		

>


Ditto.


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## Farmer Kitty

Come on guys, give it a chance.


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## laughingllama75

I made the first post in the llama section......now just waiting for other llama llovers to find it............


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## reinbeau

laughingllama75 said:
			
		

> I made the first post in the llama section......now just waiting for other llama llovers to find it............


Yes you did, and you may be responsible for me someday getting up the gumption to move - I really want llamas - and I absolutely adore alpacas, but too rich for my blood!


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## GrassFarmer

reinbeau said:
			
		

> laughingllama75 said:
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> I made the first post in the llama section......now just waiting for other llama llovers to find it............
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> Yes you did, and you may be responsible for me someday getting up the gumption to move - I really want llamas - and I absolutely adore alpacas, but too rich for my blood!
Click to expand...



I know it still says cows, but welcome anyway!  No matter what, it's always nice to see new members, and we can still say, WELCOME TO THE HERD!    :bun


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## reinbeau

Thank you, Grass Farmer, I think I'm going to love it here!


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## GrassFarmer

reinbeau said:
			
		

> Thank you, Grass Farmer, I think I'm going to love it here!


That's what I said when I first came here.


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## laughingllama75

Yes, Welcome! Also, alpacas (especially pet quality) have come waaaayy down in price. Here in NH, you can get PQ ones for $200 and up. I am an enabler, so I say Do it! Do it! DO IT!!!


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## reinbeau

laughingllama75 said:
			
		

> Yes, Welcome! Also, alpacas (especially pet quality) have come waaaayy down in price. Here in NH, you can get PQ ones for $200 and up. I am an enabler, so I say Do it! Do it! DO IT!!!


You're kidding - OMG.  My husband would think he died and went to heaven if I was to give him the go-ahead on moving......but my roots are deep here.   We'll see.  I've got some nice pic of alpacas I've taken when we went up to the Common Ground Fair, I'll post them later.


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## Farmer Kitty

reinbeau,
Is it the place your roots are tied too or the area? If it's the area maybe you can get lucky and find something in or around there.


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## reinbeau

Farmer Kitty said:
			
		

> reinbeau,
> Is it the place your roots are tied too or the area? If it's the area maybe you can get lucky and find something in or around there.


It's my home, I've been here for 31 years, my gardens are all around me, I've got mature plantings of stuff that came from my parents - my kids were born here (I moved a lot when I was younger and really hated it).  So, when I say my roots are deep I mean all kinds of roots!  Plus my mother isn't getting any younger, and my sister has some things she's going to need help with later on in life - I'm thinking when Mom isn't with us anymore (that's not going to be for a long time, I hope!) I know my sister would be amenable to moving, and my husband would love it, so it just may happen....someday!


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## m.holloway

Reinbeau,  Welcome to the herd!!! To what it ever may be. This place is like a piece of heaven to me. Everyone is great and very caring!! Hope you stick around Cows or what ever your raising!!


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## Farmer Kitty

reinbeau said:
			
		

> Farmer Kitty said:
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> reinbeau,
> Is it the place your roots are tied too or the area? If it's the area maybe you can get lucky and find something in or around there.
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> It's my home, I've been here for 31 years, my gardens are all around me, I've got mature plantings of stuff that came from my parents - my kids were born here (I moved a lot when I was younger and really hated it).  So, when I say my roots are deep I mean all kinds of roots!  Plus my mother isn't getting any younger, and my sister has some things she's going to need help with later on in life - I'm thinking when Mom isn't with us anymore (that's not going to be for a long time, I hope!) I know my sister would be amenable to moving, and my husband would love it, so it just may happen....someday!
Click to expand...

I can understand those roots! Yes, they would be hard to break and it's more than the gardens as you can take plants with you. It's the memories and the love you have for the place!


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## Nifty

hahaha... for all the cow peeps, here is a quick validation of the coolness of the changes:  http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=2204081#p2204081


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## GrassFarmerGalloway

Love you, Nifty!


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