Yes, Roberta, it was reg upon reg, for better or worse, that eventually forced my parents out of their farming livelihood. At middle age, with no formal education they were forced to find city jobs (or move and rebuild the barn etc. etc. etc.). Unfortunately, their story is not unique. I'd love to see a documentary of the saga during this era - but the window is closing. I do have one question related to your comment though, before this thread folds completely. Our pullets aren't laying yet - though one of them jumps into the raised nest box and stirs it up good daily, so it shouldn't be too far off. Our ducks ARE laying however - but their nest box isn't so clean. I'm wondering if the tidy habits chickens keep goes for ducks also...If so, perhaps one of the drakes or the pullets are messing in it. It's ground level and doesn't belong to the pullets (paybacks?). Anyway, I have to tidy it up for them each morning. -lf

Been a long time since anyone posted here.. But I thought I'd give it a go. I live in an area of HIGH predators. I have 2 coops, which 1 has my established flock and the other had the new hens and some rooster's. Well, there was a break in the door of the "new" coop, and we found this out by coming to a scene of horror. One chicken leg with no sign of a body, one chicken with it's head missing, and one that was barely alive and had to be let go from his misery. Needless to say- we had some hens that REFUSED to go back in at night. The next night I put a covering over the entry point and checked on it throughout the night (only until about 1am b/c I found 3 juvenile raccoons inside eating chicken food before, no doubt, another massacre. So I "took care" of that quickly, and covered things much better, fixed the entry point in the morning for good...But there was STILL no getting the hens back in. My black white faced Spanish hens stay in the coop- but the 8 leghorn refused. I try to go out and protect them through the night. Chased some predators away- but still lost 3 hens. I'm grateful to still have the 5. So... Tonight, I FINALLY figured how to get them in the coop- and one by one I did it. I then moved the Spanish hens to the established coop with the new leghorn girls. But as my daughter was closing up the coop- she found that our feisty buff Orpington had at least 3 baby chicks.... I'm thrilled about that! But, I am concerned b/c the plan was to keep everyone inside to get them used to the coop & the situation. I've HATED them in the tree's. Losing 3 hurts- and I would've lost many more if it weren't for sleepless nights. So the ONE night I finally got them in- with the plan to keep them there at least a week or so- I find out chicks are involved. Any idea's??? B/c they're all normally free range. The last time there were chicks- even with a bantam Silkie as their mama- they were fine and still with us. So. It's a big coop, they all get lots of food, water and love. But the new 5 hens are absolutely not used to us #1 and scared of coops #2. I can't stomach the thought of losing one more to the tree's! But I also cannot imagine losing any Of the new chicks b/c I'm making free range chickens stay in the coop!!! (20 hens total & 2 bantam rooster's that are actually dominant among the rooster's from other coop and are fanatic and living protectors of the girls. They were AMAZING protectors or the last chick- but Idk if it's b/c the mama and baby were bantam?) Should I move the mama and baby's? Should I keep all as is & hope for the best, or should I give up on the MONTHS is taken me to finally get the tree dwelling girls to the coop and allow them all to free range per usual!?! Please please if you read this and have ANY insight please help. I don't wish to let any out...I'm so glad I don't have to worry about going out at night to protect the girls in the tree- and I was hoping to use this time to bond with them as I have my other girls (which yes, many are leghorn and they are SO loving and fun. I don't have one chicken owning neighbor who isn't jealous of the relationship I have w/my leghorn. They are so sweet if raised on LOVE!) But I am SHOCKED at my buff Orpington's strength- all 4 of mine are that way! Will they be ok?? She ran a rooster off that got in the coop w/her chicks when my Daughter found them and my daughter said all looked well...shall I keep them in as planned... Or should the new chicks have a normal surrounding to Benin their lives??? HELP

I would have to disagree that you can't grow citrus indoors or that it is a futile quest. Rather I would say that it takes some careful observation and some consideration. (All three of my citrus are indoors and most of my struggles are in trying to figure out how big I can let them get before I take the clippers to them). For humidity, at least in my experience, using an over sized drip tray and pot feet works just fine. As for light, with modern LED grow lights, even a darker home can work to grow a citrus tree or two. Where I would agree is that a citrus is not a standard houseplant in the usual sense of the word. Put in a better way, they won't be a snake plant happy in a darkish corner in a home that averages 74 in winter with no drop at night. So if you like to keep your home on the warmer side, then I would suggest finding a houseplant that doesn't mind it warm and dry. If, on the other hand, you keep your home on the cooler side, say between 68-70 during the day and a drop to 64-66 at night (which can translate to between 60 and 62 by some insulated windows, less if not). And you observe light. And you take care to look to the watering needs of your, specific, environment, (this can be different even for people in the same city), and use a mix that works for where you live. And you take care not to overfertilize, but only give your plant what it needs. And don't worry your plant to death. Then you will do just fine. Without a greenhouse I wouldn't suggest getting multiple trees, as that can become expensive quick. But a tree or two in the brightest and most temperate room in your home won't be impossible. Again, though, it takes some time to determine if the tree will survive. Better to find a cheap houseplant with similar needs and try to keep that alive and thriving, learn what that needs, and then move on to the more expensive tree. As for the houseplant, it may take some trial and error to get it growing right, and you may kill a few before you strike on the right mix of potting soil, light, humidity, water, and fertilizer.

Sadly my VPE died a few weeks ago. It was knocked over some time in August and because of that I discovered that the roots were not growing at all. So I pruned most of the branches, repotted the remaining tree into a much smaller container and brought it inside to a more controlled environment. After that the tree had a big burst of life, it started pushing out flowers as well as new leaves, but they were barely holding to the branches. Literally, any touch would just knock the leaf or flower bud off the branch. In the end every leaf dropped, flowers as well, all branches became brown and it just died. I'm very sad that I couldn't save this beautiful tree. But it gave a start to my now big and rapidly growing citrus collection. I have 22 citrus trees at the moment in all the sizes! I even managed to do a few grafts, just as an experiment. Thank you, Lexi, for helping me discover the wonderful world of citrus growing!