I live in a suburban area, I have just over 1/4 acre & I have 8 standard size hens, no roosters. I picked breeds based on their beauty, ability to lay even in cold weather, cold hardiness, no white eggs, friendly & not flighty. I originally wanted 6 birds of 6 breeds but I now have 8. I ordered 25 from MM hacthery in March of 2006 & adopted the rest out to other local chicken pet people. I thought one was a rooster, but she was my DH's favorite-so I kept another one like her in case we had to give her away. I also had a sick chick that I thought would die, so I kept another of her breed but she turned out fine. So now I have 1 barred rock-mine is not really friendly like most are but she's pretty & a great layer 1 black australorp-she is an ok layer, the leader of my flock, beautiful & a total lap chicken 1 silver laced wyandotte-she is a good layer, very pretty & friendly 1 redstar(sex-link)-a prolific layer of big brown eggs, pretty & friendly 2 buff orpingtons-one lays regularly, the other that was sick doesn't lay at all yet. They are super friendly & loveable & so elegant looking 2 Easter egger mutts-one lays bluish eggs, the other sage green. They are by far the most flighty and skittish, but are so unique with their muffs & beards & great markings. They are quite docile when being handled by me. The blue/green eggs are a must have for us. My flock has a small coop & run, but they free range my fenced backyard everyday. They eat tons of bugs & more grass, flowers, plants than you can imagine. There is something about the same/similar breeds sticking together and I can see why some people don't like to have a small flock comprised of so many breeds. Have you considered predators in your area? will your tractor be secure enough? Good luck, deciding to keep chickens has been very rewarding & more fun than I imagined.

I really like the greens and think I would go with the lighter green. You've really got me rethinking my girls' room now too. I used light pink and have Pottery Barn bedding with big pink cabbage roses -- one with a pale yellow background and one with a pale blue. I was using dark pink accents. I think your green idea would be wonderful in my girls' bedroom too -- can I steal it?? ;) Oh, I have 4 year old twin girls as well. Are yours identical or fraternal? I have a blonde and a brunette. Lis

We have Marvin Wood/Clad, low-E 2, argon, dbl-hung, casement and french doors and they are five years old now. We are in central CA, south of SF Bay. I am not a pro, just a homeowner. I have no first-hand experience with the other two brands you listed nor did I research them (2002-2003). We did research Milgard, Pella and Andersen and saw Loewen at a friend's house. So the experience here is just on Marvin, not a direct comparison. Everything could have changed since five years ago. We wanted wood interior to stain so we required the best looking woodwork. The best looking woodwork at the time was by Marvin with stainable matching wood screen for the casement. They had very tight tolerance and were beautifully finished. The extruded AL and Kynar coating used on the cladding helped our decision. We also had a few simple custom requests and Marvin, at the time, was the one that had no problems meeting them. If all things were equal, the ability to customize and the woodwork quality would be given the most weights in our decision. It was then one of the more expensive bids but we have no regrets. After five years, they have been through 115-F heat and 25-F cold, exposed to direct sun, some snow, several hail storms, hit by balls, bikes, frisbees, some wind-whipped gravel and everything still works like new so far. No discernible fading yet. In terms of comfort, they have kept us relatively cool in the summer and pleasantly warm in the winter due to the low-E and argon. No nasty cold draft, no condensation except the bathroom one due to high internal humidity. Installation was top notch so they keep our house very quiet inside. We are in a state listed wildfire zone so we needed AL clad and tempered glass to resist the heat of wild fires. These ones do have metal spacer between the glass panes and we have learned that it is not the best in terms of limiting thermal transmission. We do not know if Marvin has changed that. With the large differences in price, you may want to carefully compare the three in terms of construction, material and then see which fits your application requirements. For example, if the intent is to paint, and they are all more or less equal in quality, then go with the cheapest. If the intent is to stain, then the best woodwork is important. If you plan to live in the house forever, it pays to get something you will be most happy with day to day for the next 20 years. Good luck!

So I prefer the second door over the first. Traditional wooden mullions fit with the second door, not the first, in my opinion. If you had mullions with the first door, the interior edges are not routed, so the mullions wouldn't be either, correct, so that would look kind of clunky to me (just straights sticks of wood with no edge detail), I don't know if I'ver ever seen it like that? And I'm wondering if that's why it's not offered. With the second door having the interior routed edge, that's also how your mullion would be, keeping it from looking awkward. I would be leery of stark white, though, just a preference, I know there are many others who love it and can make it look great for their space, I just prefer softer white. From the photos shown, I can't see a difference though. I had a hard time choosing to do mullions or not as well. Ultimately I chose not to. I got wavy glass to add extra interest and I'm pleased with my choice. I would definitely not call the second one fussy if that's your hesitation. Although mullions will make it look more traditional. If you had that second door and plain glass, I would call that maybe transitional if I had to put a label on it, still think it can be simple style depending on whatever else you use.