Audrey - So glad to hear your bantie rooster is okay and on his way to recovery. Plucky little fellow! Hope you solve the problem of the other roos so he can rejoin the flock when he is well. Maybe you can find someone who has experience to help you out the first time or two. It's not as bad as you may imagine and if done well the chicken does not have time to be frightened or feel more than fleeting pain. Sheila - If you have only a small flock of hens, the only culling you will be forced to do will be for illness or injury. And we have those issues to face for any pet. It's those pesky oversexed cockerels who cause the problems. The downside of having a roo and raising chicks. Clairegrace - You are absolutely right about there being less fighting when there are several roos than just two. My reason for posting was mainly to draw attention to just that point so other people won't make the same mistake I did. Ceresone - I think I understand how you feel. I used to hunt in my youth but at 55 there is no way I would want to unless I were in a survival situation. One's perspective changes as one ages and nothing wrong with that. But you do have a problem with so many cockerels and eating them is the most practical solution. Sorry I don't have a better suggestion.

Um... okay.

Aisle widths...The NKBA has recommendations of minimum aisles... 6: Work Aisle The width of a work aisle should be at least 42" for one cook and at least 48" for multiple cooks. Measure between the counter frontage, tall cabinets and/or appliances. I would aim for 42" for each aisle for an aisle with no seating (but no less than 36" and only if you have no DW or oven opening into it). 8: Traffic Clearance at Seating In a seating area where no traffic passes behind a seated diner [and not a work aisle or appliances], allow 32" of clearance from the counter/table edge to any wall or other obstruction behind the seating area. a. If traffic passes behind the seated diner, allow at least 36" to edge past. b. If traffic passes behind the seated diner, allow at least 44" to walk past. Since you have appliances behind the island on the seating side (as well as doorways), you should aim for at least 54" b/w the counter edge to the appliance. Are you planning on getting rid of the door directly behind the island? It looks like a basement door, so I don't think you can w/o moving the stairs. All that noted, your kitchen isn't deep enough for those aisles, so you need to make some decisions on how functional you want your kitchen vs what you want, regardless of how it functions. Standard wall runs of cabinets are 25.5" deep...24" cabinet + 1.5" overhang Seating overhang for counter-height should be a minimum of 15" (and skimping won't help...people will take the same amount of space while seated regardless of overhang depth...they'll just be less comfortable with a too-shallow overhang. A human body can be squeezed only so much...) [I was thinking about this Wednesday night as I was seated at an island w/12" overhang for a meeting...no one was able to sit close to the island edge, we were all pushed back and had to lean in to get to the surface of the island...it wasn't very comfortable.] So, if you want an island w/seating in a kitchen, this is what you need for a kitchen depth: 25.5" sink run + 42" aisle + (25.5" on cabinet side of island + 15" seating overhang) + 54" aisle = 162" (13'6") You have 150" or 12'6"...so 12" short. (24" sink run cabinets + 39" aisle + + 42" island + 45" aisle = 150") [That 13' measurement includes the bay window) Now, you can reduce the aisle a little, but not much. Say, make the aisle behind the island 48" to gain 6". However, you're still 6" short. Since the DW is on the aisle b/w the island & sink run, narrowing the aisle 6" isn't really a good idea. Maybe 3", but not 6". Your only real option is to take the extra 3" to 6" from behind the island. But, as Bmorepanic noted, it will limit what you can do when someone is sitting at the island. So, what are you doing w/the bay window space? Have you considered expanding the kitchen into that area and using the DR for all meals and the island for snacks? Dishwasher...I suggest...

Thank you!!!! We were out of town today at a picnic that Uncle Bill was VERY much looking forward to but was unable to attend. They started his Chemotherapy at about 6:00 Saturday night. It is supposed to last for 24 hours, I think thats what my mother in law said. She said that right now they are thinking he will be able to return home on Tuesday so we have a few days to get the membership count up higher. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for your encouraging words and just taking the time to do this for him. I can't tell you how much this means to me. :)