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Reading the comments on the site is eye-opening. A very common refrain of "That's nice, but obviously not something a real person could do." I am FAR below the

Reading the comments on the site is eye-opening. A very common refrain of "That's nice, but obviously not something a real person could do." I am FAR below the technical knowledge of the average HN poster, but nothing there felt so complex that I couldn't sit down and figure it out if I made the effort. Learning everything I'd need to know about chickens to get to the point of needing that feels like a much bigger task than that.

CamperBob2 7y ago
I especially liked the comment "Yeah, but how hot does it get?" right below a 24-hour time/temperature graph with 0.1C resolution. That chicken box is better-instrumented than your average hydrogen maser.
- Talanes 7y ago
  I honestly respected that comment more than a lot of the others, because at least they showed an attempt at understanding. Though I'm not sure whether to attribute their comment on daytime temp in contrast to the articles focus on nighttime temp to their misunderstanding of the projects intent, or my misunderstanding of chickens.
wil421 7y ago
My father in law uses smart switches and timers with servos. His roost has a lot of flaps that can open for ventilation. He has a a few cheap Chinese cameras looking over everything. I’ve been looking after his chickens and one of the roosters keeps attacking me. If he keeps it up he’s going in my gumbo.
- serf 7y ago
  >I’ve been looking after his chickens and one of the roosters keeps attacking me. If he keeps it up he’s going in my gumbo. I get that it's likely that these animals are being raised for food or eggs, but let's chart out the logic here. "A rooster, a naturally territorial animal, is aggressive towards a temporary caretaker -- if he continues this natural behavior, the temporary caretaker is going to kill him for meat as vengeance for being attacked." Two problems : 1)A naturally territorial animal is expected to act otherwise, especially towards an unknown or out-of-the-norm caretaker 2) The roosters' behavior is an excuse to butcher the animal for meat even if not otherwise planned or warranted. This is all implied with the 'If he keeps it up..'. I understand that it's (probably) just a cutesy aside comment; but I think that there being a motivation for butchery other than meat ("That chicken is a trouble maker, let's kill him early") adds a layer of cruelty to the otherwise (somewhat) morally balanced and benign proposition of rearing animals for personal sustenance. (yes, I raise chickens.)
  - fit2rule 7y ago
    The rooster thinks the new guy is an inferior who needs to fall in line with the rest of the hens. All the new guy needs to do is fall in line, eh ..
  - wil421 7y ago
    The roosters are illegal and only a few months olds. You cannot reliably sex the chicks or eggs. Doesn’t matter if they attack me or not. My brother in law already had a visit from the county giving him a couple days to remove the rooster. They come back to verify it’s gone.
intopieces 7y ago
What disappointed me about those comments was they seemed dismissive when they could have been curious. “I’m not familiar with x, it would really help me get this started, any tips on how to learn more?” Would have been a lot more beneficial.

CamperBob2 7y ago

I especially liked the comment "Yeah, but how hot does it get?" right below a 24-hour time/temperature graph with 0.1C resolution. That chicken box is better-instrumented than your average hydrogen maser.

Talanes 7y ago
I honestly respected that comment more than a lot of the others, because at least they showed an attempt at understanding. Though I'm not sure whether to attribute their comment on daytime temp in contrast to the articles focus on nighttime temp to their misunderstanding of the projects intent, or my misunderstanding of chickens.

wil421 7y ago

My father in law uses smart switches and timers with servos. His roost has a lot of flaps that can open for ventilation. He has a a few cheap Chinese cameras looking over everything. I’ve been looking after his chickens and one of the roosters keeps attacking me. If he keeps it up he’s going in my gumbo.

serf 7y ago
>I’ve been looking after his chickens and one of the roosters keeps attacking me. If he keeps it up he’s going in my gumbo. I get that it's likely that these animals are being raised for food or eggs, but let's chart out the logic here. "A rooster, a naturally territorial animal, is aggressive towards a temporary caretaker -- if he continues this natural behavior, the temporary caretaker is going to kill him for meat as vengeance for being attacked." Two problems : 1)A naturally territorial animal is expected to act otherwise, especially towards an unknown or out-of-the-norm caretaker 2) The roosters' behavior is an excuse to butcher the animal for meat even if not otherwise planned or warranted. This is all implied with the 'If he keeps it up..'. I understand that it's (probably) just a cutesy aside comment; but I think that there being a motivation for butchery other than meat ("That chicken is a trouble maker, let's kill him early") adds a layer of cruelty to the otherwise (somewhat) morally balanced and benign proposition of rearing animals for personal sustenance. (yes, I raise chickens.)
- fit2rule 7y ago
  The rooster thinks the new guy is an inferior who needs to fall in line with the rest of the hens. All the new guy needs to do is fall in line, eh ..
- wil421 7y ago
  The roosters are illegal and only a few months olds. You cannot reliably sex the chicks or eggs. Doesn’t matter if they attack me or not. My brother in law already had a visit from the county giving him a couple days to remove the rooster. They come back to verify it’s gone.

intopieces 7y ago

What disappointed me about those comments was they seemed dismissive when they could have been curious. “I’m not familiar with x, it would really help me get this started, any tips on how to learn more?” Would have been a lot more beneficial.