Goodbye PP

[RichmondHens]

Just tried an experimental log in and found a message that it has now closed.

End of an era.

But looking forward to lots of chat on this forum.

 

[Minorcafan]

Day earlier than I'd expected

 

[happy hen]

Bye bye PP .

 

[dinosaw]

Sorry to hear that's finally it for PPF. The interesting thing is that this forum would probably be going the same way without you folks arriving here. It was only the beginning of April that we were talking about the lack of traffic here and that Tim was considering whether it was worth the cost of hosting the forum relative to the traffic. It has certainly transformed things here in a positive way if that is any consolation.

 

[LadyA]

There was a long sort of "reminiscences" conversation on FB about the pp forum at, I suppose its height. I think I joined there in about 2008, and it was buzzing at that time, and for several years after. The magazine was also extremely popular during those years. I suppose the recession was partly responsible for the decline. Then bird flu threw a scare into a lot of people who were thinking of/keeping a couple of hens in the garden. I think there's been a bit of a decline in the whole "homesteading"/do it yourself/grow it yourself/more simple lifestyle movement that was around a few years ago too, which is a pity. But really, I suppose, the backyard keepers, with three or four hens, were the backbone of pp forum, although we relied heavily on the more experienced members, who knew genetics, breeding, raising chicks, etc. etc. and there was a heck of a lot of expertise available there. Then, life changed for a lot of the core members, which meant they no longer were able to keep hens. And there was no one coming up to replace them. And then, I'm sure this past Winter, with the lockdown, and birds having to be kept under cover I'm sure put a lot of small keepers off the idea, and probably some large operations out of business completely. Although, it's one of the reasons I decided to get chickens again! Because I felt it was such a waste that here I was with the perfect set up for those circumstances. Huge, secure, covered run, secure house. And no chickens! Seemed a shame not to use the facilities!

The main thing is, now that pp is gone, to make sure this forum doesn't go the same way, for lack of use. And that's down to all of us.

 

[Cathy]

I used to sell the odd chicken, only surplus from my mad breeding plans, and that is difficult now. It was a craze for a lot of people but sadly it seems to have passed. I love my chooks, except when the growers say they have NEVER seen that hen house before and no way are they going to bed in it.
I am sad PP went, but there were so few people posting.
Where are these FB discussions taking place?

 

[LadyA]

I used to sell the odd chicken, only surplus from my mad breeding plans, and that is difficult now. It was a craze for a lot of people but sadly it seems to have passed. I love my chooks, except when the growers say they have NEVER seen that hen house before and no way are they going to bed in it.
I am sad PP went, but there were so few people posting.
Where are these FB discussions taking place?

It was at the beginning of the week. not on the practical poultry page, just former forummers (say that very quickly! ) who are FB "friends", who had found out that the forum was closing.