We're calling this one early: slamming the coop door shut on app-vertising is the right move, and we're clucking thrilled about it. The mod team has been drowning in modmail requests to pitch, mostly AI-generated, apps, and frankly, our little corner of the internet isn't a billboard. If you've ever had a chicken crash-land in your life after a family emergency, as one reader did in Chickens crash-land in my life after Dad's accident: help a clueless newbie out, you know the last thing you need is someone trying to sell you a gadget while you're figuring out which end of the chicken gets the feed. This space is for that kind of real, messy, feather-flying support, not for sales pitches dressed up as "helpful tools."
What does this mean for you, practically? It means that when you post a frantic question about whether your five-week-old Easter Eggers are boys or girls, like the reader in Help me egg-samine these 5-week-old Easter Eggers: boys or girls, the comments won't be cluttered with links to a tracking app or a coop-cam subscription. Rule 1, no sales, now covers even free apps, because "free" is just the opening bid in a longer negotiation for your attention. The mods aren't banning the apps themselves; they're banning the pitches. If an app is genuinely useful, let the community discover it organically, the same way we discover that a chicken's cutest pose is when they turn into a puddle of pure softness, as another reader shared in When your feathered friend turns into a puddle of pure cuteness. That's earned sharing, not a cold DM.
The specific takeaway here is simple: if you've built something you think the flock needs, the right way to share it is to participate first. Post your chicken photos, ask for egg-samination help, swap stories about your dad's ICU chickens. Build trust. Then, if the community asks what app you use, you can answer. But the moment a modmail starts with "I'd like permission to advertise," the answer is already no. The coop is closed to sales, and we're keeping it that way. The question worth watching now is whether the app-makers will actually stick around to be part of the community, or if they'll just move on to the next subreddit with a softer rule.