According to the CDC (Center for Disease Control), Salmonella is one of the most frequently reported food borne illnesses in the US. Salmonella is a bacterial disease that lives in the intestinal tracts of animals (including humans & birds). Approximately 380 people die annually in the United States from the disease which can cause vomiting, …
Chickens
Animals have been an important part of my life since I was born. There was not a day that I didn’t count my family members not just as the humans I loved, but also the numerous cats, dogs, fish, hamsters, gerbils, and more that shared our home while I was growing up. My parents divorced …
Combs, wattles & lobes – oh my! What is up with all those fleshy bits on your chicken’s head? A comb is the fleshy growth that sits on top of the head of chickens (and some other domesticated birds like pheasants & turkeys). Not to be confused with a wattle, which is a fleshy growth …
While chickens do make lovely pets, most people are lured into chicken keeping by the promise of delicious fresh eggs provided daily by their flock. When that doesn’t happen and you have to *gasp* buy eggs at the grocery store in disgrace it’s natural to start wondering what you are doing wrong! One of the …
They say that chickens are the “gateway” animal to further farming adventures. When you are ready to skip through that gateway and expand your farm, lots of people look to adding different kinds of poultry. Common backyard poultry includes turkeys, geese, guineas, & ducks – turkeys are quite large and geese & guineas are quite …
Winter is coming. The mornings are getting brisk as I’m filling up the feed bowl. It won’t be long before I have to dig out the heated water bowls, hauling water to the coop with buckets instead of using the convenience of a hose. My trusty shovel will be placed next to the back door …
Who doesn’t love the idyllic thought of chickens roaming free over a sunny, grassy, hill? In an ideal world, this would be the life of every chicken. When chickens free range they can nibble on a huge variety of greens, get plenty of protein from tasty bugs, dust bathe with friends, and nap in the …
At the end of last year, my husband and I, on a particularly overwhelming homesteading day decided that 2017 would be “the year of no new animals”. Our little farm has been growing larger and larger each year and I think we were both feeling like it might be time to slow it down a …
In our modern society, many of us have become removed from our food and there are lots of myths swirling around about eggs. One of the most common (and unlikely!) fears surrounding eggs is that you could pull an egg from the fridge, crack it open, and out pops a fully formed chick. So let’s …
For the past several years, chickens have been growing in popularity as people become more interested in knowing where their food comes from, and desire to live a more natural lifestyle. But they are so much more than just egg factories! Watching chickens scratch about the yard is relaxing and stressing reducing activity after a …