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 …
Backyard Chickens
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 …
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 …
Humans have been using herbs for culinary & health benefits for as long as history has been recorded. Just like humans, wild birds have been observed gathering herbs for their nest or sampling them straight from your garden. So it should come as no surprise that herbs can also have a beneficial effect on …
Summer time may be exciting for humans, but for your chickens it could be deadly. Chickens can withstand the cold much easier than they can handle extreme heat. Heat Stress and Heat Stroke When temperatures get into the 80s, you should keep an eye on your flock and begin to use the tips below …
This is one of those questions that long time chicken keepers all have strong opinions on. Should you worm your chickens regularly or should you rely on dietary supplements to keep them healthy? In the end, it’s a question that every flock owner needs to answer for themselves based on their on their own personal …
Most people get into chicken keeping lured in by the promise of fresh eggs (then they discover there is more to love than just eggs)! Egg quality largely depends on the diet of the chicken, so it makes sense that backyard hens would have superior eggs. With their access to bugs, grass, and a variety …
It’s that time of year again. Winter is nearly upon us. It’s time to start getting ready for the storms that are bound to be on the way. If you live in an area likely to get snow several times, it’s a good idea to make these preparations in early winter. Get ready in advance …