Jennifer Sartell

Chickens are some of the most varied animals ever domesticated by humans. The APA recognizes 65 breeds alone and there are many, many more hobby breeds, fancy breeds, and interesting egg layers beyond that.   Have you ever found a chicken on an internet search and wished you could have a few of that breed, […]

Spring is coming!…Well, not for a while, but it’s nice to think about anyway. In Michigan, the winters are long and depressing. I just read an article titled “Every State, Ranked by How Miserable its Winters Are” with Michigan coming in second to Minnesota. We even beat Alaska! Um…yay?   After the holidays I always […]

It gets dark here in Michigan around 5:30 now. The forced winter hibernation has begun. Zach and I have been scrambling after he gets home from work to take advantage of the waning daylight hours to rush through outdoor projects before the sun sets. Last night we worked on goat fencing with the Jeep headlights […]

Building a coop is probably the biggest expense you’ll invest in keeping chickens. And it’s best to do it right the first time. If you have a well designed coop it will aid in ease of cleaning, protect your flock and add charm to your property. It’s good to do a lot of research before […]

Most chicken keepers are pretty passionate about their flock. At the mere mention of chickens you can bet to rile a heartfelt conversation detailing the things they love best about their collection of birds. By the end of the conversation, they’ll probably be trying to convince you to get your own flock. Chicken keepers like […]

I’m a couple weeks behind in my year of the chicken updates. For those of you who are just starting with the series, The Year of the Chicken is where I follow one of our chickens from egg to laying hen. To see the last post visit The Year of the Chicken: Collecting Hatching Eggs. […]

Ducks are not chickens.   This may seem like an obvious statement but if you’re a seasoned chicken keeper and want to get into to ducks, know that they have very different needs and present a unique set of obstacles.   I have a soft spot for ducks. I find them simply adorable. Not that […]

The Iron Oak Farm Year of the Chicken   It’s Spring! And for most, the chicken keeping year starts in the spring. Perhaps you’re bringing home your first chicks, or maybe last year’s pullets are beginning to lay. Maybe you’re collecting eggs for the incubator, or maybe you’re a seasoned chicken keeper who’s just thankful […]

I thought with the new chick season among us, some of you might be considering adding a few turkeys to the backyard flock. Our local feed store usually gets in a variety of fowl in addition to chickens; including ducks, guineas, turkeys and last year they even had quail and geese. One of the most […]

It’s that time of year again! We visited our local feed store to buy goat grain the other night, and as soon as the sliding doors parted we could hear the familiar “peep, peep, peeping” of all the new 2016 baby chicks. When I was a teenager, I remember there was only one store in […]