Learn how to set-up your Cornish Cross broiler operation for versatility and efficiency. Anne Gordon shares her tips so your set up can reduce and even eliminate health issues and the sudden death “flip.” [Unless otherwise noted, all photos by author] Each spring and fall, I raise a batch of 25 Cornish Cross pullets. My feed […]

Lots of folks are perfectly happy to incubate their chicken eggs to produce healthy chicks. But some homesteaders really want to work with their broody hens to hatch eggs. Author Amy Fewell shares her experiences and lots of suggestions for efficient hatching with a broody hen. Rocky Beginnings I can still remember thinking that all […]

Blogger Sandy Cryder shares her adventures with her very first flock of chickens. The four Buff Orpington hens in my first flock were beautiful! Large bodied; warm, golden, buff colored feathers; heavy, feathered breasts; full, downy Fluffs; Red wattles and single combs. They lay large, brown eggs starting between 5-7 months of age. Buffs are […]

 First of a three part series on Wry Neck. See the other two parts here: Part 2 Final Part        Our friends and family know Uno’s story well. They know that his Rhode Island Red parents (Red & RooRoo) had a zany relationship. They know that Red lost interest in sitting on her clutch […]

As they say, there’s a first time for everything!  Over the past month I had been hoping a couple of my birds might become broody.  Specifically, I was hoping for a broody chicken but instead a duck made my wish come true. Diller (aka Phyllis Diller) is a small crested duck with a floppy foot. […]

The term anthropomorphism is to assign human traits to animals or inanimate objects. Being active in many livestock forums, farm Facebook groups and other animal specific online communities, I’ve often heard this term used in an accusatory manner. Usually in the comment section of some article or post…people get upset when you claim that animals […]

This post is your guide to all things chicken! Everything from why you should raise chickens, different styles of rearing, choosing breeds that are right for you, designing a coop, keeping you flock healthy and raising chicks. It’s the perfect place to start if you’re just starting out with your first flock, or are interested […]

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 […]

Let me start by saying that we have had a little broodiness before.  No big deal…we moved the chicken out of the nesting box a few times, collected the eggs and all was good.  But this time…no eggs in the nesting box for two days!  The ladies ALWAYS lay their eggs in the same nesting […]

I’m sure you’ve all heard the phrase be careful what you wish for. That might be touching on a bit of what we’re experiencing with our turkey population here. We decided to raise Black Spanish turkeys a few years back for meat and to help with the movement to further the breed’s numbers. The first […]