by Meredith Chilson   One feather amongst many. The ground in the chicken yard and the floor under the roosts in the coop are littered with feathers this week, as the chickens shed their faded, tattered plumage, and the annual molt begins.   This feather was different than the others. Larger, longer, and imbued with a […]

by Jennifer Sartell of Iron Oak Farm We’ve already had several fires in the wood burning furnace this September and it’s not even officially Autumn. We live in Michigan and last year our area of the state received record snow falls and temperatures 30 below zero. According to the Farmers Almanac, we’re in for another […]

by Meredith Chilson My first flock of chickens was one day old when I picked up my order at a local all-purpose hardware store.  I’d ordered “straight run” –thinking I would have some hens for eggs, some young roosters for meat and one fine rooster to perpetuate the flock. The plan worked out fairly well. […]

by Meredith Chilson Once upon a time, a chicken hatched some eggs.  Now, I understand that this happens all the time, but this time was different.  The eggs belonged to another hen.  They were adopted. The mother hen was very happy to finally have a brood of her own.  She was particularly fond of her roo-chick, […]

by Liz Hessen of For the Love of Chicken Poop In the beginning we said no roosters – NEVER ever! Well, Harry said ‘no, never ever’ to getting a rooster. A long time ago he also said ‘no’ to chickens. Then ‘maybe’ one or two. So six hens and almost two years later we have […]

by Jennifer Sartell of Iron Oak Farm I am very pleased with the collection of roosters we have at the farm. They’re pleasant birds that get along nicely with one another. They’re gentle with our hens and I don’t have to worry about visitors approaching our roos. This hasn’t always been the case…sometimes you just […]

by Jennifer Sartell of Iron Oak Farm Sometimes when I’m writing these posts I forget that many of our readers are new to chickens. Or maybe want chickens, or are simply interested in chickens and are still in the learning phase of their venture. I’ve had chickens for more than half my life which makes […]

by Meredith Chilson Many backyard flocks have a rooster or two—to protect the hens as well as to help create the next generation of chickens.  We had a lovely Buff Orpington rooster living in our family’s coop for a while, in fact. The family rooster I’m going to tell you about now, though, is only […]

by Shannon Cole of Country Girl In The Village I first became interested in backyard chickens almost four years ago. Two friends of mine were starting flocks and I could not resist the excitement that came with getting that first set of day old chicks. My requirements in getting backyard chickens were a little different […]

by Rebecca Nickols I can’t believe this hasn’t happen before! Out of the three sets of chicks that I’ve raised since I entered the world of chicken farming, this is the first time I’ve had a pullet turn out to be a cockerel! I had my suspicions early on…  She (he) grew faster than the other […]