Over the past couple of years I’ve grown to love a few products that help simplify and improve how I care for my flock.  From ducks to turkeys to chickens, I found what works best and a few others that weren’t worth the money spent. Hopefully through our trial and error here on 25 Acres, […]

How to Create an All-Weather Dust Bath Dust baths are important for maintaining a healthy, happy flock. But what do you do when the ground is frozen or covered in snow? Make an all-weather dust bath for your chickens! We live in a part of the Western US that experiences cold winters but rarely gets […]

The first snowfall of the season happened the other day.  Although beautiful to me, it was a bit of a shock to the new girls in the chicken coop.  When I opened the door to let the chickens out in the morning, none of them eagerly came out as they normally would.  In this picture, […]

I let my chickens roam free – I couldn’t do it any other way. Free range chickens are the secret to a super productive garden. They spread their manure around for you, keep insects under control and even turn your compost. And I love watching them forage around the backyard. They all have their own […]

After losing three hens to poisonous edibles in the woods behind the coop, I had to come up with a safe free-range solution for my girls. After doing a little research, I discovered these “Chunnels” on the internet and made a modified version that I felt would suit our needs. They give Mom a sense […]

It was the same old story. USDA pamphlets recommended one nest for every five layin’ hens. I had a dozen of the “girls,” and the only commercially available chicken nests were huge metal banks of ten compartments apiece. I wouldn’t have needed that many even if I could have afforded them. So I decided to […]

Having a coop full of chickens can be great. Some people breed chickens as a hobby, while others have chickens for the fresh eggs and the fresh meat. Whatever your reasons are for having a coop, you need to keep them warm and safe during the cold, winter months. Chickens are very strong birds. As […]

Daylight hours decrease and cooler weather approaches as Autumn settles in all around us.  As you can see in this picture, some of the trees are bare, and so are the nesting boxes.  Fall is a common time for molting chickens and fewer (or no) eggs.  Even other chicken owners that usually sell eggs have covered […]

I’m stuck in a coop and I can’t get out!     I wish I could say the headline is a joke, but it’s not.  I also wish I could laugh about it, like the saying ‘someday you’ll laugh about it,’ suggests.  It’s only been a month since the coop ordeal. I’m sure someday I […]

Construct a Chicken Moat for Effective Garden Pest Control A chicken moat is not a waterway, but it does provide a protective enclosure for the garden. Weeds, insects, rabbits, ground hogs and even deer are barred from entry by the double wall of fencing and the ever-diligent patrol flock. All in all, it’s a clever […]