Coop Cleaning 101: The most important role in chicken keeping is to protect yourself while also protecting your flock. Coop cleaning safely is a must! Poultry, such as chickens, ducks, and turkeys can carry Salmonella among other harmful bacteria. You can easily protect yourself and your home with a pair gloves and rubber boots that […]

This is a companion piece to Liz Fulghum’s article Low-Maintenance Backyard Chickens. Here Liz provides detailed equipment lists and instructions for building a low-maintenance food and water system for your backyard chickens. This DIY food and water system is ideal for a backyard flock of 3 to 6 chickens and for busy urban homesteaders with […]

Chickens provide free compost, fresh eggs, and are extremely helpful garden assistants by turning up soil, eating insects, and keeping weeds at bay. They’re part of the perfect garden trifecta: fruit and vegetables, chickens, and bees. They’re also wonderful on their own, without bees or dedicated vegetable gardens. So if you have some extra space in […]

Chickens are a great addition to any backyard farm or garden and a practical chicken coop will keep them safe. They have amazing personalities and can be good companions. Once you’ve tried their fresh eggs, you’ll never buy another supermarket dozen. Chickens (and other poultry) can give your kids great lessons in responsibility as they […]

I often get asked how many chickens can you reasonably put in a coop. Scouring the internet gives me lots of different answers, from barely room for the birds to move, up to spacious chicken palaces.  There are lots of considerations here, including, the more room chickens have, the lower the threat of disease and/or […]

While most backyard chickens exist for the production of eggs and meat, compost is an equally valuable resource the chicken run can provide. Even better, the bulk of the labor is free, and copious amounts of compost pays in dividends. The birds are happier and healthier because there’s no better place to find insects and […]

Fall is coming, are you ready? It is officially that time of year again when we must begin to prepare for the colder months. The colder the climate you live in the more preparation that will be needed. Where do we even start? There are so many loose ends to tie up before the snow […]

Sarah started with an old tuff shed a few ducks, some rabbits she had adopted, and her helpful friend, Carlos. Last month, Carlos agreed to help insulate Sarah’s old garden shed. But Sarah decided that she wanted more than that! “I want to do something Fun with the inside of the shed.” So, after a […]

A few weeks ago I started the evening chores like every other night. I grabbed the wire egg basket from the front porch and headed to the chicken coop. I collected eggs from our Buff Orpington pen, our Leghorn pen and our Araucana and Olive Egger pen. When I went into the French Black Copper […]

I originally bought this small manufactured cool to be our Silkie pen. But after seeing how handy it is with our teenage chickens I may decide to buy another one for next year’s teens. What is a grow out pen? A holding place for chickens after they’ve left the brooder but before they’re old enough […]