by Jennifer Burcke Photos by author If you read the Community Chickens e-newsletter on a weekly basis, you’ve probably seen the great collection of posts that discuss gardening with your chickens. Fellow contributor Rebecca Nickols wrote a four-part series that includes a wealth of information regarding the subject. I have enjoyed reading the other contributors’ […]

by Jennifer Sartell Photos by author Welcome to the final post in the sausage making series. This is where we turn those wonderful chicken sausage links into juicy, caramelized beauties. Smoking is an age-old tradition. It has been a practical and delicious technique to preserve and flavor food for centuries. In my last post, DIY […]

by Jennifer Sartell Photos by author Welcome back to the DIY Chicken Sausage series! Tomorrow is the Fourth of July, and keeping the tradition of warm weather festivities, we will be grilling outdoors with friends and family. I have our music selection of Sousa marches, and patriotic overtures ready to mingle among the smoky scent […]

by Paul Gardener Photos by author Chickens’ needs are few: food, water, shelter and ideally, a perch on which to roost. But folks raising chicks know the youngsters’ requirements are different. In addition to food and water, they need an adequate heat source and protection from drafts. Baby chicks grow fast, so you have to […]

by Cheryl Long — Photographed by Jordi Sole Marimon If you have ever considered raising chickens, it’s a lot easier than it sounds. One way is to start with day-old chicks purchased from a farm store or mail-order catalog. Mail orders usually require a minimum shipment of 25 chicks, so if you just want three […]

by Jennifer Sartell Photos by author Grilling season is upon us! And what better way to make use of your outdoor cooking space than homemade sausage! Making chicken sausage is fun and easy, and a great way to utilize home-raised chickens that might be a little on the tough side. In my post Tough Meat, […]

by Hank Will — Photographed by Suzanne Griepentrog At the end of the original Community Chickens Project in 2009, headed up by the editors of Grit and Mother Earth News magazines, Grit editor, Hank Will invited several project contributors to his Osage County Kansas farm to teach them how to humanely clean and package the […]

by Jennifer Burcke Photos by author   I don’t know who originally coined the phrase “Necessity is the Mother of Invention.”  While I’m unsure of its origin or inspiration, I am willing to make a bold statement about its application.  I believe firmly that Necessity must have been a chicken keeper. I pride myself on […]

by Gwen Roland — Photographed by Preston Roland   Raise your own broilers, and avoid battery cage-raised, flavorless supermarket chicken. Though I have kept chickens for years, I never expected to eat any of the animals I raised. After they provided many delicious eggs, I would retire my layers to the barnyard. But Barbara Kingsolver’s […]

by Cheryl Long — Illustrated by Nate Skow Chickens are fun and easy to care for – and the steady supply of fresh eggs is an added bonus. I set out to learn how to make a chicken coop that would be secure, low-cost, easy to build, light enough to relocate easily and scaled to fit […]