by Herman Beck-Chenoweth, J. R. Smyth Jr. and B.C. Wentworth Turkeys are so fascinating, fast and large that Benjamin Franklin suggested that the turkey would be suitable as our national bird. “I wish the bald eagle had not been chosen as the representative of our country,” Franklin wrote. “He is a bird of bad moral […]

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 […]

Here’s a great way to repurpose, reuse and recycle your empty chicken feed sacks. It’s not a new idea: I’ve seen several online sites with instructions on how to make grocery totes out of all sorts of creative materials. I read them all … then took what I liked out of each example and came […]

by Jennifer Burcke So, you’ve decided to enter the world of chicken keeping. Congratulations and welcome to the club. We don’t have jackets. Instead, we have chicken coops in every size, type and color. I think that you’ll agree that a coop is a much more useful. Let’s face it, chickens don’t wear jackets. As […]

By Kimberly Furry The quintessential reason that I blog is to chronicle our journey as a family with backyard chickens. A close second is being able to inspire others. Teaching is a noble profession and one I highly revere. Each month, from November to April, I lead a program with my fellow Master Gardeners at […]

by Julie Miles My chicken coop is on wheels! I have a friend who is a woodworker and a jack-of-all-trades, so I commissioned him to build my chicken RV (a large chicken tractor!). Most of the RV was built from scraps that we had lying around. I had a lot of leftover wood, a roll […]

by Suzanne Roark Other than a fluke blizzard-like snowstorm way back in October, we haven’t had a stitch of snow here in southern New Hampshire. With temperatures hitting the near-50° mark, it’s the perfect time to take care of some business out in the coops. Maybe it’s because the coop is kept closed more often, […]

by Suzanne Roark Processing day actually starts the day we bring home our day-old meat chicks from the feed store. Being Cornish Cross or Jumbo Cornish Cross means we only have a scant eight weeks to prepare. The very first thing we do after the little chicks are under the heat lamp and fed is […]

After the chicks had moved outside into their coop/run, I realized that it was time to purchase a larger feeder and waterer. We looked at automatic or treadle feeders online and came up with this option. It’s rain and rodent proof, holds about 6 pounds of feed and it’s basically an awesome contraption.

Guest post by: Patsy Melton I love chickens. I didn’t know I loved chickens till I cobbled together a dog kennel around a chicken coop given to me by a dear friend (whose daughter had used it for 4-H chicken projects). It took me quite a bit of time to get it ready for chickens. It […]