by Community Chickens While chickens have an average body temperature in the 120 degree Fahrenheit range, ambient air temperatures, especially heat, effect how efficiently they can keep themselves cool. As summer heat rises, it’s help to your chickens to provide them with some extra electrolytes to help them fight off acidosis and keep well-oxygenated blood […]

by Rebecca Nickols Photos by author It’s hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk! It’s so hot the chickens are laying hard-boiled eggs! There’s always some element of truth in many of the old folklore sayings, and with the record high temperatures we’ve had across the Midwest, I’ve been tempted to crack open an egg outside […]

by Meredith Chilson Photos by author Hot, hot, hot! In the winter we shiver when we hear the wind chill is below zero, and now we are listening to reports that the heat index is above 100 degrees. We have plenty of trees in and around our small acreage, and those, plus cooler nights, bring […]

by Rebecca Nickols Photos by author The first of May I purchased three adorable chicks from our local hatchery in Springfield, Mo., Estes Hatchery. I chose this hatchery partly because of the variety of birds they had to choose from and the fact that they had a good success rate in sexing chicks. (I’d rather […]

by Jennifer Burcke Photos by author Last Wednesday, the first day of summer officially arrived at 1840 Farm. In New England, bidding a final farewell to the previous winter and the mud season that follows is an annual tradition. I normally feel the need to celebrate the arrival of the heat. Without the hot summer […]

by Madelaine Fletcher — Photographed by Dusko Matic From urban hen adventures in the North to 4-H chicken projects in the South, the backyard poultry revolution is sweeping the nation. Healthy chickens are an important priority if you are raising them for meat or eggs, as breeding show birds or game birds, or if you […]

by Meredith Chilson Photos by author Up until a couple of months ago, I had only a few “glitches” while raising chickens. There have been some instances of “picking,” but I was able to remove and treat the hen with no lasting problems. Two winters ago, one of my hens froze her lovely comb on […]

by Meredith Chilson Photos by author I am not a veterinarian. In fact, we have a wonderful vet just across the valley who makes house calls, dispenses advice over the phone in the middle of the night, loves animals and is kind to people as well, thinks about the cost of medications and offers alternative […]

by Suzanne Roark Photos by author 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 […]

by Jennifer Sartell Let me start by saying, we don’t live in a farming community. Our neighbors don’t have chickens. Our neighbor’s neighbors don’t have chickens. You don’t often hear the sound of a rooster crowing miles away. There are no roosters. We’re the odd ones. So forgive me if I sound as though I’m […]