Story and photos by Meredith Leigh You’ve braised, grilled, fried, spatchcocked, and stuffed. Why not try your hand at poultry sausage? In the modern kitchen, whole birds rule the day, giving families multiple meals from one purchase. Sausage from chicken, duck, or other fowl is easy to make, lean yet juicy, and fun to flavor […]

Over the years, through trial and error, I’ve tried just about every method and approach to raising Cornish Cross broilers. I’ve experienced flips and poor weight gain and struggled with all that manure until I finally landed on methods that closely mimic commercial growers – and they have produced by far the best results. The […]

Every day of my apprenticeship begins with tending the chickens at the farm. I grab a couple bags of feed and head out to the pasture, my cheeks tingling with the cool, crisp air; my boots drenched with dew. As the golden morning light slowly cascades over the wet grass, I greet our flocks of […]

Want an easy (and free) way to feed your hens? Have you heard of black soldier fly larvae? Not sure what the big deal is? In this article, I’ll show you how we raise these insects on our farm – and why they’re such a valuable food source for your flock. You’ll also get our […]

Why keep guineas? After all, they’re so strange-looking that one of the men who delivered our dishwasher refused to get out of the truck. His partner had to lug the appliance in on his own, clasped in brawny arms, while glancing nervously over his shoulder. He admitted that they both were city guys, so any […]

Rotational grazing is a common practice in sustainable, large-acreage farming. The basic idea behind it is that, if farmers keep their animals moving to different grazing areas rather than permanently confined to a single paddock, they can maintain well-vegetated areas and healthier animals. Generally, this is done with succession of animals, each performing useful tasks […]

 Incubating and hatching your own quail is rewarding for you and your family. (All photos by author.) Hatching Japanese Coturnix quail can be a delightful experience.  Despite their diminutive size and tiny cheeps on hatching day, quail chicks are resilient and grow very quickly.  Incubation requirements for quail are a little different than those for […]

 Home is where the quail are. With modern farming, there are many ways to raise an animal. There isn’t a right or wrong way, rather, we all learn what works for our space and needs through trial and error. Environment plays a significant role in how we choose to house our animals. What works in […]

Predators can’t be avoided, but coop doors can help. -Advertisement- If you’ve had chickens for very long, there’s a good possibility that you’ve lost at least one or two birds to a predator. Losing a favorite hen is never fun, and unfortunately sometimes the first sign of predator problems is when we lose that first […]

Craft your own guinea incubator, and learn how to troubleshoot their hatching. (All photos by author.) Having incubated guineas three times now, I can attest that—despite the hard shells on their eggs—they aren’t any more difficult to hatch than chickens are. Not even when you use a cooler to keep them warm as I do! […]