Try out Carrie Miller’s White Chicken Chili for a spicy treat and warm alternative to red chilis. White chicken chili can be made on the stove or in a crock pot, I will be using a crock pot. This easy recipe is sure to please just about everyone who enjoys a bit or spice with […]

Joel Salatin (aka Chicken Man), Author of Pastured Poultry Profits, writes about the pros and cons of U.S. government poultry processing regulations. Legislation Protecting Small-Scale Poultry Producers One of the early poultry processing laws in the U.S. was passed by Congress in 1957. The Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA) requires that any poultry intended to […]

Tricks and tips for hatching chicks with incubators and moving them to brooders. You can read about incubators at Taking the Guesswork Out of Incubators -Advertisement- – Hatching Begins in the Egg The hatching process is one of the niftiest little miracles in the animal world. During the last days of incubation, the chick grows […]

Summer was warm, the days were long, and you got used to having lots of eggs. Then your hens stopped laying. Michele Cook looks at the many different reasons your hens may (temporarily) have stopped laying eggs. Why have my chickens stopped laying eggs? Ugh! This is a common complaint from chicken keepers all over […]

Nurture your nascent covey in this cozy hand-built brooder box by Kelly Bohling.  All photos by author. Getting Started and Re-Purposing I’ve used several homemade brooders for brooding and raising quail over the years. Storage tote models work well, especially if you’re just starting out. After brooding several generations of chicks, though, I decided to […]

Traci DeLore helps you navigate selective breeding in your urban flocks. With a little effort, you can breed preferred traits into your flock. If you’ve kept a number of chickens for any time, you’re bound to have said, “I wish that chicken had a smaller comb” or “I wish I had more chickens that laid blue […]

Predators know no “urban” or “rural” boundaries. Learn what predators you may see in your urban/suburban yard and how to protect your poultry. Some days it seems like poultry predators are everywhere. Not even your back yard is safe from suburban poultry predators who want nothing more than to go after your feathery friends. Here’s […]

Do’s and Don’t for buying chicks from feed stores, from blogger Kaylee Vaughn. Check out Part 1 Buying from Local Breeders and Part 2 Buying from Professional Hatcheries as well.    You’ve decided to purchase your first chicks! Or, maybe, you are adding some new chicks to your existing flock! Either way, it’s an exciting […]

Do’s and Don’t for buying chicks from professional hatcheries from blogger Kaylee Vaughn. Check out Part 1 Buying from Local Breeders and Part 3 Buying from Feed Stores as well.    You’ve decided to purchase your first chicks! Or, maybe, you are adding some new chicks to your existing flock! Either way, it’s an exciting […]

Part of our Breed Profiles series, Sussex chickens are dual purposes birds with several distinctive plumage patterns. History Possible, like the Dorking, originally introduced to the British Isles by the Romans Contemporary  breed Originated in south east  England area of Kent, Sussex, and Surrey.  Probably most popular table bird in 19th c and through mid-20thc. […]