Movable boards for poultry droppings help with cleanup and let you use chicken manure for composting. Liz Fulghum explains how to easily build a drop board. All photos by author. It’s an irrefutable fact: Chickens poop, and they poop a lot. In the coop, their favorite place to poop is off the edge of the […]

On a whim, my husband decided to apply for a job…2400 miles from our current home. For some reason, he was shocked when the company contacted him for an interview. Suddenly, the whim went from “oh well that would be interesting” to “oh crap how are we going to move with 22 chickens, three pregnant […]

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 […]

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 […]

Learn about biodigesters and how they can help you process chicken poop, from permaculture writer Jonathon Engels. Where there are chickens, or any animal for that matter, poop is sure to follow. While this is often erroneously referred to as waste, the fact is that we can do lots of very useful things with manure. […]

In the winter months, as the weather turns colder, chicken keepers are forced to keep their birds shut indoors to protect them from adverse weather conditions. Confinement indoors can create conditions, triggering respiratory illness in poultry.   The respiratory systems of chickens are very sensitive to dust and ammonia, too much of either can bring […]

Thyme, oregano, a little vodka…not a recipe for pasta sauce, but herbal treatments from  Amy Fewell for chicken ailments such as bumblefoot, external parasites, and respiratory ailments. Poultry body language can help you recognize the first signs of sickness, and to help them prevent issues from arising. Prevention is key when it comes to keeping […]

Former GRIT Managing Editor, Kellsey Trimble, sat down with Patricia Foreman and Joe Putnam to discuss the best ways of preventing and treating common flock problems. From pests and predators to illnesses, dietary considerations, and the effectiveness of electric fences, listen as these three converse about the various issues they’ve experienced when raising poultry and […]

In this episode, Joel Salatin  discusses how he manages the land on his multifaceted, Polyface Farm. Through Joel’s knowledge learn about stewardship of the land and how sometimes the best way to use your land, is to acknowledge that it already has systems in place. Our Podcast Guest:   Joel Salatin’s family owns and operates Polyface […]

In this episode of the Community Chickens Podcasts, Amy Woodhouse, Jessi Bloom, and Patricia Foreman discuss the practice of keeping chickens as part of your permaculture plan. Our Podcast Guests Include: Amy Woodhouse, owner and farmer of Sow Edible Farm and Nursery in Warrenton NC, has a passion for leading and teaching others sustainable agricultural practices.  While […]