Happy chickens are productive chickens. Keep your chickens active and amused with these suggestions for a chicken playground from author Liz Fulghum. Happy Chickens Chickens are happiest when they can cluck around during the day, free-ranging and foraging through mulch, leaves, and dirt for tasty bugs and seeds. But sometimes, to keep them safe or […]

Chris Lesley helps us understand what to do with an egg-bound chicken. When raising a backyard flock, nothing is more exciting than collecting a carton’s worth of eggs each day. Every chicken owner puts in a lot of work for their flock, from feeding the birds to cleaning the coop, and a fresh omelet is […]

Like most everyone else that has fresh eggs, I struggle with peeling after hard boiling them. I have tried all the traditional and unique approaches. Add baking soda to the water, or some say baking powder—boiling and ice bathing. How about a genuine egg cooker? Have one of those too, not impressed! I’ve attempted steaming […]

Acquiring baby chicks is always exciting! But what happens when a chick doesn’t turn out as planned and a deformity is present? When it comes to raising chicks there are a few common deformities that you may experience from time to time. Hand-picking chicks from a breeder or farm store can help to minimize the […]

I have a confession to make, I used to be afraid of chickens. I am fine getting on a 1000-pound animal and riding through hill and dale, but chickens used to seriously freak me out. Where this irrational fear came from, I’m not sure, I do know how I got over it. I was boarding […]

We are all familiar with the concept of Victory Gardens, but did you realize that backyard chickens were also important in the “fight on the home front” during WWI and WWII? In fact, suburban chicken-keeping was highly encouraged!  A Brief History of Backyard Chickens: During WWI and WWII, those on the home front joined the […]

As the snow begins to melt and the crocus start to push up through the earth, there’s no denying that Spring has finally come! It can be a very busy time of year as we rush to plant gardens, care for newly born animals and enjoy some extra outdoors time! But, spring is also an […]

Blogger Traci DeLore covers how to make some of the difficult decisions we need to make as chicken owners. Visions of backyard chickens don’t usually make us think of difficult chicken decisions. We think of cute, fluffy chicks and of happy hens scratching the grass. We really think of delicious fresh eggs for breakfast. However, […]

A few precautions will keep your chickens safe and warm during winter.   Caring for your backyard poultry flock in winter can be especially challenging. Frigid temps, snow, and wind can all play havoc with our normal chicken care routine and with your birds’ health. Depending on your climate, winter can present some trying conditions, […]

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 […]