Over the past year, my coop has evolved with the seasons. During the first year I quickly learned what might have worked for the summer didn’t work well for the winter. Because my coop and pen areas are in 3 parts it allows me plenty of flexibility. The coop is for sleeping & egg laying, […]

by Jennifer Burcke In my last post, I shared that the heritage breed hens here at 1840 Farm were deep into their annual molt cycle.  A few weeks have passed, but not much has changed on that front.  They are fewer feathers accumulating in the coop each day and the girls are beginning to look like […]

by Melissa Caughey of Tilly’s Nest As the calendar turns another page and September rolls around, the smell of fall begins to fill the air here in New England. I love fall but soon enough winter will be upon us. It is often difficult to predict how harsh Old Man Winter will be each year […]

Today it’s Thanksgiving on my Southwest Missouri property and I have much to be thankful for:  my family and friends, a great job and the fact that I live in a country where my blessings are too many to list… I’m also thankful for my backyard flock of chickens! In addition to the delicious (and […]

by Jennifer Burcke Fall has arrived at 1840 Farm.  The temperatures are becoming cooler each evening.  The daylight hours decrease each day.  Dusk is settling in earlier with every day that passes on the calendar.  I find it more difficult to embrace fall and the resulting winter season each year.  I understand that the purpose […]

By Lisa Steele We know it’s fall by looking at the calendar, but here in southeastern Virginia it can go either way. Sometimes the heat of summer continues well into October, while other years it’s like Mother Nature flipped a switch and we are dragging out our heavy sweaters and turning on the heat just […]