Mean Girls: The Chicken Edition
April 24, 2015High-school girls with attitude have got nothing on a flock of hens turning on one of their own.
Save Money On Chicken Feed This Spring
April 22, 2015My chickens love the explosion of insect life in the spring—and so do I, but it wasn’t always that way. In my life before chickens, my Kentucky backyard was unusable for several months of the year, simply because of blood-sucking insects. Because my chickens devour a majority of the bugs that bug me most, […]
4 Ways to Beat Mites Naturally
April 15, 2015Mites can make your chickens uncomfortable and ill, and they can even lead to death. Learn four ways to treat your birds with natural products.
Give Your Flock Space to Bathe
April 8, 2015Chickens are good at finding places to dust bathe. They will snuggle up between the roots of old trees, lie down in the garden, and fluff their feathers in decomposing mulch. Dust bathing absorbs oil from their skin, and wood ash coats the skin to become a barrier protecting from mite infestations. As a preventive […]
3 Reasons to Keep a Deep-Litter Coop
March 30, 2015A deep-litter bedding system is you need to make coop-cleaning easier and to produce a high-quality garden fertilizer.
6 Things Everyone Should Know About Chickens
March 11, 2015When I started raising my first flock of chickens, I would sometimes start a conversation with something like, “So sorry I’m late! I had to chase a chicken.” It was always true, of course, but it was a great conversation starter about my favorite hobby. Now that I’m more seasoned, I’ve noticed a pattern when […]
6 Foraging Chicken Breeds for the Thrifty Farmer
February 19, 2015These chicken breeds are excellent foragers, and when allowed to free-range, they’ll do their part to supplement their diet—saving you money on feed.
Why I’m Totally Into Chicks
February 6, 2015The hens in our charter flock turned me from chicken agnostic to borderline obsessed. The Girls, as we call them, have officially achieved family status.
6 Ways to Banish Rodents from the Coop
January 23, 2015Have you ever found little mouse droppings peppered throughout your coop bedding—black oval pellets about the size of a grain of rice? Evidence of rodents in your chicken coop can be unnerving, but it’s important to recognize that winter is a hungry time for wild animals. The reward of a warm bed and a full […]
How to Prevent Parasites in Your Flock
November 21, 2014Is there a certain type of plant that attracts mites/lice. Which plants should I steer away from growing to deter inviting them to the coop? –D&R Poultry Fortunately for us garden-loving chicken keepers, plant parasites and chicken parasites are two completely different beasts. Plants attract the organisms that feed on the plants, while scaly leg […]
